Fly Me to the Moon

Today was the last day in New York, and if you couldn’t already guess, I didn’t get much sleep last night. I definitely tried, but by the time I started to get comfortable, the alarm was already going off. Fortunately, I had prepped everything the night before, so getting ready was a breeze. We went downstairs, got our lunch stipend, and waited around for the others to show up. We ended up taking a bus to the airport, and I got to see a bit of New York in the process. 

You know how I thought that getting up at 4 was excessive? Well, today proved me wrong. Between loading and unloading the bus, dealing with traffic, checking our bags, and going through security, we ended up taking a lot of time. We only had about 30 minutes to grab something to eat before the plane boarded, so I decided against it (though some other kids got bagels and burgers and stuff). 

The flight to Chicago was pretty normal. We had plenty of time before our flight to China boarded, so I grabbed some Chicago-style deep dish pizza before we left. 

The flight itself was okay. I had planned on sleeping for the first half so that I would be better adjusted when I landed, but I find it really difficult to fall asleep in planes. I don’t know how other people do it. I tried like 15 different configurations but none of them were comfortable enough for me to sleep. So, I ended up just being semi-asleep for a bit of the trip.  

I did bring plenty of things to do in the plane, but I still felt really bored and a touch lethargic. It’s really hard to stay motivated on a plane because you’re just sitting still for a long period of time breathing stale air. I did think it was funny though because the flight attendant used Mandarin when talking with me even though I only responded in English. I probably should have tried conversing in Mandarin, but I was way too tired. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we arrived. The landing was a bit bumpy, and some people on the flight got a bit sick because of it. Still, we made it. We’re in China!