Turnpikes and Nonsense

So, I went to Virginia this past weekend. I had not gone on a full blown trip with the Jeep, yet. All I know is that around Pittsburgh it takes more gas than I think is possible in that vehicle...

Anyway - I bit the bullet... sucked it up... and drove to Middletown, VA for a job fair. Six school districts were in attendance and there is a band opening in one of them - most of the others don't know their openings yet, and, as usual, it's always changing.

Anyway - I had tried to prepare to make this trip by myself, but GPS's are amazing at a couple of things:
1. Keeping me NOT lost.
2. Keeping me lazy and in the dark about exactly where I'll be driving until I'm in the car following the GPS.

I woke up at 4am. Not pretty (especially considering I worked until 11pm the night before) and looked somewhat alive, and ready to go and in the car by 5am. Then it took me 12 minutes to figure out why the GPS couldn't load the trip to VA... but, all is well. Learned something new!

And I was off! In the dark. Listening to Brian Regan, Savage Garden and Sara Bareilles.

And before I know it I'm pulling up to the Pennsylvania Turnpike... which is a toll road.

"Eh, how expensive can using this toll road be?" I thought to myself as I grabbed the ticket.

Then my GPS kindly reminded me I'd be on it for 105 miles.... fyi still not too bad but more than I expected.

After realizing the additional expense I started doing math in my head. And I have a confession -- I'm pretty good with mental math, but I have this annoying habit of over simplifying just so I don't get myself in trouble. It's when $14.50 gets rounded up to $20.00. And before I know it... I'm poor and I shouldn't have gotten on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. This is utter nonsense, mind you... 

And I look down at my gas gauge. Full. Good. As it should be.

So I was driving along and I remembered to reset my trip mileage... thingy. And I went about 10 more miles than the last time I had looked and evaluated my gas gauge. Still Full

Good. As it should be.

 Still on the Pennsylvania Turnpike... chuckling at Brian Regan:

"It's Carol-INE, Brian. Well, my name is BrrrriOn!"

Maybe had gone another 10 miles and I looked down at the gas gauge and... huh, I'm down two "clicks" (you know, those stupid little I-don't-know-whats in between the things that are really important like 3/4 of a tank or 1/2 of a tank). 

I only went 10 miles. *insert my nonsensical mental math here*

Oh my gosh. I'm going to have to fill it up like THREE TIMES!

So I proceed to watch my gas gauge literally go down to almost 3/4 of a tank in a grand total of 25 minutes. Or something like that. Way too fast, right!? I was still on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and there were signs letting me know that the next stop for gas was in like 80 miles. Then I start freaking out about the TOLL! So I looked on my toll ticket and got just a touch more annoyed at life.

I will have no money.

Here's the kicker. This is how my gas gauge works, apparently. Because more than 120 miles later, past the Pennsylvania Turnpike, through a marginal part of West Virginia, and in a very rural part of Virginia... I had a little bit more than half a tank left.

Good. As it should be.

In the Pitt

Warning: I have recently developed an addiction to those stupid pictures that are all over facebook and I can't help but incorporate the same idea into this blog. One, because I think it's funny. And Two, let's face it... I'm not that original.

So... it's been a while. A little over three months. I don't really know where to start but I do know that if there is such a thing that resembles a universal list of reasons to do things and reason to not do things I want to add these reasons if they are not currently already there:

Not Approved Reasons:
- Because of someone else.

Approved Reasons:

- Moving forward... even though it feels like there's an imaginary fist twisting my heart in my chest.
- Because the alternative makes me want to vomit.

I guess these are left up to individual opinions and circumstances. But I think they may be pretty universal. I've recently developed some more pet peeves as well. The reigning pet peeve is still: Cell phones during rehearsal. Makes the conductor turn into something that looks like this:

Not. Good. My last three band directors (current one in Pittsburgh, SUU, and Barstow High) have had more than one crap attack over cell phones in rehearsal. Scary stuff let me tell you... makes me highly uncomfortable.

