June 11, 2007, on the 747 to Beijing

Well here we go!

I cannot remember the last time I flew on United. We flew out of Cincinnati - seven students (we are meeting two others in China) and our Chinese teacher Jade. We transferred at O'Hare.

I am sitting in a center seat in the center section. I always prefer window seats, but it seems that we've been above clouds for the last couple hours.

I think it's only just starting to sink in that tomorrow I will probably have one of the most out-of-my-comfort-zone experiences of my entire life thus far. But I'm sure it will be alright - I have to say, going with a group and Jade is very reassuring. And it's kind of nice to have someone else arranging all the logistics... as opposed to my usual mode of independent travel, where I have to work out a lot of the details by myself.

According to the map on the screen in the cabin now, it appears that we are flying over Canada - we are flying over the Arctic sea, and I'm trying to figure out whether we'll actually see any night - hmmm.

Well I had brilliantly terrible timing - yesterday, my eyes were terribly irritated. I headed in to the eye doctor, at their suggestion, where after an exam, I learned I have the beginnings of an eye infection. To make a long story short, I have to put these antibiotic drops in my eyes for the next ten days. I can't wear my contacts for next ten to fourteen days, and the doctor who saw me advised that I probably shouldn't wear them for four weeks. Well, if nothing else, it lightened my packing a smidge. I'm so glad I went in - the doctor said it could have gotten much worse had I not come in. My eyes still hurt a smidge, though they're a hell of a lot better.

On a lighter note, being 21 hasn't lost all of its novelty yet - it was fun to take advantage of the free booze, even if it was a less than thrilling Heineken.