Last thoughts

Well, you have seen much of what I saw while I was in China.  I have one additional video that I will upload later this week on my visit to McDonalds, but that will take some time that I don't have tonight.  Here is a simple video.  It comes with a challenge.  Who can identify the one american company that is operating in this city?  You will have to look closely at all of the advertising signage to pick it out, but I am sure someone will...

So I was exhausted, my body clock was 13 hours off, and I hadn't seen my family in a week at this point.  I just wanted to be home.  I was done with the indoor smoking, chicken heads, and the odd recycling customs of China.  I just wanted to get on the plane close my eyes, wake up 15 hours later, and be in Chicago.  

That is where it got interesting.  I am always told to be at the airport 2 hours early.  I usually arrive 50 minutes before the flight.  I am the really friendly guy who is always apologizing as the gate agent is walking me to the front of the security line as my flight is waiting.  And, of course, I am also that guy that gets on the plane last, takes that middle seat that others thought was going to be empty and providing them extra room on the flight.  i then proceed to open every overhead bin in hopes of putting my full size suitcase above my seat only to realize that even with no suitcases up there, mine would not fit.  I then proceed to email off my blackberry until the stewardess yells at me for the 3rd time, and then I figure out that she is serious.

Anyway, I tried to pull the same think at Hong Kong International Airport.  No one told me that just like their cities, their airports are roughly 10x the size of american airports.  I had my usual escort through security and customs thanks to a United First Class ticket.  I was then pointed in the direction of my flight.  They just smiled.  I thought it was because she thought I was cute or maybe she was just nervous that she didn't speak english.  Either way, I was flattered.  I rounded the corner and realized why she had the smirk the size of the airport on her face.  This is the hallway that I saw as I turned the corner:

Yes, that was a legitimate hallway.  I had to make my flight, but I wasn't sure that the hallway ended.  I could not actually see the end of this hallway.  I went back and tried to ask the lady how to actually get to my flight, because there was no way that this was real.  She laughed and claimed not to understand a word I was speaking.  I am not sure if this was the picture or not.  I have a couple of pictures of these long airport hallways from my travels.  For some reason, people overseas don't understand that we Americans don't like to walk miles to our planes.  No joke, there is hallway at least this long in Europe also.  

Anyway, I got to my gate and the plane was delayed.  I had some time to waste, so I went to the airport lounge.  I informed the lady at the front desk that I needed anything that they had to eat that was american and could be eaten without the use of chop sticks.  Here is what she brought me at 9am in the morning:

I gorged myself on some rocky road ice cream and lemon lime flavored seltzer.  Not exactly American, but close enough.