The new and very relative pet peeve: when people don't listen to what I say to them. Any more explanation is too annoying for me to want to type and too personal to share on the internet anyway. 

Along the same lines... I substitute teach in the PP Schools. For those of you who don't know, or perhaps needs reminding. I grew up in.... da da-da daaaaa..... Barstow, CA

 

And went to College in the very beautiful Cedar City, UT

Not big cities or metropolis' by any stretch of the imagination.

However, now, I live here: Pittsburgh, PA

The schools are just a wee bit different. Right off the bat, guys, if I wanted to I could work five days a week subbing. In Iron County I was told to not expect too many jobs.

Anyway, the point that I'm trying to make is - you know, it takes a special educator to work inner-city schools. It takes an even more special, or perhaps, more desperate, human being to want to sub inner-city schools for longer than what is absolutely necessary.

I say this all, and think of all the really good schools I've seen. But my first two experiences were down right frightening. And every time I sub kids in high school all I hear is the F-bomb and the African American students in the room referring to themselves and their friends as "niggas."  
I can't stand that.  

Both words make my ears want to BLEED and the double standard on the second is too much for me to handle...

All Day. And some of the students get really pissed at me for getting on their case about it. Some students have attempted to turn it around on me. Which they don't get away with or succeed at. And others give me an excuse that seriously makes me sad for them "We're black... you can't ask us not to talk like that."

When that happens I usually try to just breathe. But honestly, I think at THAT particular comment I rolled my eyes.

On a more positive note (I get here eventually) I do like my job at Barnes and Noble. My co-workers are very kind and fun people. I've had a couple of rough shifts, but for the most part I do not have a problem whatsoever. Ignoring a few bumps in the road with getting recommendation for licensure from SUU... things are going well on that front currently. 

You know, I feel like this has been a rather depressing blog, but the last five months or so have been rather depressing. And if I look back as far as my student teaching I was kind of depressed then, too. Don't get me wrong... my student teaching is such a bright spot when I think about college and well... anything after May 2011. But when I would get home from student teaching... it sucked. *shrugs*

To be perfectly honest I find myself thinking about last Spring and how I couldn't wait for the semester to end... couldn't wait to graduate. Am I a freaking idiot? *shakes head* I do, however, have hope (in fact I'm really confident in this) that I will be able to find a job somewhere and I'll be doing something I want to do. Something that has some forward direction. 

Ha... I've been terminating a lot of stuff lately... 

I'm really looking forward to going to Virginia next weekend. I'm going to a career fair and will see some family. I don't really want to pay for the gas, but doing something like that is really just an investment into finding a job. Gotta do what I gotta do. 

And at the end of the month, the same day as BRANDON! (LOL) I am taking the cotton pickin' PLT... FINALLY. Grew tired of asking my parents for financial support. It's also just a big pain in the butt. Oddly enough though, the job fair and the prospect of having to study and take that last Praxis test... I'm finding it very calming. 

Probably because it's familiar... haven't had too much of that lately... 

A few weeks ago I felt like I had a routine going and time was passing quickly and things were rolling. Then I had to... well. That's not important. 

And now that I have efficiently rambled on and on and on... I think I'm done :)

See Ya, 2011, Wouldn't Want to Be Ya!

Alright so... it's been a while!

First of all: It's 2012! Yay! Because, let me tell you...

As freaking awesome as 2011 started out... most of it was filled with some of the most rough experiences I've ever had. Hope no one cares but... I refuse to elaborate on it. :)

I had this idea the other day to write a post of a list of things that I really loved about 2011 and the things that I really hated about 2011. Just to make it short, sweet and to the point.

I'll start with the negatives first (ha!) so we can end on a positive note shall we?

