Back in the Belly of the Beast

Dear China,

Leaving you was a sudden and temporary solution to our relationship problems. Hopefully the time apart has made us more able to cope with each others’ differences. If you can try a little harder to stop being a pain in my ass all the time, I will try to stop being such a whiney brat. I’ll try.

Last night I arrived back in Hangzhou and, therefore, back into the realm of Chinese censorship. Once again I’m forced to send these posts as black market email so others may keep my blog for me. I’m reminded once again that, in China, there is no direct route to your destination. For once, I wouldn’t mind a non-stop flight.

At 4:00 am, Linus and I left Laramie for Denver. He gave me the choice of Interstate 80 to I-25 or to wind through 287. Naturally, I asked if we could drive 287. Because it was still dark, as we reached the foothills of the pass, I asked him to pull over so that I could simply stare upwards. The sky was pocked with stars and I knew I wasn’t going to see them again for almost a year. The complete darkness made them seem almost closer.

At the Denver airport, the woman at the check-in counter for United Airlines nearly gave me a heart attack when she told me I’d missed my chance to enter China. Fortunately for me, she was only a poor reader. My valid enter-before-this-date was Sept 16. She didn’t happen to notice that it was of 2010, not 2009. My panic subsided.

The great thing about having a 4 hour layover in San Francisco is the fresh seafood. For a late breakfast: Dungeness crab eggs Benedict. Yes, the traditional eggs Benedict, but with enormous chunks of crabmeat. Delicious. Just the thing to prepare you for a twelve-hour flight across the Pacific.

Notable in-flight movies: 1) “Easy Virtue.” Someone please give Stephen Elliott my thanks for capturing Noel Coward’s genius on film. 2) “The Soloist.” I’ll watch anything with Robert Downey, Jr., and this was as good as expected. It also helps if you, like me, adore the cello.

Incredibly, when landing in Shanghai, I was not quarantined this time around. In fact, I believe the Porky and Babe Virus scare has started to dwindle, since there were no biohazard ogres boarding the plane to take our temperature before we were allowed off the jet.

Two taxis and a two-hour train ride later, I finally arrived at the apartment in Hangzhou. I immediately jumped into the shower to wash away the grit of travel. As I did so, I couldn’t help thinking that I was reluctantly washing away Wyoming along with it.

Predicted four-day forecast: Jetlag.