The late-night return

I don't know what it is, but I must like to tempt fate. I give myself enough time to get to the places I need to get to. However, I easily convince myself that I have more time than I do to accomplish things, and often when unexpected delays arise, I get myself into a bit of a pickle. If you recall my adventure in KL when I was attempting to fly to Cambodia over the holidays, such delays happen. Especially, I think, to me. Last night wasn't much different.

I was scheduled to fly out of Xi'an back here to Dalian at 8:45pm last night. I knew that it was about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the airport, so I wasn't too worried. At a reasonable time, I went with Max, one of the guys I met in Xi'an, to wait for the bus up to the airport shuttle pickup. Typically, these buses come every few minutes and the shuttles are equally frequent. I'm sure you can all see where this is going.

I kept waiting and kept waiting and after 15 minutes, was panicking... the bus to the shuttle hadn't arrived and I was cutting it far too close. Just as I was getting ready to flag a taxi, the bus came around the corner. I hopped on and anxiously positioned myself close to the exit so I could jump off right when I got to the exit.

After getting off, I dashed to the shuttle stop just to see the shuttle leaving. The next one wasn't leaving until 7:40 and arrived at the airport at 8:40. Not good enough. So, after sorting out my options (it was a short list), I haggled a bit with a cab and told him he'd have to hurry if I was gonna pay over 110RMB. He agreed and off we went. 

Of course, it couldn't just be an easy trip out. The traffic was nuts inside the city and, telling the driver my flight time, he got a grim look on his face. Luckily, this guy was in the mood for an adventure... so, with one finger on the horn and one hand on his brights, he proceeded to honk and weave and flash his lights all the way to the airport to get me there on time. After all this stress and fear (of dying in the taxi), I arrived at about 8:15pm, far too close to the wire considering the check-in policy of most airlines. Just as I'm ready to cut in front of everyone in line and demand to be checked in, I hear the following announcement:

"Attention ladies and gentlemen. Flight AB1234 to Tsingdao and Dalian has been delayed due to air traffic congestion. Your new departure time is 10:20pm. Thank you."

Serendipity rescued me, as it so often does. I was able to get in touch with the driver picking me up in Dalian, relaxed into a barley soda with my computer and passed the time with a smile on my face. The 2am arrival at home wasn't particularly fun, but I slept like a log so all was well. I keep hoping that I'll learn my lesson. Maybe this time will have been it. 

More on the rest of the holiday trip to Xi'an in the next day or two. For now, I've gotta figure out food (I'm starving) and my lessons for tomorrow... I'm actually making an impromptu trip to the city in the morning to have my voice recorded for the Dalian Education Bureau at the Dalian Radio and TV Centre before I teach in the afternoon. An extra $100 for 2 hours of work? I think so! 

T