2011 Downs:

1. The alienation that happens when one undergoes Student Teaching. We understand that university life is busy, but we didn't fall off the face of the earth either.
2. Gossip. Oh, how us young adults think we know EVERYTHING!
3. The DRIVE from Southern California to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by way of Allen, Texas. Seeing the grandparents made it WORTH it... but not necessarily a highlight.
4. My car accident and my little run-in with it's alternator.
5. The changes in my family dynamics.
6. I can't trust everyone. Lesson learned. But also, I can't live my life with an inherent distrust of other human beings.
7. I used to think I could tell anything to my friends. My friendships, quite honestly, have grown more complicated in the last year than I ever wanted.
8. The disappointments. Big and small. By December, and even now, I can hardly cope with the small ones. 
9. People talk. A lot.
10. My health from October - November.

2011 Ups:

1. My Sr. Recital. Was awesome, if I say so myself. I let some of my friends "dress me up" (shout out to Kelsie Stapley) and I loved my repertoire, and I had a good night that night. *bows* thank you :)

2. Graduation. This is a complicated one if the truth be told. I am grateful for my degree, and I graduated with Honors, but... it lost some of it's zing. Too much crap, as mentioned above. But, on the much brighter side... wouldn't have wanted to graduate with any body else. I love you guys: Nicole, Mike, Brandon, Tana, Randy, Gerry! And the vocalists which my memory is fuzzy about... sorry :(

3. China. The production of the Helen Foster Snow Project was truly unforgettable. I can't imagine having gone with anyone other than (except perhaps, Coley :( ): Heather, Mike, Tashina, Lydia, and Joe. And of course, Dr. V, Dr. Bradshaw, and Xun Sun. I can't believe we spent almost the entire month of July in China, guys. Even now!

4. Student Teaching with Lauralyn Anderson! I was nervous about my student teaching, especially because I wasn't too familiar with Canyon View Middle School's program. But, I had a freaking blast and I got a wonderful friend out of it :) One who helped me through that time of living in Cedar. Really, without her I would've been much more of a wreck. And trust me, I was one.

 5. The Mario Nights with Brandon, Mike and Nicole. And these include dancing to Michael Jackson (and, Mike, working on the TWS) I have NEVER seen four more well suited, yet completely ridiculous, individuals playing the New Super Mario Bros Wii and beating it... while screaming and uttering profanities at each other...
6. Kelsie and Eric's wedding, although I was not present. And Candy's and Kris' wedding!
7. Brandon getting a job.
8. Moving, although this does not include to drive, to Pittsburgh.
9. Finding a new branch of our family tree :) Pellums!


While it's very obvious that 2011 had amazing moments, I am not sad to see it pass. Because, to be brutally honest... the rough patches have been very rough and long-living. The good stuff was really good, let me tell ya, but not enough to offset everything else.

Cheers to 2012. I have a good feeling about this....

My Letter to Cedar City

Before I Begin: I've spent the better part of the last six weeks not in Cedar City. Also, I have spent the better part of the last ten minutes attempting to disarm the smoke alarm in my roommate's room. It wouldn't stop chirping. I was freaking out...

Oh, and this is obviously not a China Trip Blog - but I still have one more blog about that trip. Just not in the mood to elaborate on that particular thing tonight.

Note: I got this idea when I was driving back up here from Barstow. I had stopped listening to the radio and it was silent in my car from the north side of the Virgin River Gorge and I was tired, and slightly cranky from driving. And hot because my AC doesn't work. I mean everything in this letter, but it actually doesn't bother me after I arrive in my apartment and get on with life. At least... the more important things in life. But I thought it could be a very entertaining blog - to document some of my RIDICULOUS thoughts on the way up late Sunday night. :)

