A Quick Update

This post will have no pictures. I am currently experiencing technical difficulties with my tablet - - - Feel free to pray that I can figure out how to log into this sight with that. If I cannot, I will be just building a new posting, so stay tuned for the details. First of all, thank you to those of you who were praying as I was on my journey over here. I had a VERY tight connection in LAX. I learned after landing (and being detained on my plane for a while because Obama was in town) that my connection was even shorter than I thought. In addition to that, I had to collect my bags - which took almost 45 mn to unload and come and then take a bus to a whole different terminal. My friend, Janice Skillman, was waiting at the gate for me even before I was off my plane! Once I collected my bags, I had to take a bus to get to the international terminal. Unfortunately, the bus that was leaving right as I found the spot was the bus I needed to be on. I had to wait another 20 mn for the bus to come back; this made my connection even tighter. Then, once I got checked in for my flight, they had some issues with my bags at security, so I was detained a while there. In the meantime, I found myself growing more stressed by the moment, but then asking myself what good that would do. So, I prayed. I prayed that Janice would remain calm and that I would trust the Lord to take care of me no matter what happened. I MADE IT and with time enough to use the bathroom! The flight, however, was boarding when I got to the gate, so it was not any too early. The 13 hour flight to Shanghai went smoothly. I was able to switch seats so that I could sit next to Janice. We were in the middle section of the plane, but it was nice to be together. Once landing in Shanghai and collecting our bags we had to find a cab to take us to our hotel. A Chinese man was trying to convince us that we had too much luggage to fit into a normal cab. He was trying to charge us almost 4 times the amount I had read about online, so I am glad I had done my research ahead of time. We turned him down, but not without much effort (kind of like a time-share presentation). We managed to get outside the airport and hailed a cab. We do not believe that our driver was too pleased to take us all the way to our hotel, but alas he did it. He booked! He got us there faster and 40 yuan cheaper than the internet said. WHen we got to the Hotel - a Holiday Inn - the bell hops opened the doors for us and made us feel very high class. However, we had to abandon our bags and rush into the hotel to try to get some yuan to even pay our cabbie - who probably thought we were just running away. He waited and finally got paid and Janice says "He actually smiled" when we paid him. So all ended well. Upon getting to our room, we felt it was a nice room. It was on the 16th floor with plenty of space and a nice view of the city - assuming we could have seen anything. We couldn't due to the extreme smog, however. Before leaving, we learned we may have some adventure in using using our restroom. There was just a window for a wall between the bathroom and the sleeping area. The window looked straight into not only the shower, but the actual restroom itself because everything was clear glass! (It wasn't until the next morning that Janice learned we had a shade that could be pulled to give some privacy.) Very interesting. That evening we walked the neighborhood around the hotel. We did some shopping and had some ice cream and treats. I had black sesame seed ice cream and matcha (green tea) while Janice had a Choux Cream. It was like a very mini night market out there. There were people playing badmitten, a whole crew of people dancing - in three sep. areas, and some night vendors set up with their goods laying out on the sidewalk. When we were too tired to continue exploring - which didn't take long that night, we made our way back to the hotel, went swimming for a while, and then crashed! The next day was a day of taking the train, shopping,and experiencing China. I will update you more as time allows, but alas . . . it is time to experience Okinawa for the first time today. 8 ) We are safely here, however! More to come.