Home Again. Home Again.....

The Asians are quite rule oriented, so most things flow very nicely in spite of the large number of people. Well, I have to retract a little on getting around without crowding in China.

When the people from our flight approached Passport Control in Atlanta, our first point of debarkation, we were moved around like pegs in a "Hi-Q" game...
"You go over there! YOU, come over here! I am trying to get some people out of long lines, but it depends when you came in!"
Why didn't she just let us line up in one line, then designate a line as it emptied?

Eventually I did get to the Passport Control Officer(?), who was sullen, morose, and obviously not happy to be working this evening. He passed me on without the phrase I value most from these guys - "Welcome Home!"

After I left Beijing this morning,I had a 6 hour lay-over in Shanghai and another 3 hours in Atlanta. By the time I hit the Austin shuttle area, I was tired and not happy to be pushed around. We had to take the shuttle designated for our area. Our first shuttle pulled up behind another one and, even though we had been standing there for 10 minutes, a large group of latecomers pushed past us and filled the shuttle. Oh well, another one would come along in a while, I thought. Our group waited patiently, having all been pushed aside the first time. The next shuttle came and stopped in front of another one, so we had to walk back to the previous part of the stop for our designated shuttle. All the latecomers pushed past us again, but I had been well-trained in China. I made it on to the 2nd one, feeling very sad that I had to behave in that manner.

I was home by midnight and now have to get my biorhythms straightened around.

Posts with photos to follow over the next few days.