Dear Cedar City,
    First of all, in all my drives back and forth between here and Barstow I have yet to not lose my patience between St. George and here. I've never been able to go up those steeper inclines on my cruise control - and I freaking hate when I lose momentum and then have to manually control my speed while climbing. Because I suck at it, and I'm so ready to be done by this point. But Sunday night I thought I could make it -- but there was road construction. Really? That very well may have been my last drive up here for ANYTHING. Ever. Ever think about that, Cedar, huh? Maybe you should collaborate with St. George and think about fixing this problem. Like ban all the really old people from driving post road construction...
   Also, this is the only city I've ever driven in where the streets are so smooth. I actually really love that about you, Cedar - your streets are always in great condition. But, you see... those things that the Ninja Turtles climb out of and use as a sewage traveling are every block right where my left tires are usually aligned. Because, you see, there're cars parked along the curb, and so I can't exactly get much closer to them to avoid these sewage things. And then if I swerved the other way I'd be facing oncoming traffic. So I'm left with no choice than to let my left tires endure constant bumps - so my question is: why is the street so much higher than those stupid lids that cover whatever it is that they cover? And why can't they be in the dead center of the street? Where no one will hit them on a consistent basis...
   Oh! And why does Hamilton Fort completely psych me out into thinking it's Cedar? And one of those mile markers is WRONG! I don't care what anyone says.
    Why are you called a Mountain-Desert? It only confuses the citizens of this very beautiful city. It tricks the natives into thinking you are actually more of a desert, than a mountain. You are not a desert. At least not just a desert. Let's be honest here, Cedar, you get water throughout the summer (not often, but throughout) and you snow. You also have... greenery. Beautiful red soil, unforgettable sunsets, gorgeous thunder storms, and GREENERY. Have you met my dear old friend, Barstow? Let people see the whole you. Your "Mountain" side, if you will. It's sexier...
    You are the home, Cedar, of the off-ramp that gives me vertigo every time. Every. Single. Time. You should be proud, because I usually stop in Mesquite and then have to deal with the insane hairpin turn of an on-ramp -- but I don't experience the wonderful feeling of vertigo until I get off at your first exit. Then I can't seem to manage to "feel" the 45 mph speed limit for those precious blocks on Main Street. Which reminds me, you really need to take a look at why your speed limits are what they are....
   I appreciate your clean air and blue skies, Cedar. I spent three weeks away from you and missed you terribly. But unfortunately when I'm here again, I want to be gone again. Do you know why that is Cedar? I bet you do. Take a look at the people who are here, and the people who are not. Thank you for keeping so many people I love employed, schooled, and otherwise stuck here in the little city that is so charmingly Cedar. However, I can't help but want you to be something you're just not. It's not you... it's me...
    Along with the people, I appreciate the University here, and the professor's I was so lucky to work with. I do... deep down, truly love you, Cedar. But I'm kind of coming to the end of my rope. But will always look back at my time spent getting to know you very fondly. I've grown up in so many ways because of the opportunities you have afforded me. Location can be everything. And I have, overall, loved being here. 
   But I thought I was going to die the other night when I was driving and couldn't see the lines defining the lanes at times. You could adopt the idea of bot-dots from Vegas that glow when my lights shine on them and let me know that I am, indeed, not going to die because I'm in a lane. Also -- I can't find a radio station that plays Rock Music - just like a million that play Country. This... is a problem. 


But I love you. Despite the things that drive me crazy when I drive here... 


Love, Katy

Food and French Kissing (China Trip Part 3)

I've always been a fan of card games, and food. They usually go together, but in this trip it was more like we played cards probably as a sense of normalcy, and a reason to stay in air conditioned facilities.

We were fed in the same compound as we went to rehearse. By the time we got there the dancers had already set up some sort of routine with the really sweet and nice Chinese ladies who cooked two meals a day for us (lunch and dinner). Among my favorites were the Shrimp and Broccoli, any type of bread (lol), the fruit, and honestly, I couldn't even make up names for some of the dishes I really liked but wasn't really sure what was in it. Most of the food that was brought to us was delicious.

Chopsticks.
Never again will I go three weeks where I use chopsticks at almost every meal. I got it down-ish, eventually! The food over there almost needs to be eaten with chopsticks... haha

We did have breakfast at a different place than lunch and dinner: The Hotel.

