How does one pack for a year in a foreign country? Seriously... 100 pounds, 2 suitcases, and everything I'll need for a year in China? Yeah, right. So I did what I could.
For those of you who haven't heard, I am about to spend 11 months in China. I'll be studying Mandarin at Liaoning University in Shenyang, a city of some 7 million people that few of us have ever heard of. The down side of this amazing opportunity is that I don't get to spend the year in DC, a city that I have grown to love. (Thankfully, I get to move back there next year.) So, needless to say, it was pretty rough flying out of DC on Monday, knowing I wouldn't be back for so long. But I am now spending a few days in Seattle, visiting my mom and sister who just moved here, before heading out across the Pacific on Saturday.
So back to the story about suitcases. I was dropped off at the airport (thanks to an awesome lady from the DCCRC!) and I carted my two suitcases and my tote-bag carry-on up to the counter to check in. The guy told me my suitcases were both overweight, and I'd be charged $125 each. Ouch! Transferring a few pounds of weight from the lighter one to the heavier would at least cut my cost from $250 to $125, so I stepped aside and did that. Then a lady was helping me, and gave me another alternative: simply check a third bag. That only costs $15! Since when has checking a third bag been cheaper than being overweight?! Crazy.
That's what I ended up doing. Stepping aside twice to rearrange the suitcases that I had so diligently packed up at home, and $15, got all my stuff for a year in China from DC to Seattle. Now I'm just hoping it will all make it to Shenyang this weekend.
For those of you who haven't heard, I am about to spend 11 months in China. I'll be studying Mandarin at Liaoning University in Shenyang, a city of some 7 million people that few of us have ever heard of. The down side of this amazing opportunity is that I don't get to spend the year in DC, a city that I have grown to love. (Thankfully, I get to move back there next year.) So, needless to say, it was pretty rough flying out of DC on Monday, knowing I wouldn't be back for so long. But I am now spending a few days in Seattle, visiting my mom and sister who just moved here, before heading out across the Pacific on Saturday.
So back to the story about suitcases. I was dropped off at the airport (thanks to an awesome lady from the DCCRC!) and I carted my two suitcases and my tote-bag carry-on up to the counter to check in. The guy told me my suitcases were both overweight, and I'd be charged $125 each. Ouch! Transferring a few pounds of weight from the lighter one to the heavier would at least cut my cost from $250 to $125, so I stepped aside and did that. Then a lady was helping me, and gave me another alternative: simply check a third bag. That only costs $15! Since when has checking a third bag been cheaper than being overweight?! Crazy.
That's what I ended up doing. Stepping aside twice to rearrange the suitcases that I had so diligently packed up at home, and $15, got all my stuff for a year in China from DC to Seattle. Now I'm just hoping it will all make it to Shenyang this weekend.
