something happened on the way to the airplane...

And by something, I mean lightning! I guess on the flight from Denver, from whence my airplane came, the plane was hit by lightning which incapacitated it for the trans-Pacific flight.

Let me tell you how all of this went down:

I arrived from Seatac at around 9:30am into the international terminal at SFO. Conveniently, I had approximately 18 steps to the United 857 gate, though nothing was posted yet regarding the flight because it was over 4 hours away from leaving. I decided to avoid the stressful crush of people that amasses before the departure so I wandered over to a coffee shop at the end of the terminal to dink around and drink some final sips of the West Coast's finest.

Around 1pm, when the flight was starting to board, I packed up my stuff and confidently strode to Gate 94. The music swelled and lights shimmered as I set my face with an expression of hope and determination: I was moving China and it was going to be awesome! I decided to make sure the gate hadn't changed during my two hours away from the boarding area so I stopped at a reader-board:

Shanghai--United Airlines--857--Now 9:30.

WHAT THE?!?! 9:30?!? AM OR PM? WHAT IS GOING ON? My soundtrack screeched to an abrupt halt and I rolled my eyes. Of course, just when the movie was getting really good, something like this happens.

I went to the gate to find confused people wandering about and a man saying "Follow me!" Normally I don't just follow strangers but he had a uniform on and he sounded knowledgeable. Dazed Chinese families fell into line and I jumped in behind. I got an early opportunity to practice my Chinese and asked a lady what happened. She didn't know. We walked out of the gates and into the terminal where we were confronted with the longest, slowest line I've ever seen in front of the United counters. I eavesdropped on an airline representative to discover the information I already relayed to you. I called my parents and texted my sister. Here we go, I thought.

I waited in line for about an hour and a half, met another girl on my program and received a voucher for a hotel room and dinner. They placed me at the Embassy Suites South San Francisco. It's a crazy nice hotel! There's an interior botanical garden and koi pond!




I also got this neato toiletries kit from United! Look at the little breath mints!


All in all, not too shabby. Then I got a hold of my friend Charlotte, who was sweet enough to inform me that I should not adventure outside my hotel and that she would be by shortly to pick me up for dinner. We had a lovely time cooking at her house and going out for frozen yogurt. It was an excellent way to spend a surprise layover in San Francisco. Thanks Charlotte!

In the morning, I had a primo breakfast and a free (maybe?) USA Today outside my door. The college football preview included a picture of my main man: Puddles the Duck.


Go Ducks!

Anyway now I'm safe in Shanghai with my obscene amount of luggage.

Ttyl,
ellen