The last time I went out of the country, was to Australia, and I remember relying on the fact that they would serve toast at breakfast almost anywhere we went. I don't have toast in the States very often - I have Cereal for breakfast.... but I love toast out of the country.

And in the Hotel, we were served a boiled egg, corn, yogurt, hot water, sausages and two pieces of toast every morning... mostly. I liked it all but never was in the mood for corn that early in the morning...

But I did like to take people's toast. But sometimes I had the guts to ask for more. However, no matter how much I pantomimed or pointed... I was very rarely successful in asking for more. It was kind of depressing.

Oh, and orange spread... disgusting. :P

The most interesting experience, at least as far as food goes, was when the musicians all went to the Hunan Province and were treated to two very amazing meals of ... I couldn't really tell you. I do know that among what is on the table in the next picture is at least two parts of the duck I would never even think to make into food. Mike and I had a bit of hard time. I was trying mostly everything. My eyes were watering, I probably looked flushed. And I very rarely went back for seconds on anything. BUT - I could tell these things were acquired tastes... and then you love them, you know? Really good Chinese food!

And, I don't think this will surprise anyone, Mike lasted until just a little bit after this trip (a little more than halfway through the stay) before he wanted salt, sugar and soda.

I must've learned like seven card games I didn't know previously when I was there. Joe knows a lot of card games, let me tell you.

My favorites were playing Phase 10 with Dr. Bradshaw because he got probably one of his first glimpses at my ridiculously competitive card playing side. I find great enjoyment in "going out" when hardly anyone has phased :).

We (as in mostly me, Lydia, Joe and Mike) played Hearts, Five Crowns, Rummy, Lucky Unders, and Rich Man Poor Man (some people call it "Scum"). There was a point in the trip, however, where we played with Heather and Tashina a little bit more often. I don't think either of them like cards that much...

BUT - we were playing Rich Man Poor Man and Lydia was trying to help out and would shuffle the cards that were no longer being used to play. I don't know how many rounds we went before we all realized that Tashina was passing just to pass. So one of us asked why she wasn't participating and she says....

"Lydia shuffled my HAND!"

I guess she couldn't play after her hand was shuffled away... :)

Not to mention that I couldn't get Joe out of Lydia's and my room sometimes. It'd be close to midnight, and we were all a bit jet lagged and Joe turns to me and asks "Am I a truck?" and just... starts... cracking up!

Apparently that question is only funny when you get to a certain point of exhaustion. Which Joe obviously was.

Alright before I go on I must mention that I roomed with Lydia. We had a good time. But like... the third night or something like that I apparently was sleep talking... asking her if she was okay, and then mumbling about being in China and getting killed or hurt or something.

I have no recollection of this. Obviously. Because I was sleep talking.

And Joe roomed with Mike - who kept him up with his snoring. Poor guy...

One of our favorite games by the end of the trip was Lucky Unders... which we had nicknames for mostly every part of that game:

Normal - Us
Unders - Panties
Overs - Bras
Hand - Hand (okay yeah we couldn't think of something stupid here hahaha)
Lucky Unders - Dirty Underwear

And when we dealt it was always an adventure...

We also played Rich Man Poor Man as a group of six including: Me, Joe, Lydia, Dr Bradshaw, Dr. Vartan and Mike.

Dr. V is insanely good at this game and there was ONE TIME... when I was sitting Queen under her as the King, and I had three of the four Jokers. I had played one already... and then decided to take control of the round and took like two Aces or something away from her and totally threw off her entire game play. She was stuck with like... one three or something like that. I'll never forget being told MULTIPLE times by Dr. V that she would never forget when I played my two Jokers and totally screwed her up... LOL

The conversation during the card games were also hilarious. One night stands out to me in particular because we were in the Hunan Province and I succumbed to staying up till 3am so that Joe could bother me to his heart's content....

