A Month in China ~ Part One

I cannot describe how wonderful China was and how thoroughly I enjoyed the month I spent with my dad...
I came home with so many precious memories...stories to share and treasures to keep, that I honestly don't know where to begin...

I loved every minute of my trip and hope to convey these feelings of awe and delight in the next few posts...
Thus...how about you pop the kettle on to boil and make yourself a steaming mug of tea before you settle down to this, the first part of my Month in China series...
{{smiles}}

~

I flew out from George on Thursday June 7.  (Thank you all for your prayers for my safety!)

How strange to embrace to my mom, sisters and Caleb in a big hug one last time before walking out of sight and onto the airplane, bound for China...

I landed in Johannesburg later that evening, picked up my suitcase and headed to the arrival area where I met the person the lodge had sent to pick me up.

For me, this was the most daunting part of my trip as it was my first time in Johannesburg, first time to book a lodge and to stay overnight in a strange place all alone.

The Lord was merciful and the lodge I had booked turned out to be the perfect place for me to catch a few hours of sleep before I headed to the airport again early the next morning.

I was pleasantly surprised at how little time it took for me to check in and go through security - I think it helped that I arrived early. 
I was able get some coffee and breakfast and enjoy some plane spotting before waiting at the allocated gate for my flight...

At this stage an overwhelming sense of excitement began to well up in me!

Once I had boarded the airplane, I was delighted to see that I had an entire row to myself which meant I could lie down during the flight. 
There were no good movies on the plane and my eyes burned terribly anyway, so I ended up listening to music for the duration of the flight...

14 hours later, we landed in Beijing and about 40 minutes after that, we were inside Beijing airport where the fun and games really began!

I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer size of the world's second largest airport!

I know that it is only by God's grace that I managed to catch my connecting domestic flight to Hefei.  Beijing airport was something of a nightmare - no one spoke English for starters and then finding where to go to collect my luggage (which involved a train ride to the correct terminal), where to check in for my domestic flight to Hefei, etc. was extremely exhausting and stressful. 
However, I don't remember feeling at all panicky, even when my phone didn't work so I couldn't contact my dad (I had signal for about five minutes shortly before boarding which meant I could at least let me dad know I had arrived safely in China)! 

Eventually I found my way to the right gate. 
I felt a huge sense of achievement when I boarded the next and final flight to Hefei!

It was pouring with rain when we arrived in Hefei which delayed our disembarking of the aircraft by about twenty minutes...

What joy to collect my bag for the last time and make my way to where my dad was waiting for me - it all felt so surreal... 
I couldn't believe that I was finally with my dad in China after such a long, grueling journey!

I actually recovered fairly well from my trip, only I had the strange sensation of being on an airplane for a few days afterwards...

The first week I spent recovering and enjoying a walk once, sometimes twice day...
We also went into the city for coffee one morning which was thrilling!
I didn't take as many pictures as I had hoped in that first week as I found myself simply wanting to take everything in without having to worry about getting a good shot...
Here are the few pictures that I did take...and perhaps I should warn you now that part two more than makes up for the lack of photographs in this post!
{{smiles}}

^Coffee at Starbucks on my first Saturday in China

^Area surrounding the lake...
I walked here quite often as it is relatively close to the school my dad teaches at.

^This track goes around the lake  

^I loved this place!  We stopped in here several times over the course of the month...

And thus concludes this first part of this little series...do stop by next week for part two on Nanjing!

Have you been to China?  Have you ever traveled overseas alone?  

It is always a joy having you stop by, sweet friends...

I truly appreciate your kind notes!

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