LXA-PEK-SEA-SFO. Aka My trip home 1/21/2011

What is more exciting than a trip home? I guess going home could be sad because people go home for many reasons but I always think there is a little amount happiness in going home no matter what the reason. For me this trip home was filled with happy. I needed a month home to recharge, gain some weight, and see family and friends. You know you never know how much you miss things until; 1) you don't have them anymore and 2) you have the chance to experience what you've been missing again. And coming home for this break had a combination of both, which made for an emotional return.

My journey home took about two days. I left on Friday the 21st of January and arrived in San Francisco on Saturday the 22nd (accounting for the time change this would be early Sunday morning Chinese time). From the very start this trip home would be one to remember. On the morning I left I finished packing up my room and moved my stuff into a friend's for the break. About 10 minutes after finishing packing things up I got a call from another friend who was translating for our dorm custodian who informed me I had to take my passport to the police station before I left in order to "check me out" of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Well with 4 hours left until I had to get onto the airport bus and leave Lhasa I was not about to let my passport leave my sight let alone my possession. So… amid calls for the opposite from my friend who helped me pack my room (aka "tell them to shove it") I said that I would be happy to meet the dorm custodian in one hour and go to the police office together. And this is what I did an hour later after saying good-bye to a Tibetan friend and returning to campus. (As if I needed this surprise trip to the police station hours before I was leaving Lhasa. It's like in the States how no one needs a trip to the DMV. And I just didn't need this.)

Once at the Police station, all I ended up doing was sit there while two people looked at my passport for less than five minutes. We actually waited longer getting there and waiting for someone to show up then the time it took to do whatever they needed to do with my passport. But sometimes in the States it is no different, right? After that went relatively smoothly, I was off to do some last minute shopping and meet a friend for lunch. The problem was, I was out of minutes on my phone and I didn't know where we were meeting. As I made my way to lunch's (hypothetical) location I just could not find a store that sold phone recharge cards. I wasn't in my neighborhood so I couldn't go to my usual place where in half English/ half Tibetan I can routinely be successful at getting one from a Chinese lady who ran a shoe/ clothing/ long distance phone shop. I finally got some phone minutes and checked in with my friend (not knowing where we were meeting made my phone call capabilities very essential). Made it to lunch where we had Nepali veggie plates with naan. Delicious! I even got to take the momos we ordered with me on the bus (defacto) because they took too long.

After the wonderful lunch, the real insanity ensued. I still had some presents I wanted to buy and particular ones at that. I jetted out into the market in front of the Jokang monastery with my last minute (but essential) shopping to do. I saw the solar prayer wheel I needed to get right away and talked done the seller. (Done! I could check that off the list.) As I was buying a DVD of a Tibetan sitcom, I saw some Tibetan yarn and while I was buying that the dog collar seller walked right up to me. I must have had really good present/ shopping Kharma because not only did the allusive dog collar seller find me but I got a good price on three collars. As I picked up my stuff I was keeping at a near by hotel, I saw the Tibetan door hangings I wanted to get.

Finally, with backpack in hand I ran for a rickshaw and jumped on trying to catch my 1pm airport bus. The bus stop was only five blocks away but with the weight of my bags and me (gifts really get heavy) we didn't move very fast and as we arrived at the bus stop I saw my bus pulling away. My good kharma had apparently run out. Little did I know in that terrible second as I saw myself not only missing the bus as it drove past me but also my plane, that there was a 1:30pm bus that would put me at the airport in an ample amount of time to catch my flight out of Lhasa and on my way home. Missing the bus by 2 minutes actually turned out for the better because it gave me more time to get one last present that I needed to bring home with me, dried Tibetan mushrooms (pur sha mo).

I asked the bus driver where I could get some close by but he didn't know. But just as I got done talking with him I remembered/ realized exactly where I could get some. However, this shop was not the closest to the bus stop so if I was going to make it happen I had to do it and make it quick. Taking off at a fast pace I headed up the street for the shops next to the Potala Palace. I hit the first shop I saw with the dark black mushrooms in plain site. As I finished paying the seller for the famous mushrooms I didn't want to take any chances so I jogged back (among starring) to the bus with time to spare and my stuff still there.

After the hour long bus ride through developments, gas stations and grasslands, you even get one last glimpse of the Tsampo with the Potala in the far distance. I had made it to airport and had no trouble getting through security and even picked up some more presents. As other passengers and I slowly realized we were waited for a plane that still wasn't there even at boarding time I looked around for something to do. As I waited for the imaginary plane I looked up to see my president on the huge screen with Chinese subtitles.

Obama was talking with Hu Jinto at the White House and although I couldn't hear the English underneath the Chinese translation I knew the subject matter was interesting. (It wasn't until Seattle international airport during my 5+ hour layover that I found out what they were talking about.) I tried to talk to some young Tibetans, a guy and a girl but they weren't interested. Then I found some other Tibetans originally from Eastern Tibet and they got a kick out of a foreigner knowing Tibetan and not Chinese. On the plane I sat next to an older Tibetan man who was sitting with his daughter. I got the feeling this was maybe one of the few times he had ever flown. As the three of us sat through the flight safety video in Tibetan and Chinese (with Tibetan subtitles) I didn't really know what to expect in this flight to Lhasa through Chengdu. The food on the flight as meat dumplings or momos and I tried to give them away to my seat mates but no one wanted them. They were satisfied with their portion of meat momos and I guess I couldn't really blame them. I didn't really wna them either.

