crazy chain of events - travel edition
Full Name:
I rang a silent bell
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So this is worth posting, it happened in the last few days. (Maybe Friday the 13th had something to do with it?)
My daughter is in group of about 20 kids going to China for a semester abroad. The trip has been planned for months, all arranged by her university. Thursday was the big travel day. All the students fly to Chicago where the group meets and then they fly together to Shanghai, a 14+ hour trip. So we get her to the Rochester airport by 5am for her 6 am flight to Chicago, get her all checked in and say our goodbyes. Another girl from Rochester, also part of the same trip is with her. That should have been it...but now the craziness begins.
There is ice in Chicago so her flight is delayed and after over an hour sitting on the plane they decide to have everyone get off the plane and wait in the terminal. By now they will be missing the flight to China so they call the trip organizers and there is a mad scramble to come up with plan B. They will fly to Chicago, then LA where they spend the night then on to Tokyo and Shanghai from there. All set with the new arrangements, good to go...or so we thought.
They get on the plane to Chicago (plan B) and this time there are mechanical issues with the plane...everybody off, back to wait in the terminal. Now they are going to miss the flight to LA, unbelievable. They call the trip organizers again to explain the situation. All hands on deck another mad scramble and plan C takes shape. By now it is 2pm and they are still at the Rochester airport. All the other kids are well on their way to Shanghai on the original flight from Chicago.
Plan C - fly to Newark, NJ then get on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt Germany where they have a 5 hour layover, then China Eastern Airlines flight to Shanghai, a 10+ hour flight. That's what they did. Happy to report they arrived safely, completely exhausted, and even their luggage made it.
An adventure they are not likely to ever forget...and, unlike the rest of the group, by the time they get back home they will have literally circumnavigated the world...head east until you get back where you started :-) Cool Beans!
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Johnny D
Wow! One way (direction) or
Wow! One way (direction) or another...
I wonder if she'll end up circling the entire globe.
Thanks for sharing.
And best of luck to your daughter.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: I rang a silent bell
>>I wonder if she'll end up
>>I wonder if she'll end up circling the entire globe
Yes she will
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
Don't know about 'now' but
Don't know about 'now' but Lufthansa used to have pretty good Airplane food. Maybe the kids can brag to their friends how they got Genuine Metal fork & knife with their Actual Meal
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: joe
chopsticks
chopsticks
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ken D.
Glad they made it. For all
Glad they made it. For all the griping about airlines and air travel, its still is amazing how in 24 hours, you can be anywhere in the world.
It wasn't that long ago in the grand scheme of things that the concept of "Around the World in 80 Days" was the stuff of science fiction.
My son was in town from college over the holidays. His flight back to New Mexico from PDX was canceled because of the ice storms we have been having. He was supposed to fly out last Saturday, but because of all the cancelations, they said he couldn't fly out until Tuesday. Instead of that, I was able to put him on the Amtrak up to Seattle where he was able to catch a flight to ABQ.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sless is Best
I'm glad she made it! What an
I'm glad she made it! What an ordeal!
I flew China Southern from SFO to China to Thailand last year
No frills!
bet she told you that!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: RickP
The last time my daughter was
The last time my daughter was in Shanghai she picked up a bug that took a year to get over. During that time they had her on various antibiotics intermittently. One rendered her birth control ineffective. So, thanks to that bug we now have a beautiful granddaughter we love dearly. And a son-in-law we tolerate...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Captain Trips
Fork and Knife...yea
Fork and Knife...yea
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Bucky Badger
>>>>One rendered her birth
>>>>One rendered her birth control ineffective.
same here. worked in China a couple of times and now I can't use condoms any more. doctors orders.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: VivalaSchwa
It's never a problem until
It's never a problem until there's no solution, but man is that a ton of headache and stress to mavigate before a LONG flight. Glad she made it.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Seould Out
Glad she made it. China
Glad she made it. China Eastern is a notoriously terrible airline, but sounds like it worked out for her. Have a few friends working/living in China. One country we didn't get a chance to visit while in Korea. Hope to visit our friends in the next year or two.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: The Mayor
Do not ever discourage a your
Do not ever discourage a child not to travel .. I see the world in her eyes now..
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: baligirl
Thats a cool spot!!
Thats a cool spot!!
I agree, if possible every kid should travel between High School and College. You can learn in a classroom what you can learn from the world.
Frankfurt is a good layover airport!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: I rang a silent bell
We have FaceTimed a couple of
We have FaceTimed a couple of time with her. She is loving it, getting into the culture and seeing the world with fresh eyes. She tried fried jellyfish and all sorts of different food. It's a beautiful thing.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
― Mark Twain