Chinese curveball

On the evening of February 5, I went to bed thinking that when I woke up I would be in Shanghai, China. I had prepared myself to throw open the blinds and see the beautiful Shanghai skyline. On the morning of February 6, I woke up and saw this:

Where are you , Shanghai?

Gray skies. Gray water. Gray ships off in the distance. No Shanghai skyline. I thought “the ship must be docked in a fashion so that I see out onto the water rather than overlooking the skyline.” I went up to breakfast in the Garden Lounge, which has picture windows throughout, and no Shanghai skyline could be found. Hmmm…

It turns out China threw me a curve ball. After spending 4 months studying abroad in this crazy country, I should have known better than to think our arrival would run smoothly!

Docking in Shanghai is difficult because in order to get to the pier, the ship has to navigate up the Huangpu River. The pilot boat was supposed to arrive around midnight to help steer the ship safely into the city.

Well, the pilot boat didn’t show up until after lunch-my guess is the pilot boat drivers had a long night with some good baijiu and didn’t feel like getting up in the morning. Steering the ship safely into Shanghai took about 6 hours so we arrived right around suppertime in a driving rain storm. Although the weather was cold and wet, I got some great shots of the Shanghai skyline.

This photo was taken while I’m standing outside the faculty/staff lounge on the 7^th deck-what a view, right?!

Immigration took around 3 hours to complete, so 13+ hours behind schedule I finally stepped of the ship and into China for the first time in 5 years. Where did I go?! Straight for a drink with some of the other SAS faculty and staff. Much needed after a long day of anxiously waiting!

 My trip in China is off to an interesting start. Wonder what else China will throw my way?!

View of the Shanghai skyline from the Bund.

This photo almost looks fake but it's real. No editing or anything, just Shanghai lights and fog!