Regardless of the cool super modern looking airport... this place was meant to curse me both coming in and out of Shanghai.Joe and I came in on different flights and we agreed to meet, "you know, where you get spit out of the process" (i.e. customs, immigration, etc.)
Seemed like a reasonable plan. But then a series of assumptions made us both sick with worry for the other as we waited on opposite sides of the airport for the other.
Bad assumptions on my part:
The terminal I fly into was labeled as "International, Hong Kong, and Macau Arrivals" Therefore I assumed international flights would come through there...
If Joe had arrived and I wasn't there he would page me (as previously agreed on).
Joe did page me and ASSUMED that the page would reach the whole airport. However, it was only for the terminal that he in. not the one I was in.
anyways, we eventually found each other and got into our hostel safe and sound.
On the way back my flight was delayed 3 and a half hours.........
Anyways, Shanghai is also hosting the 2010 World Expo. Lots of new subways and public are works are planned for the upcoming crowds.
And the mascot for this is...
Gumby... apparently.
2 comments:
One of the great things about modern technology is that meeting up in airports is so much easier now. I remember when I was younger how much of a hassle it was trying to pick someone up at an airport -- you had to know the exact flight they were coming in on, and then you had to call and see if the flight was late, and agree on a place to meet up, and all sorts of crap like that. Now, though, you just ask 'em to call you from their cell right before they board their last flight, and you call each other when the flight lands to figure out where to meet up. Easy peasy.
Unless, of course, you're in a country where your cell phones don't work. Then things suck again. :-)
When I first read your comment, Joseph, I thought that your first paragraph ended with the phrase "easy pussy." Shows where my mind is...
I remember being alternately first worried, then annoyed, then put out, then angry, then finally relieved when we eventually met up in the airport. In retrospect, it's a pretty funny story.
Sort of encapsulates a lot of how I felt about the China trip- there were things that were initially stressful for me (like hawkers) that I think were good stuff to deal with. Given that missed connections at an airport turned out to be perfectly survivable, despite the stress at the time, I feel even better about future travel.
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