the Adventure begins...

Final moving day was finally here, July 20th. two days after we got back from the TCS Softball World Series. It was a bittersweet experience for us there. Spending time with our softball families and realizing things about them all that we did not know until the end. Asia did AMAZING when she played and proved she has grown mentally by having a positive attitude no matter what BS was thrown her way and kicked ass showing everyone who had their eyes open, that she was an ALLSTAR without help. We had two days inbetween trips and we spent those times finishing the packing, saying goodbyes to family and friends. I missed doing any Zumba classes but went to say goodbye to my girls. I think I cried the most the last week leading up to the trip. Why is it you make AWESOME friends in a short time and then have to leave them? I am so grateful for our friends and especially the Johnston family who put up with us from July 4th til July 20th when we pulled out of their driveway leaving for the airport, especially since they were not even there! AND we left stuff to store there because I could not fit it all! Hopefully all the extra alcohol I left behind will make it a little easier! HAHA...

The flight to LA was short but not without a hitch! We had too many carry ons so I had to shove my purse into my computer bag to make it 3 carry on suitcases and 3 personal items. But you know Americans, can turn nasty even when they do not need to. The stupid flight attendant still gave me shit about carrying Javi's for him. REALLY???? he's nine! If I want to carry my son's shit, I'm going to and YES it will fit!! After we settled in, we were grateful we only had one flight with United and the long part of the trip was with Asiana Air. However, we had to check in to get our boarding passes in LA. When we arrived at the check in counter, they took one look at our carry ons and said they were too big. At that point, I asked how much because I was too tired to fight. Only $30 per bag(we had three we could check) wow what a difference from the $440 we were charged by United who said they got the price from Asiana...uh huh sure they did! Anyways, at $30 a bag, it was a bargin and I happily surrendered our carry ons after taking out clothes so we could shower once we landed in the Korean airport. We got our last bit of American food before our flight and then waited four hours for our plane to leave. Yes, just to let you know, it was MEXICAN food for me!

We did arrive in China but one bag short. They wanted to know what was in the bag and honestly I had no idea at the time. I was shoving stuff everywhere towards the end of my packing. Trying to communicate our bag was lost was fun. Thank goodness we had another bag that looked exactly like it so we could show them, rather than tell them. It did eventually return to us and that wasn't without a hitch either. Try explaining to the bag guy who delivered it to our home after calling me down to come and get it - I did not have the original baggage claim ticket, it was given to the airpoort people to find it...you know it's mine, how else would you arrive at my apartment with me then trying to claim it from you? Eventually we called an intepreture and all was good but again he looked at me like I was a theif since I did not have the claim ticket. When I look back, it was too funny. Common sense shows it was mine but rules are rules and he obviously did not want to get into trouble by letting me have it without checking with someone first.

We were going to be leaving for Hawaii only three days after we arrived in China. Suonllen has been here long enough for us to be able to take a home leave but during those three days, I instantly got into what I call "Asian mode". We learned the last times we were in China, there is no sense of lines, just bum rush the place you need to get through and who cares if someone is in front of you! that does not mean they are first. Sometimes, I wait and try and set an example for how it should be but how it is, doesn't mean I will eventually get to where I need to be. During those two days in China before we left for Hawaii we went shopping and tried to figure out what to bring back from the States so we will have a little bit of home here with us. I had done a pretty good job stocking up on health care products as well as a few staples such as peanut butter...I started making my list and planned on bringing back Chedder cheese at least so I could make Mexican food. Cheese is expensive here, you can get it but it costs! like $7AMERICAN DOLLARS for 8 oz of cheese...and we eat a lot of cheese! so that is number one on my list, that and LIQUOR! can't get some of the ingredients for my favorite Irish drink so I am planning on that too! it was fun explaining to the customs person in Hawaii, why the kids and I were back in the States and what we were doing...but in the end, he giggled and we started our adventure in Hawaii for the next eight days. China life was going to be on hold until August 3rd when we were leaving the "States" with no plans to return home in the near furture....