We were supposed to fly to Guangzhou yesterday. Beijing international airport closed down yesterday because of some snow. The following are some of my observations written at the time:
Our flight is delayed. We were supposed to board at 11:30. It was supposed to take off at 1200. It didn't. The snow apparently is the reason. We were hoping to be in Guangzhou by a little after 3. It's 131 now. Chloe's doing pretty good. I went to the restroom. It's up stairs one floor. We are two floors below the main floor. This damned airport is enormous. There are thousands of people here. 99.9% are Asian so Cora and I sort of stand out.
We have found our a corner next to our gate and await some idea of when we will leave. I never thought I'd be one of those airport people. The ones they always show during the thanksgiving holiday. It's close enough to t-day I'm going to call myself a thanksgiving refugee. If it gets to be too long they'll give us one of those asain flight meals and frankly I got a glimpse of one another person had. Did not look good. Rice might have been the most edible part.
Chloe's sitting beside me watching a canned Daniel tiger episode on a kindle. So glad we finally got our electrical issue figured out. All things are charged pretty well considering. I'm seeing big fat flakes out the window right now. Not a good sign? Or is it the flakes get big before the snow stops...I can't remember. It's going to be a helluva day.
So. Four hours after our flight was supposed to leave we still sit. A few minutes ago the flight to Sanya called out they would be boarding. That cleared out a bunch of seats. Which were quickly snatched up by surrounding passengers. The snow continues to fall while we sit in the two seats I was able to acquire, Cora followed with the entirety of our bags through a Herculean effort. Now diesel fumes mix with that singularly Asian smell and the sounds of single syllabic sing song words being chattered all around and over the sound system that is always preceded by a four tone climbing xylophone sound. (We are sorry flights may be ...)
There is considerably more life going on. Maybe we won't be here the rest of our lives after all.
( part of flights will be influencesed by weather. Please pay attention to flight staterse. ...)
Cora and chloe are doing well. They are not enjoying our circumstances but there isn't much choice and we are all facing it as best as we can.
There was a spate of yelling in Chinese up near the desk, it seemed passengers yelling at each other. Given today's happenings, yes, we're still here at five pm, I suggested I should go up and start yelling too. But not in English. I suggested I should do it in my limited Spanish. " abre tus ojos! Por favor!!!!! Mos manzanas! Verde azul no que pasa! Tres burritos Estoy de las Padres!!!!" And do so angrily. If it didn't impress them, at the very least it would confuse them!
7:51 pm still here. Flight cancelled. Some girls helped us. One was named ma vei vei ( she looked like a Chinese Velma from Scooby Doo)
In line. This is so much fun. Cora's
trying to get a room. I'm in line for tickets. I don't know wtf she is. Chloe's with her. She's got all our IDs. I've had root canals that were more fun and over in a quarter of the time.
This is a crystal crock of crap.
So ends my narrative. What ended up happening was the flights...nearly all of them...were cancelled. But not until our asses had turned to jelly from sitting on the cold marble floors.
We joined thousands of people trying to get new flights and retrieve their belongings. Fortunately we were able to rely on others for help. Some Chinese, some from other countries, and some U.S. Citizens. It's remarkable the mental shoulder squeeze it is getting to speak to someone else from the USA is. We met people from all over the world yesterday, but it was those whom I met from Las Angelese (hey tall John) and Chicago (Happy wedding celebration to you Clark and Jen) that really, really made my day. I have a million other observations, but breakfast calls. We are alive and well.
No comments:
Post a Comment