We played through most of our card games and the subject found it's way to French Kissing and how Mike has yet to do it, and (since I kind of forgot what Joe's take on it was hahaha, I think he mostly talked about how he married Britania) I didn't understand how Lydia doesn't like it because I do!!

We all bonded that night. It was good because we weren't prying. Prying is irritating...

Just as a closer - there was a point when Lydia was trying to teach Heather Patty Cake which I found hilarious!

And the morning we were getting ready to leave for the airport to go home, Lydia had a conversation that went a little like this...

Katy: "Ugh, I won't miss this lighting..."
Lydia: "Yeah... florescent coming downward..."
Katy: "Yeah... coming from the topward?"

Topward?!

Under Hot Conditions (China Part Two)

Before I begin I have one question: How DEAD do I look in this picture?

I title this picture: "Jet Lag"

(Look how blood shot my eyes are... oye)

I usually -- don't look that... strung out in the morning. Oh, but this was taken at like 4pm this afternoon. It's sexy... 

Anyway - so I have many a story about the whole musical aspect of the trip to China to share with all of you :)

Overall I thought the production went really really well. For those of you who don't know - we put on a Musical Drama with the Hubei Dance and Orchestra Company. It's titled, "The Dream of Helen" and is about Helen Foster Snow's compassion toward the Chinese people in the earlier part of the 1900s. 

When we arrived it wasn't long before we started rehearsing with the dancers. Like day three. And we were set up really oddly in the pit in the theatre. So instead of the brass on the side with the percussion, it was the woodwinds. So essentially -- I had the piccolo player, and Dr. Vartan on Timpani in the same ear and in the space less than three feet away from me. It was loud - especially with the composer (Lou) wanted us to play "A-thousand forte." I've never, in my life, been asked so many times... to play louder. Ever.

To make it even more... traumatizing (?), Dr. Vartan has this particular part toward the very very end of the production where she hits these two eighth notes at the end of the measure... for a while. It's super catchy, but super loud. It was rather jolting. And the Piccolo has these obscenely high trills (like sounding two octaves over anything else that is going on) during the nightmare part of the end of the show and... that was always so wonderful to hear. It's okay though -- I laughed on this inside because she did a really good job and I feel her pain.

We moved to the really nice theatre for a dress/tech rehearsal on the Friday and Saturday before we left to come back to the States. There's something about the people of Wuhan you need to understand. It's hot and humid. To me, almost unbearably so. And they won't turn the AC on until it's time to rehearse. So, if you're like Tashina, Heather and myself and want to run through some fast passages BEFORE rehearsal -- you're going to sweat half your body weight off... 

But my ultimate point is that when you've got a full orchestra in a pit and don't turn the AC on before we all cram in there... we're NEVER going to feel the air. Ever. We're just going to sweat, and blow hot air through the woodwinds and brass and then we're going to start stinking and we're going to be pissed off and we're not going to play our best. Poor brass guys and having to find partials... I was slipping on my instrument...

I've decided to get all my more depressing stories out of the way before I talk about the funny ones. The principle violist. Was a guy. And he had a really beautiful solo in one of the parts, but the composer decided to change it to a Cello solo -- for volume, richness of sound, whatever. And, something about that killed me!

There's something about his face, and his mannerism that caught me off guard a bit. He was so quiet, and he wasn't fidgety, but I could tell when he was uncomfortable because he would sort of play with his hands, or with his bow. And I would just want to cry -- and here's the weird part. He's a grown man, and he's probably just quiet and just going with the flow. This is the way the world works right? But he looked... so sad. It killed me...

And I'm just going to say this quickly - due to intense heat and another performance looming merely hours later -- we totally screwed up big time like three or four times during the Matinee performance the fourth day we were performing...

Sweat. We were like 60 sardines.

