8 Hours Till Crosse

We are in Xi'An, China.     *What. A. Long. Flight.*

First Snafu - Luggage
When we checked in at Dulles, we were told our luggage was checked all the way to Xi'An.  No worries.
20 hours later - in Beijing - after a 25 minute shuttle ride from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2 - we were told that was not true.  We were  to have collected our luggage at the first terminal and would have to go back and get it.  No way!  We would miss our flight  We were fortunate enough to have some nice young ladies help us and were assured our luggage would follow us on the next flight.  On a different airline.

Arrived in Xi'An - The Photographer
We arrived and went to the customer service desk in baggage claim in inquire about our luggage.  We were promptly greeted by a photographer and airline staff.  He said to me (Jody), "Excuse me, we are working on our foreign customer relations and we were wondering if you would allow us to take your photo as our agents help you."  I said "sure" and began explaining our problem.  It became clear fairly quickly this was just a photo op with the blonde - nothing more.  After he snapped the photos, they quickly prompted us to go to the next desk for help - where the staff spoke no English.

Our Hero - Anthony
Our guide, Anthony, was outside luggage claim to greet us.  He wasted no time making sure our luggage was not only found, but that it was delivered to us at our hotel.  Without delay, it arrived.

Reflections To Date -
There is always humor to be found around here.  As we talked about the oddity that the photographer chose someone for his photos that has just been traveling for over 24 hours, I commented that he could have found someone that looked better than I did.  To that, Lin-Ley said, "Well Mom, I guess he thought you were pretty enough for what they needed."  Thanks, oh so much, Lin-Ley!  Haha!!

Now we wait for Anthony to bring us to Crosse.  Only eight more hours.  Please pray for Crosse and our family as we come together.  Thank you everyone for your well wishes!