Day 6. Flying home - First Class!

Saturday, October 07, 2017

We left the hotel at 9:30 and drove straight to the airport with the whole group.  About half of us had to leave between 11:15 and 12:30, so our guide, Ted, got us all checked in for our flights and then went back to the bus to take the later group that left at 2:30 to new mall in town so they didn’t have to sit at the airport for 4 hours.  Ted was great guide and we all tipped him handsomely. 

David and I were the only non-Chinese on the plane.  We had seats right in the front of the economy class seats.  Our plane made a short stop in the city of Yichang where a majority of the passengers got off and the rest who were going on to Jinan stayed on the plane. 

One of the flight attendants, who had been an attendant for overseas flights to the US, came to talk to us.  We asked her if she had been able to visit any sites while she was in the US and she said that one time they had rented a car and went to Yosemite National Park.  

A few minutes after she left to do something and then we see the pilot coming toward us!  He wanted to speak to us, after learning there were Americans who were teachers on board.  He also had a pretty good command of the English language.  We told him what we were doing in China and he soon left and talked with some of the flight attendants.  Then he came back to us just as they started loading the plane and invited us to sit in the first-class passenger area.  The seats had been empty since the first flight and were not being used during the second flight.  It was a lot more comfortable! They also brought us a free soda.  It was nice. He said he did  it because he has great respect for teachers. 

We are home again and classes start in again on Monday.  Tomorrow in Church, we will be listening to a conference session since we don’t get it in China until a week late.  It has started raining and has turned colder in Jinan.  It's nice to not have it so hot, but then, you have to contend with the rain and turn on the space heater because cement buildings get cold fast!  Excited to be home with a more decent and reliable internet connection too.