I think I was so miffed I might have been visually upset by the fact that there was no vegetarian food for me. In China, ok not to generalize, but at my travel agency, they never asked me what kind of meal I wanted or told me that there was a meal at all (nowhere on my ticket did it say anything). I should have known and thought of it but that too added to being a little upset about the meat only momos. Strangely in Chengdu everyone had to get off the plane wile they cleaned it and then we all got right back on to our same seats. I took this undefined amount of time (because I asked at the gate and all they said was "30 minutes") to get some food and I ended up pulling out a skill I got from my train ride, instant ramen. As all airprts trains, and train stations are equipped with hot water machines, I threw out my beef (and who knows what else) flavoring before I filled it with boiling water from the machine. Making my way back on to the "newly cleaned plane," noodles in hand, I enjoyed the rest of my ramen before the Chinese/ English safety video and take off.

I arrived at Beijing airport at around 9:30pm and got my luggage pretty fast. Walking past security and into the main terminal I was impressed by the size and decorations. There was a huge Chinese New Year ball like lantern in the main foyer right next to a Starbucks Coffee. I immediately checked to see if they had oatmeal (a habit of mine after living without a place that makes oatmeal) but they didn't and I continued down the terminal full of shops and restaurants until I saw a sign for rooms and showers at an hourly rate. This interested me greatly because I was preparing for a 9 hour layover. (Don't get your hopes up, "hourly" turned out to be overnight accommodations and pretty much like a hotel.) And although I was looking forward to a shower I decided to brave the night "a la bench."

After exploring the rest of the super huge Air China terminal I moved on to my own lesser China Southern/ Eastern Airlines terminal in search of my bench for the night. You know if you have a good attitude airports can be fun. Despite all these people always asking me when my next flight was ( you know I couldn't tell if they were trying to help or get me to buy something) this is the attitude I chose to take. Waiting for the next inter-terminal shuttle to my lesser terminal I saw a young women looking a bit frazzled.

I immediately told her that a shuttle should be coming soon (partly because I had been waiting for at least 10 min and partly because she looked like she need someone to assure her the bus was on its way).Her name was Martha and she turned out to be a Greek student studying in China (Chinese literature that is) and she was on her way home through Moscow airport. Now I was having fun exploring Beijing airport and can't imagine what Moscow would be like. The Moscow flight was the one she was worried about missing and I think I helped ease her mind a little with my laid back California attitude and our bonding over missed comfort food and sunshine.

Although Martha and I only spend a total of like 30 minutes together we exchanged emails and she helped me feel not so alone in this city of an airport. I still have her email written on the back of a customs form. The rest of the night consisted of discovering other "hourly" rooms, KFCs, and other sleeping people as I opened my eyes while drifting in and out of airport bench sleep. That next morning as I checked my bags I made sure I had the window seat and a veg meal I requested when I bought my flight. (My discomfort tolerance levels were greatly diminished after that night in the airport).

The flight from Beijing to Seattle was just lovely. No one sat next to me and with that seat and various veg meals brought to me at different times throughout the flight, I slept almost the entire way. When I arrived at Seattle airport my discomfort quota had recharged and I was ready to try and get on an early flight into SFO. (Little did I know I would need that discomfort quota because I had a 6 hour layover to survive). Pleasantly, I met four really nice people at different times in my customs experience. First, met American women while standing in the entry line and we bonded over not having people stare at us anymore (so nice). Second, at baggage claim I met a cowboy and his wife on their way back from Beijing where they were finalizing a deal to bring a rodeo to China. How random is that? They were very nice and they asked me about my studies. Third, after dropping my bags off I met a Freshman from Brown university who was returning for the spring semester after spending time with family in China. He sent a full liter sized water bottle and compute throw the security conveyer (not so bright? Makes you wonder a bit). After directing some other people to the inter-terminal trams I took a series of them in order to find out if I could get on an earlier flight. Sadly this would not be meant to be ("international flights don't allow changes like this") so I once again settled down for an unordinary long layover.

However, as I mentioned earlier my time in Seattle airport or Sea/Tac (Seattle Tacoma) allowed me to catch up on US and Obama news. I also got to make some phone calls and eat…some oatmeal from Starbucks, along with a burrito (within an hour ro so of the Oatmeal…they didn't serve burritos until 10:30. What do you want from me? I love burritos. J). The Seattle airport is where I finalized my plans to surprise my family. You see, only my older sister knew I was coming home. Everyone else thought they won't see me for another six months. My sister was also my pick upper/ ride from the airport, so we had to be completely in sync to pull the super surprise off. She told everyone that she had a meeting in the city. Now having a meeting on Saturday afternoon in the city is not the easiest idea to pull off, but like Leo in the film "Inception" she did it perfectly and no one suspected a thing.

When I finally got off my Alaska airlines/ Delta code share flight I was so happy to see my sister and to be back in the bay area that I jumped for joy. No really, I (and my sister) jumped for joy and I have the pictures to prove it. We made our way to Berkeley and all was going smoothly/ according to plan. The plan was, my grandfather (visiting from Cleveland for four weeks) was having his 87th birthday party and I was going to crash it with the help of my big sis. We made the appropriate fake phone calls to my mom on the way back from the airport and for all she knew my sister had a productive meeting and was making her way to the house.

As surprises go this was going to be a good one and despite waiting in the back sat of the car laying down with a jacket over me (yes, I am a dedicated surprise-r who believes in the value of a good surprise) for about an hour it was all worth it, the two plan rides, the two 5+ hour layovers, the secret. Thanks to my big sis the whole family was there as I walked in the front door full clad in my eastern Tibetan traditional coat and backpack in hand. That night I was thankful to be home with such a loving family, and back from halfway around the world as I sat with four generations of relatives I even cried some tears of joy.