The Air New Zealand flight was relatively pleasant. I slept a bit, but not nearly enough. I figure Mary Lou, Adam and the girls will be dealing with even more jet lag than me (12 hours difference vs. my 5) so I should still come out ahead. Watched “No Country For Old Men” (good, followed the book fairly closely), then mostly slept and ate (they feed you, despite what time it may be).
No problems getting through immigration at the airport, so I headed to the exit to meet up with Fransis, the best man from Mary Lou and Adam’s wedding. Only problem was that Fransis wasn’t there. To be fair, the flight was early. I checked the arrivals board, and saw that my flight wasn’t even listed – which I feared might only complicate matters.
I asked around and my exit was the only Arrivals area, so I figured I’d wander around there and wait for Fransis. After fifteen minutes or so, I remembered I had his mobile number so I tried to figure out how many numbers (of the 16 digit number I had) would need to be dialed to result in a connected call. With the help of someone who could obviously tell I was completely lost, I managed to get a phone that rang and rang. As I was hanging up, I saw Fransis as he saw me. We shook hands and headed to the car.
Drove through the (unusually, I’m told,) quiet streets of Pudong, Shanghai. Fransis and Elizabeth’s house is in a nice gated community with small (man-made I imagine) rivers running through it. Their house is beautiful inside and out. We chatted for a bit, then I figured I’d do them a favour and have a shower. I multitasked, reading and watching some movies with their 7 year old, Christiaan. It was Fransis’s birthday, so there was a nice spread of food, with a few neighbours heading over for a small get together. Fransis returned from his second run to the airport with some familiar (although tired looking) faces – Adam, Mary Lou, Gabriella, and Victoria.
Spent the rest of the day chatting with the various guests (all expats who’d been in China for years) and eating some good food. After the guests departed and the other Canadians headed to bed, I sorted through some of the stuff (mostly winter clothing) Mary Lou had brought for me and did some laundry and got caught up on this journal. Lorne burned me two episodes of Lost, but I was still tired from the jet lag and overall lack of sleep, so I called it a night fairly early. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get to see some of Shanghai city, since it doesn’t really feel like China yet.