Unless it's your first time visiting my blog, or you're as dense as my in-laws, we're moving to America in less than a month. Wow. It's occurred to me that once we get there, I won't be a broad abroad anymore. So what will I be?
Don't freak...I will still write updates about my in-laws and weird Chinese news on this blog. BUT! I will be starting a new blog chronicling our new lives back in the US. I'll write about things like what it's like to repatriate, and of course, I'll be documenting everything Jeremy finds weird or interesting too.
Which brings me to my current conundrum...what do I call this new sister blog?
I have 2 ideas:
1) The Repatriated Broad (and her husband abroad)
2) The Martian and the Alien
The 2nd title stems from my feeling like I might be out of place like a martian as I return home, and the alien is my now legal alien husband. The 1st title is much more self-explanatory.
So now I turn to you, my wonderful readers. Should I call it "The Repatriated Broad (and her husband abroad)" or "The Martian and the Alien"? Or, do you have a suggestion you think is even better?
Tell me please, in the comments below, on my A Broad Abroad Facebook page, or even hit me up on Twitter along with #NameMyBlog tacked on there. Thanks for your help!
Hi! I don't usually comment, but I've been reading for some time now ~ In my humble opinion I wouldn't make another blog. You are not abroad anymore, but your husband will be, so that counts as 'abroad abroad' :P And also because this is your blog and part of your life is here, I don't know.... It would be nice to see the continuity of posts, from 'China' to 'airport' to 'America' and how things change from there on for you (and husband and girls~).
ReplyDeleteThe short answer not counting my thoughts: I prefer the first tittle :)
Thanks so much for reading and for your input. I will always keep writing about my wacky life so don't worry. I wish I could do a live post as we travel from China to the US but with the kids, there goes that idea. I'll have to post about it once we get to the US and get over our jet lag. Oh how I can't wait! Do stay tuned for what kind of hell it will no doubt be like to be on a 15+ hour flight from Guangzhou to NYC with 2 children under 5. Eek.
DeleteOMG. Are you flying China Southern!?! Have fun... Well, you can have one last, huge dose of Chinese annoyances and rage to tide you over until your In-Laws visit. ;)
DeleteBring plenty of snacks, because the transit experience in CAN is appalling. In the international transit section of the airport the food is by far the most overpriced of any airport I've visited in the entire world. IIRC, around 60 RMB for a small bottle of water. Pure extortion. Give yourselves plenty of time to transit between domestic and international. And expect a huge amount of walking. There are no moving sidewalks. Those golf carts for people who need extra assistance? They CHARGE for them! I think 30 RMB. As for the 15 hour flight with kids? I wouldn't even worry about them making noise, because they will be in good company. (and I don't just mean kids.)
Yes, because they're a Delta affiliate. We flew them last time we went to Guangzhou and they were great. The domestic area of CAN is expensive too. On our first trip to Guangzhou, when we went to return to Qingdao, the flight was delayed. We became severely hungry and had to break down and get a bowl of noodles for 60 yuan! We shared it between the 3 of us (the baby of course didn't get a share...haha!). I don't mind walking. I like the exercise. After all, we'll be on a plane for a looooooooooooong time. We should be in the bulkhead seats on the plane with a bassinet for Seoul. I hope she sleeps during much of the flight. Raelynn too. Do they serve free alcohol on international flights? God, I hope so!
DeleteThey are extremely stingy with the alcohol. There is only one bottle of wine for the whole economy cabin. When it's gone, it's gone. As soon as you see how some of the other passengers behave sober, you'll be glad the booze is not free flowing. I found China Southern domestic flights to be decent, but for the international leg, they were awful. You'd think they would put their A team on the international flights, to impress the world, but it's the other way around. If you need to buy anything at the airport, do it in the domestic part before you go through security and immigration (these lines are slow and long.) Only China would make you go through immigration on the way out! Once you're in the international transit area, prices go way up and everything gets suckier, especially the bathrooms. It's shocking that CAN is the world's 16th busiest airport. It feels like a backwater. But you'll probably be so relieved when the plane takes off, all of this won't matter.
DeleteWhat time was your flight? I'm hoping that since we begin ours at 1am, it will make a difference. And yes, nothing will matter once we leave there. Incidentally, the Qingdao airport is THE most boring airport. EVER. Even more boring than Tallahassee. For real.
