Harbin Airport . . .A Look Back

I may revisit some of our trip to give a better idea of our adventure.  Sitting in the hot spot was not easy to come up with our days.  After our big journey from America, we had to wait in the Beijing Airport.  Usually, when we have adopted, there would be other English families.  This time, it was all Chinese.  Our flight did not leave as scheduled.  There were storms all around our area.  When they finally called us to get on the plane, we were ready to go.  We went from the lobby to the plane.  We had to wait another hour.  An electrical storm was overhead.

By the time we were in the air, Michelle was asleep.  I tried to drift off, but it is really difficult for me to sleep on a plane.  I believe the trip took about an hour or two.  I do know by the time we made it to Harbin, it was dark.  Looking down on the land, you could not see very many lights.  When I did, they were clustered in one area.  I am guessing, there is a lot of rural areas up north.

The first thing we did off the plane was make a bee line to the bathroom.  We were not the only ones.  Half the plane went there.  I waited with the bags as Angie and Michelle went to the bathroom.  While waiting I kept trying to get on the Wifi.  It was not the easiest thing to do.  I just wanted to say we had made it.  Another issue was the blogging aspect.  I could not get on the site.  It is blocked in China.  I had to send emails to the site.

After I had used the bathroom, we made it to the baggage claim.  It took forever to get our bags.  I guess they loaded ours first and unloaded last.  You start to worry when you don't see your bag.  Did it make it?  Did someone break into them?  Then you see the bags and worrying goes to the guide.  Is she her?  Did she know we were going to be late?

She was out with the rest of the people.  Between our area and the exit, they had roped off an area to keep people from getting into secured areas.  It was wall to wall people looking for their loved ones or business associates.  She waved a sign and smiled at us.  I looked around to make sure she was looking at us.  It was.

She had us gather our things and escort her out of the building.  As soon as we got out, we noticed tons of construction.  They were building a parking deck or adding to the airport in some way.  Cars were parked on top of each other.  I was wondering how we were going to get out of the lot.  The Chinese seem to anticipate their fellow drivers.  They do get frustrated with each other and honk a lot, but it is surprising how few accidents you see.

My recollection of the airport was that it was one of their older ones.  It was like going into a rural airport in America.  I wish we had traded money in Beijing or Harbin.  We paid for that one.  We did not get to the hotel until 10:00.  They were not exchanging money until the morning.