Oh -- not to mention the Stairs of Doom

One of the highlights, for me, was getting the opportunity to play the Native American Flute part on the Funeral March part of the production. I guess Helen's body guard dies, and the whole scene is just the N.A. Flute and Helen dancing and stuff like that. To keep with the symbolism of sharing our cultures, Lydia got to play a few parts on these flutes but I only played this particular one. It's sad, and depressing. It sighs but it's beautiful, too. I felt like I was milking it for all it's worth and I want to thank the other musicians from SUU who went too for their support and their compliments. I always looked forward to playing that.

On a funnier note, the Flute had to get passed from Lydia to myself in a matter of a few minutes. It went through about seven people before it would get to me and the person who handed it to me was always the first oboe player. He has a really good sense of humor. One night, he tried to hand me his oboe instead. I laughed, because I think it's very clever and funny. However, part of me panicked like "Um... give me the flute. Now."

Because I'm sort of intense like that.

And there was a night where it ended up in the Low Brass section to get passed... and they wanted to keep it.  Go figure. The BRASS PEOPLE messing with me! Even in China!

There was also this one part - where the Cello's totally grooved out to their part, which was just the beat. They drove the melody and other things that were going on right there. I think it was just accented, short, quarter notes. But ... haha... they loved every single second of it!!!! It was fun to watch....

One of my favorite quotes of the trip:

"Piccolos happen." - Mike

I Dug My Hole to China (China Trip Part 1)

So, while I was in China I had this thought a few times... remembering being a little girl and the saying about digging your way to China. Especially at the beach when I used to dig a hole that miraculously filled with water...

Anyway - I went to China. Flew there... didn't tunnel there.

But before I talk about our traveling experiences I would like to just give a huge shout out to Dr. Lynn Vartan. She was amazing to travel with and helped make an otherwise all around irritating experience very fun.

Flying to China is no small feat. By the way. Especially when there's a group of 6 - 7 people together and we all have various instruments to handle and keep an eye on. But traveling in a group of 6-7 musicians has the potential to be very uniquely entertaining.

For example...

We all had to meet in St. George at like 10:00am on July 8th to take the shuttle down to the Las Vegas airport. From what I remember that's not all that entertaining. We were all very excited - Mike hadn't slept the previous night. I was a little on edge about a few personal things, but all in all -- calm.

But Dr. Vartan definitely let us  know that we were going to be arriving in Las Vegas airport like four hours before our flight to LA took off and we probably wouldn't be able to check in.
... and she was correct.

We haul our stuff into the check-in line where there is this lady who's directing the people in the line... probably to prevent stupidness and get people through as fast as possible. Dr. Vartan let her know that our flight wasn't taking off for a while and then the strangest thing happened.

We were corralled for twenty minutes. We were directed out of line, but ended up enclosed in this box of those ropes they use to shape the lines -- you know what I mean? I wish I knew what those were called... 

We got a big kick out of that - especially because Joe started calling Dr. Vartan "Mother Hen" by that point. We were also all being sheep and a few sheep sounds escaped from some of us at that time.

Anyway - we get through the check in very seamlessly. Then we went through security... twice. We wanted good food - which was in a different terminal. That was interesting.

We also devised a system of Points. 

Point 1: Everyone arriving in St. George
Point 2: Arriving at our gate in Las Vegas
Point 3.1: Getting our luggage in LAX
         3.2: Meeting up with Tashina at LAX
         3.3: Checking into China Southern at LAX
         3.4: Finding our gate in LAX
Point 4.1: Go through some sort of passport check/immigration in Guangzhou
         4.2: Check in our luggage
         4.3: Get through security
         4.4: Find our gate
Point 5: Getting picked up in Wuhan

Those might not exactly be the point system we used at the time - but they work! The points are basically a count down until Dr. V was no longer responsible for us.

"They're here! They're alive! I'm done!" 
"One, two, three, four, five, six!" (before meeting up with Tashina)
"One, two, three, four, five, six... and Tashina" (after meeting up with Tashina)

But I can't forget about our experience in Guangzhou. We got off the international flight pretty quickly and we have to re-check-in our luggage. It's hard to remember exactly why, because the tags were already on them to go to Wuhan, but we had to pick them up and take them somewhere else.

