My arrival

My apologies for the long awaited posts but I haven't been able to access my blog on top of being extremely busy. But here goes!

When I arrived in Shanghai at 5:30 pm, I was told I would be picked up by the school. As soon as I stepped off the plane, groggy, sweaty and dirty I patiently waited for the two suitcases that held the next year of my life. Anxiety swam through my blood system while I waited. With two layovers, it was hard not to think my luggage will end up in Fiji. My mind was quickly put at ease as my bags slowly approached me on the carousel. Part one: complete. I made it through customs. Part two: complete. Up next, meet the owner of my school. Part three: not complete. He was nowhere to be seen. I paced up and down the isle of people holding name signs." Hannah Simpson" was nowhere. Now, I've done enough traveling in my life to anticipate things not going exactly as planned. Panic would have been the first choice of emotion, but I knew it would do me no good. I waited on the side assuming he was just running late. People to the left and right of me were graciously greeted by various car drivers, businessmen and other school owners. There was an entourage of L.A. Lakers on my flight so swarms of Chinese fans and photographers crowded around the basketball players. I rolled my eyes, not because of the fans, but because I knew the basketball players would have a play to go tonight. By 6:30, panic started to set in. The airport didn't have Wi-Fi, but I was able to use a computer at the information desk. I logged into Gmail and was relieved to see that my manager was online. He informed me that the owner got his car broken into on his way to get me. Relief washed over me, not because he was robbed, but because I had actually not been forgotten.
The most unfortunate part is my dream of being greeted with a gold-plated sign with my name on it was not granted...