Adios America, Bonjour Beijing

Two weeks of American relaxation came and went, and before I knew it, I was leaving my home for the longest period of time in my life. Since I wasn't leaving for Beijing until Sunday evening, we decided to make a weekend excursion of our trip to Omaha. We also had to pick up Alina, who had returned from her little camp at Stanford :) It was also Ricky's first time out of Kearney, as he flew straight into our little airport from Europe.

The weekend was just what I needed before departing to Beijing again. We spent some time shopping at the mall, getting a few things here and there, including a great book that I read on the flight, Empress Orchid. At Natalia's insistence, we also went to an exhibit currently in Omaha called "Bodies." It was actually incredibly fascinating. The exhibit showed human bodies de-fleshed, preserved, and dissected in ways that one could see just how we work. It's just incredible how complex we really are, and all that develops from the joining of two tiny cells and a few strands of coding.

The next day, at MY insistence, we trotted around Henry Doorly Zoo looking at all the animals. The heat made things a little uncomfortable, and the animals a little lazy, but it was still worth it, especially as I rarely have the opportunity to hang out with my siblings anymore.

So the time finally arrived when I had to check my bag and prepare to leave American (or I guess Nebraskan) soil. The goodbye was difficult, of course, but I soon got excited to depart again. There's just something incredibly exciting about airports. My friend Adam said it was because you're always going on a trip or coming home, both of which would make most people happy. My happiness just continued to increase as the trip went along. I got my favorite Honest Tea (Peach White Tea) and sat down to a delicious meal of chicken alfredo at the Macaroni Grill. Now, I'm pretty harsh about the Chile's at airports; they're terrible. Macaroni Grill, on the other hand, was heaven, especially since I won't be able to order that food for a while. Then came time to board, and the sight before me was the most wonderful thing I had ever seen when boarding an aircraft: rows upon rows of empty seats... that stayed that way. I claimed a row of five for myself, and laid out and slept almost the entire way to Beijing.

I got to Beijing late Monday night and had to get up early Tuesday for our orientation, so I went to bed quickly. The next morning, I was informed that I would need to pack up again much faster than I expected. We were leaving to 新疆 Xinjiang, China, the next day.