Yearning for Home

"When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home” Thornton Wilder

I could not wait to get back home, particularly when I was stuck in Chicago. I attempted to keep updating the blog via text message while there because the internet was not available. With a night in my own bed behind me, let me see though, if I can capture the final 24 hours of my China adventure.

The flight from Shanghai left the airport there almost two hours late. We were held up, sitting on the airplane, by bad weather in Shanghai. It had rained several times during our stay though the weather did break the day we ascended to the 100^th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center. The storm at the airport abated just enough to allow us to rise shakily into the air and on our way back to the USA. Our initial flight plan called for a parabola over Russia, Alaska, and Canada before landing in Chicago. The plan was drastically changed though. Instead of following a mostly land-based route, our plane flew straight out over the Pacific Ocean on a Northeast heading. We guessed at the reason for the change from the flight path the video on our seatback was showing. I guessed that the delay on the ground necessitated the change to a faster route. My seatmates felt that the recent shooting at an airliner by the South Korean Army was the actual reason. Whatever the cause, we crossed the ocean directly.

The flight passed without incident. It took almost 14 hours to complete. We gained back the day we had lost in our flight to China. According to the itinerary, we landed 45 minutes after we took off due to the crossing of time zones. Because of the delay in Shanghai, several of us worried about catching our connecting flight as we left the airplane. After collecting our luggage, we had to go through Customs. That behind us, we re-checked our bags and hustled from Terminal 5 where International flights land at Chicago-O’Haire to Terminal 1 where United Domestic flights departed. Arriving at Terminal 1, I found out the flight to Charlotte had been delayed, giving me the time to get to the Gate and board without being late.

Once on board, I stowed my laptop bag and fastened my seatbelt for the two-hour flight to Charlotte. The rest of the passengers found their seats and the airplane door was closed. The Captain apologized for the delay and said that he did not know why we had been delayed, but that he was hopeful to get skyward quickly. Moments later, he was back on the intercom apologizing because our flight had been cancelled as the plane was being pushed away from the gate. He pulled our plane back in while the Flight Attendant told us that we would have to report to Customer Service for a new flight. I was dumb-founded. There seemed no reason to cancel our flight. The reason given was that the runway was backed up. We would have been 31^st in line to take-off.

I called my best friend and partner, Rene, for help. She took up the task of trying to get her husband home and wound up spending hours on the phone with the airline. She found out there were no more flights to Charlotte that night. Meanwhile, I was standing in line at Customer Service. No fewer than 800 people were in front of me. I found out that almost every flight had been cancelled. The line stretched down the hallway and out of the Terminal. I could not see the Customer Service desk from my place in line.

I was resigned to waiting it out when an alarm began sounding throughout the terminal. An announcement proclaimed a “Tornado Warning.” We were herded down into the tunnels between the terminals where we would stay for almost two hours waiting for the storm to pass. We received reports that as many as three tornados had touched down near the airport. While I waited out the storm, Rene found me a hotel, no easy task with so many stranded passengers. When the all-clear sounded, I went outside to wait on the hotel shuttle. After standing in the rain for a while, the van finally appeared.

In the van, I began visualizing the cozy bed, spending some catching up on emails, possible posting a blog entry, reading a little bit, and perhaps turning on the television and hearing English. I noticed many trees down. Turning into the hotel parking lot, I was confused to see it darkened inside. The hotel had lost power during the storm. Without power, they had to check us in by writing our name on a sheet of copy paper and walking us to our rooms by candlelight. With no other options, I climbed in the bed after being left in a pitch-black room.

Checking-in by candlelight

The next morning the power was still out. I was disappointed to learn that they could not provide any breakfast because of the power situation. Rather than wait in the dark hotel until my afternoon flight, I jumped back on the shuttle and returned to the airport where I breakfasted on a McDonald’s Sausage biscuit while answering emails.

At 2PM, I found myself back on a plane, holding my breath until the plane began taxi-ing down the runway. It wasn’t until we were in the air that I finally felt the relief of going home. Our flight landed earlier than expected. Rene was on-time based on the schedule, but later than I arrived. As I stood waiting on the sidewalk talking to her on the phone, she repeatedly apologized for being late. I laughed and said that it was really just in keeping with the theme of the trip. I was completely unconcerned though because I was back in North Carolina, minutes away from returning home.

The trip was absolutely phenomenal! I loved everything I encountered. Nothing I encountered though caused such an emotional response as seeing my wife and family after being away. Perhaps Mr. Wilder was correct; we want to be traveling when we are at home and we want to be at home when we are traveling. For myself, I cannot wait for the opportunity to share all that I encountered with our staff and students.

Thank you for joining me for this journey. You are invited to stay with me as I travel through this year. I have posted pictures from the trip on Facebook. You may see them here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.196324300417501

I hope you have a wonderful summer and that you also have an opportunity to chase an adventure (or be chased by it!)