and so it begins...

Well, my journey began with some drama (surprise). Upon check-in, I was asked for my return ticket, which I haven't purchased yet. Even if I had, it wouldn't do me much good, except to prove that I plan on being a wetback in China as of next week. Anyway, so I told the chick at the counter that I hadn't bought a return ticket.
"Well you can't get in if you don't have a way out."
"I just haven't bought it yet. I didn't know..."
"Look, you can't get onto your flight to Beijing without a return ticket. They're afraid foreigners will sneak into China on a traveler's visa, find a job, and then get a working visa after the fact, which is totally illegal." (shocking.)
"So what do I do?"
"You have to buy a return ticket from Air China during your layover. You can't do it here because there aren't any Air China representatives."
Panic started to set in.

Fortunately my mom was there to keep me from hyperventilating. She tried to calm me down, but I remained doubtful. I was never getting to China!

Eventually she cheered me up and we had a photo shoot before bidding adieu.

The last one's my favorite, and the hands, btw, are to nonchalantly cover up our double chins.

... so long story short, after flight #1, I hobbled around with 40 pounds of carry-on luggage looking for Air China to buy a refundable ticket, eventually purchased one for $2200 from Delta, which will hopefully actually be refundable. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

On a side note, props to the woman at the counter who clued me in on the sitch and didn't charge me for my overweight bag. Woo!

The flight was relatively painless (there was an upstairs on my plane!). My aunt and uncle are living in Beijing, so they met me at the airport and took me back to their place, where I'm staying this week. Also, I opted for the baggage delivery service, which I highly recommend. slash my luggage was lost but fortunately showed up at our place the next night.

Beijing seems pretty cool so far, although I haven't seen much of it. Everyone is wrapping up Chinese New Year celebrations, and people are setting off fireworks left and right. Like, real-sized fireworks in the middle of random parking lots, including the one next to my aunt and uncle's building. The fireworks were seriously right outside the window. Fortunately, none of us blew up, so that's good.

ps. saw my first uncovered manhole today!