Honza was not very communicative before I left Seattle, so I did not know what to expect. I finally asked if I needed to bring Yuan (RMB) for breakfast the next day, and he said yes, I needed to exchange $ in the airport. So I got some in Seattle before I left. My flight was delayed 3 ½ hours, so Delta gave us free water, snacks, and meals. I had enough food to last me into my first morning here, and I recommend that. Bring small sealed cheese, chips, hummus, etc. to get you by for a bit.
By the way, I felt so lucky to meet a Chinese American in the plane. He made me feel comfortable following the long unclear walk to the customs line. He was here for his 30 year reunion at Jiao Tong! He helped me find our baggage claim and I just felt relaxed with him – not like I had just arrived in Shanghai with no clue. He also helped me call Honza. We were going to try to share a taxi, but Honza would not do it (I am sure he felt he could not pay for a bigger taxi since it was the university’s $). Said goodbye to Chris and hugged him.
The taxi ride was very long – over an hour – in a smoky cab with foggy windows. The driver was not smoking at the moment, but OMG, it was smoky. Ironically, there was a no smoking sign in the cab.
Talked to Honza the whole ride back. Very pleasant. He has only done this job one year, and Lonny is the only other one he picked up. When we arrived at about 12:30 am, the Faculty Club guard would not open the gate to let the taxi through, even though Honza explained (whatever!) so we drove around to a small gate that I could walk through. I checked in (they turned the lights on after we got into the lobby), and when the check-in guy, who did not speak English, was done with me, he just turned his attention to the next people who arrived. He did give me a room key with 127 on it. I was like “Okaaay… I’ll just drag my 3 bags to wherever my room is.” As I began, there was a guy standing at the end of a dark hallway motioning me to follow him. I got my bags and dragged them to him. He dragged one down hallways and around corners and up small stairs, to the end of a hall where 127 was. He smiled and left.
The room is beautiful and modern, with a modern hotel electronic key. You have to put the hotel key into a slot in the room in order to turn on the lights and electricity. It only took me 5 minutes to figure that out, since the room was very dark. Yea me! Fascinating way to save energy.