Anyway, we're going with the flow with our luggage and we find the lines to give them our luggage. And everyone is a mob in the middle of the room and we're about to join them when Joe says, "Hey... nobody's in that line," and points to what seems to be the correctly labelled line. So we stand in it.

And end up making quite a few people pretty upset. I'll leave it at that.

Then we head to security. And all of the sudden... people start "merging." This didn't make a whole lot of sense to us until we drove in China. But in order to get through security without being "cut" like a million times, we had a formation. And we had to be quiet. And not laugh. And it was all very serious...

We had instruments to arm us... so it was okay.

And eventually Dr. V's responsibilities ended (at least until the trip back) and we were picked up in Wuhan and driven to the Logosun Hotel.

I have one question: How do the Chinese drive like that and why didn't I see any accidents during my entire stay there?

Now to talk about the trip back:

"Do you know how many points are between now and Vegas? LIKE  NINE!"

We traveled with Dean Mendini and the dancers on the way back, but still hovered around Dr. V and stayed pretty close. The trip from Wuhan to Guangzhou wasn't bad at all, but I swear I was going to kill somebody on the International flight back to LAX.

First of all (and this is going to be a rant - I gave you fair warning) I'm six feet tall. I'm also NOT the tallest person I know so there are more than enough tall individuals in the world to make airplanes that don't smash us!!! Seriously. 

Also - people in Asia are generally smaller. So I GUESS I understand... just a little bit... why I had no room. None. Worst international flight ever. 

I was on the aisle seat, with Heather to my left and then Lydia by the window. Lydia... the smallest of the three of us. ;)

And this is a thirteen hour flight and I sit down and I'm like "Uh-oh." Because my knees are already jamming into the seat in front of me... and our seat backs are still in their upright position and everything. What looked like an American, older couple sat in front of Heather and I. And as usual, the nanosecond they could recline... the guy in front of my reclined all the way. 

On a side note before I go on - I feel like I'm a pretty nice and easy going person. I have patience when I need it, which includes over 13 hour flights. 

I ended up purposefully digging my knee into this man's back when we wanted to see if his seat could recline even farther. Just trying to say "HELLO! I'M RIGHT HERE!"

I was so pissed like two hours into it. haha so mad...

But it eventually ended. Eventually. 

And then we had to RUN to our connecting flight to Las Vegas. Here is what we all accomplished in an hour and a half:

- got off the international flight

- went through passport check

- Grabbed our luggage (I had managed to get ahead of most of the musicians and grabbed their luggage, too)

- Went through the a baggage inspection thing before we left the terminal completely.

- Ran to the southwest terminal (and enjoyed the cleaner and cooler air fyi)

- Met up with three "lost" dancers (they really just kind of got left in the dust)

- Checked into our flight and had lime green "late" tags put on our luggage. It was at this point that Dr. V had to stay behind to help the three dancers with their stuff and I was handed the boarding passes for everyone... guess that put me in charge for a few minutes.

- Made it through security and found our gate. All of us. Right as they started boarding.

The flight to Vegas was the most chill flight ever. It's only 45 minutes -- so my question is:

Why did I have more room on that flight than on the international one?

Here is a picture of how happy Mike and I were about: ice in our water, toilet paper in the airplane bathroom, air conditioning blasting in our faces and regularly spoken English.

A few quotes from the State side part of this trip:

"Hey it's hot... but not like in Chiiiina!" - Dr. Vartan

"We've started our initial descent into Las Vegas which means in about ten minutes we will have to collect your trash. That means your drinks, so start drinking your drinks. Thank you *awkward laughter*" - The Pilot

"Trash? Trash? Is everyone doing alright? Everyone doing okay? Trash?" - Flight Attendant.

 AAAAND Mike had a row to himself and had all three vents for the air conditioning pointed at him. LOL

And that's the end of the story