DeleteOurs was the same flight. The creepiest thing was the long as Hell tunnel between domestic and international. I've never walked through such a long, isolated tunnel. It was painted hospital green and had bad fluorescent lighting. Even at that hour,the actual security lines and transit area were fairly crowded. There are many Africans who fly through CAN. They were being super paranoid about them, because of Ebola. That should have calmed down by now. Bring empty cups or empty water bottles, because there is a free dispenser for hot water. I felt sorry for the transit passengers who were just using China Southern to get between two other countries. No Chinese visa= you are stuck there for the whole layover!!! Yes, the late flight means fewer annoying people awake.
DeleteWe're on a flight from Qingdao that leaves at around 8pm and arrives around 11pm. That should be sufficient time to get through. I'm mostly concerned about arriving at JFK and going through immigration. At 5:15am, was there a ton of people going through US immigration? How long did it take you guys? We then have to get our 6 checked bags, our carry-on items and the children and get to LaGuardia to catch a flight to Palm Beach that departs at 10:35am. Urgh.
DeleteAs long as the Qingdao flight is not delayed you should have enough time, if you move quickly. It's cutting it a little close. I don't think I've ever seen immigration at JFK not crowded at any hour. The line for US citizens moves more quickly. Your husband may have to go through another line. From JFK we take the Airtrain to Penn Station in Manhattan and then a NJ Transit commuter train to our town. It's doable, but we travel light and our kids are old enough to walk fast. There are shuttles between JFK and LGA, but I've heard they are slow. You could try Uber. They are cheaper than regular taxis and the drivers are less sketchy. I believe you can request SUVs. You'd need to install the app beforehand.
DeleteOh God. Can't I just wait on line with him? I need help with the children and I don't want to lose him in the line. Our phones won't work over there unless we can connect to wifi to use our wechat. My dad suggested once we get to the baggage claim to nab one of those porters with the giant carts and tip them well and tell them we need to get to LGA mega-fast. I think it's a great idea. We'll need all the help we can get.
DeleteI guess you could try waiting with him. The worst thing that could happen is they scold you. The lines for citizens and non-citizens work differently. In the citizen line there is a terminal where you swipe your passport. The computer asks a few preliminary questions and prints out a paper. Then you see an INS officer and hand him the paper. He'll ask a few more questions or just wave you through. Sometimes the questions seem random. Once they asked my older son if he'd lost weight. I suspect some of the questions they ask families are designed to detect human trafficking or parental kidnapping. I don't think the non-citizen lines have the terminals. Families usually all go as one group. Now that I think about it, you're probably better off going all together through the non- citizen line and just being honest with them about the situation. Most of them are pretty nice, until someone gets mouthy. A porter sounds well worth the money with all the suitcases. No phone=no Uber. In that case, the best bet would be waiting in the taxi line and telling the guy who runs it you need a mini-Van or SUV because of the luggage. These days there are regular NYC yellow taxis which are vans. I wouldn't recommend a gypsy (unmarked) taxi!!
DeleteDo you think the SUV taxi/minivan will accept us if we don't have car seats for the girls? Raelynn's outgrown her car seat here and we felt getting a US one would be best. And because it's China and my husband is, well, my husband, I always wore Seoul in a Baby Bjorn in the backseat. So my parents are going to have 2 car seats ready to go...in Florida. I will definitely avoid gypsy taxis. Yikes! We will stay with Jeremy in the line. I can't imagine they'll be mean to us when they look at Seoul. She smiles at everyone...it's impossible to be angry with her. Hopefully the lines won't be too horrid and they will help us out. I'm counting on it because if we miss our flight to Palm Beach, I have no idea what to do. Never had that happen and hope they don't charge us, but if they did, not even sure how much they would charge. Oh I cannot wait to be home though. This will all be very worth it very soon!
DeleteLiked the first one :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! =)
DeleteI like The Martian and the Alien. It's catchy.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lynelle! =)
DeleteMy younger son was born in NYC. We lived there his first 3 years with no car. The only time he used a car seat in a yellow taxi was the day he came home from the hospital. It was one of those infant carrier models. It's just not practical for people to lug the bigger car seats all over Manhattan as they go about their errands. NYC yellow taxis are exempt from the seat belt law. One time we ordered a car service to Newark airport. We did request a car seat for that trip, since it involved going on high speed roads. When he was an infant, I avoided taxis as much as possible and used the subway with him in the baby Bjorn. When he could sit up, I sat him on the back seat of taxi with the seat belt fastened- lap belt only. I would sit right next to him. You could try ordering a car service and request car seats, but it could be tricky with no phone. Is there any way you could keep your Chinese mobile phone service connected until you are at your final destination? It might make things easier.
ReplyDeleteI doubt it...I think we could only use it for wifi. We'll just have to hope the porter will help us nab a taxi van then. Thanks for all your input! =)
Delete