Welcome to China

I'm still learning this Blogging business, so bear with me. I will put as many pics up as possible, but I've been having a few technical difficulties...
As you probably guessed from the video, this is where I'm living for my three months in China. Not quite the same as home or an apartment, but it is MUCH better than the first room they put me in. That was on the 11th floor. Much more shabby. I was the company hadn't reserved a room for me, so when I got to the hotel to check in (after 20 +) hours of travel, I didn't have any where to go! We got it figured out pretty quickly, and after I saw one of the other interns' room, I ask to switch. So, excluding the occasional fight with the T.V. that doesn't always turn on, a much better room.
But, I'm getting ahead of my self. I'll start from the very beginning.
As usual, I left packing to the very last minute. Thanks fully I didn't forget more than a few minor items, but I may have packed too much. This trip spans three seasons in a foreign country and although I may not wear everything, I will make use of most of it!
Genevieve, my college roommate, came to stay with me for the few days before I left for Chicago O'Hare Sept. 10th. We had a great dinner prepared by dad, then at 7:00 p.m. we piled into the and headed for Chicago.
Now the last time I did something like this, I flew AirIndia to London. By the time we got to the airport, a good 2 1/2 hours early, the check in line was nearly two blocks long! To avoid this we arrived at the airport at roughly 9:00 pm for a 1:00 am flight. Plenty of time. Vieve left when we arrived to catch the L back to her place, which left the three of us, mom, dad and myself to locate the ticket counter. No one was there. Only a had full of people were checking in, all of which wre heading to Asia. So, after checking in that left a good 3 1/2 hours of waiting. Mom and dad were stuck around as long as they could before I went through secruity and headed home around 10:30 pm. Down to 2 1/2 hours to wait. I made it through security very quickly and soon realized that I couldn't even waste time walking to my gate because it was only two gates down. I gave up on doing any walking before the left so I found an outlet, charged the phone and curled up for a quick nap before the flight.
I would wake up occasionally for an announcement or some other random reason and realize that I was already sticking out. Of course most of the people on this flight are either Korean or Chinese, and I may have been the only blonde on the entire plane. Not only that, but I also sprawled out on the floor with a pillow and blanket. I'm sure they were jealous.
With the nap, the wait went much more quickly. I ended up sitting next to a Graduate student and his friend from college. This worked out pretty nicely since we were the majority of both the Caucasians and younger generation on the flight. Pretty easy to relate to one another.
The flight to Seoul Korea, which was were my six hour layover would take place, was one of if not the best flights I have ever had. If you ever get the chance to fly Asiana Airline, DO IT! The food was really good, the movies were new releases, and the drinks just kept coming! Staying hydrated while flying really does help. I never would have known had they not offered so many opportunities for beverages.
After 13 some hours in the air that went surprising quickly for being 13 hours, we landed on Seoul. I split from my seatmates only to meet up with them again a few gates down from mine. I stayed and chatted with them for a bit more, took turns watching bags/washing up since it was only 5 am, and took another nap while we waited for their friend to get in from Denver. Eventually we met up with him and took a stroll to find breakfast. For some reason we were unable to get into the buffet in one of the upstairs lounges, literally could not find the entrance, so we settled on McDonalds. Only one day earlier I found out I am HIGHLY allergic to eggs. Not the kind of allergic that could kill me or anything of that nature, just one to make my entire body extremely agitated and inflamed. Awesome. I love eggs and can not longer eat them. Nor do I know what is made with eggs and what isn't. That's correct, I cannot eat Chicken eggs in any way shape or form. Oh well. Just one more think to pay heed while in China. Thankfully, I had some snacks along so I nibbled on those while they ate their egg filled breakfast items. It's easy to avoid McDonalds, but boy, does it ever put a damper on a lot of good food here!
Since their flight was only a four hour delay, we parted ways after finishing breakfast.
I moved down to my gate which was located at the very end of the terminal. As I made my way past the other gates, one boy in a group of 20 or so on a Korean soccer team noticed my lack of Asian features and promptly tried his broken English with me. A few others on the team chimed in, but it didn't dawn on me until I had passed them that I may have been the only American/blonde in the entire terminal. Wow did that feel lonely. And that was only amplified by travel, jet lag and lack of sleep.
And speaking of sleep that's where I'm off to now. I know this first post isn't all that exciting, but it will get better.