Anna's Adventures

Well, Anna made it back for her visit, but it wasn't easy. We had to plan several months ago so we could get tickets. Then she had to take her finals. Her last final was before the end of finals week, so she did have some extra time - which was spent making sure she had everything that dear old dad had asked her to bring. Her Aunt Renee took her to the airport the day of her trip. She was to fly from Greenvill, to DC, from there to Beijing and arrive home on Thursday night about 9:00.

Almost immediately, she hit a problem. The United agent (and yes, they will hear about this) told her she had to go from DC to NYC to get to Beijing. He then tagged her luggage, gave her boarding passes and sent her on her way. She arrived in NYC with no problem and went to check into her Beijing flight. Surprisingly, the agent had not done this leg correctly, so she had to trudge all the way back to the United agent. Time was not a problem as the flight was delayed. At United, they told her she should NOT have come to NYC, but gone from DC to Beijing. So, she was made to change the correct flight and now the incorrect flight she is on is delayed. It was set to leave at midnight. They fed her and gave her a room at a nearby hotel. While she was enjoying being in someplace new (and shopping to prove it) her flight was now getting in at 3:00 am Beijing time. Since she would have 6 hours (very early hours) to wait, we decided Mike would go meet her. Meanwhile, Kenan, who has been anticipating his sister's homecoming is very upset. Mike arrives in Beijing 3 hours before Anna is set to arrive. Since Trish has packed food, he snacks and works on crosswords while waiting. Anna's flight arrives and while she is waiting for luggage, dad lets mom know daughter is here. Anna did not know Mike was meeting her, so after collecting her bags, she begans to push her cart to the departure terminal. Mike was standing on the left of her exit, but she turned right. He caught up with her just as an airport helper was taking her cart. He took over pushing for the helper and asked Anna if that was okay. When she saw him, there were shouts, hugging, laughter and jumping. The others waiting quite enjoyed the show.

Knowing they could not check in for some time, Mike and Anna sat and enjoyed some snacks - she had slept the whole flight (something she never does) and missed the meal services. They were able to check in on the 9:00 flight. Making sure the bags were good, they went to Starbucks and had breakfast. Anna was abl;e to then talk to her brother before he went to school. Arriving at our home airport, we were greeted by a throng of fans - okay, not our fans - there was also a pop star on our plane. What wasn't on our plane were both pieces of luggage. After leaving our info, we took Anna to see Kenan at his school - he was surprised and very happy. This was also the weeken of his school Christmas production, and he was a part of the crew so he had a very busy weekend. we all went to the Friday night performance. Needless to say, we slept well. Until midnight when the airline called saying they had our luggage - and brought it at 2 am.
We have since had a much better weekend - busy but better. We have many activities planned for this Christmas season, so thank you for your many thoughts!

The Masters