The Torch

The Torch:
They initially told us we had to leave the hotel and be checked out by 8. Then they said 6:30 but we did not have to check out, great. We will be able to come back and shower before going to the plane. Please take note of this point.  At 5:50 my alarm goes off. I get up to find the hotel shrouded in fog. Cool. Cannot see a thing.  We get dressed. I call to Kang Kang. I turn on the lights. I make noise. Nothing. I say, "Kang Kang, torch day." He is up in a flash. We dress in our suits and head down for a very quick breakfast.  Then it is off to the bus. There are 5 runners, assorted guests and Samsung folks on our van.  The other runners are all Samsung US executives.  I am not sure when and where the Canadians were but they had asked for us to go in the morning so we could make our flight. We drive for quite awhile and end up at Fudong University campus. It is all new and beautifully done. Along the way we see people lined up to watch, lots of flags, banners, tee shirts. When we get there we are driven to a hall where the runners go inside and everyone else waits outside. Inside there are a couple of class rooms used as a place for your stuff but men and women have separate ones.  We all get numbers. You get the torch flame from your previous number and pass it to the next higher number.  In the group of perhaps 100 people there were precisely 4 non Chinese. Three from our group and one, blond, Australian woman.  She stood out. The other two in our group were actually Americans of Chinese origin. They said Kang Kang could not come with me, which made him very sad.  After a few minutes I went out to check on him and he was upset so I picked him up and asked someone inside who spoke English to explain our situation. They did and what appeared to be the senior official there said he had to phone and ask the higher up. Whether or not he did I do not know but they quickly said Kang Kang could come with me on the bus but not on the run. We took what we could get.

We all lined up and headed towards our respective buses.  We drove for a bit and then sat, parked for over an hour. At least there was air conditioning. Poor Nancy had her kids by the side of the road where they remained for three hours.  On the bus they gave out the torch so Kang Kang was able to get ours. They gave long and detailed instructions. All in Chinese. No English.  I look bewildered. The blond woman pays no attention. Someone with some English explains what they are saying.  Eventually we slowly drive to the route where we follow another bus that is spitting people out, one at a time, every 100 feet or so. Then they run out of people and so our bus starts spitting people out. Kang Kang and I get out at point 89 and he joins Nancy who is there waiting. The police man at this point was quite upset about this kid who appeared from nowhere but got over it it seemed.  There were two very young men standing facing the street with their arms at their sides. I stood facing them. They were stoic and did not flinch even when I tried to smile and engage them. The streets were barricaded and lined with people cheering, waving flags etc. I turned in all directions, posing for photos as I held the torch. Although Nancy had been placed at my exact spot, the two "body guards" (half my size) and various other officials essentially blocked the view. They would have been better across the street where I could not speak to people but they would have had a better view but there was no chance of moving.  After a few minutes a few sponsor floats went by and then the runners started appearing down the way. Someone came over and unlocked my torch to start the gas flow and then the previous runner showed up. We passed the flame and off I went. I was kept to the middle of the road so the camera truck in front of me could get photos. The whole thing took maybe one minute, if that. I passed the flame to the next person, someone came and locked my gas so the flame went out, another bus was there, I jumped on, someone opened the torch and took out the gas canister and then gave me back the torch.  Once we had picked up all the people we went back to the meeting point and were sent back in. We were given a boxed lunch, which I did not eat and then Samsung picked us up, and we went to get Nancy and the kids.  Kang Kang was quite disappointed he did not get to do the run part but they seemed quite adamant about no kids around the fire and he did get to do far more than they were originally willing to allow. He is cute.

Then back to the hotel, maybe a 35 minute drive, We seem to have about an hour to eat, shower, finish packing and get to the desk for a drive to the airport. We decide to eat first. Remember, breakfast was long ago and very brief. We eat. Great dessert bar. I speak to the woman at the Samsung desk and say I do not think we will be ready for 1:15, more like 1:30. Oh no, takes a long time to get to the airport. Our flight is at 5:15 or so. The airport is about an hour. I did the math. I figured even with traffic, no problem.   She says definitely be down by 1:30. 5 minutes after we get up she calls and says she has just been told roads around the hotel will close in a few minutes, I knew a portion of the torch run was being done in the area and so I believed her. No showers. Stuffed everything into suitcases as fast as we could and get downstairs, very stressed. About the no showers? It was about 85 degrees and hot out there.  Showers were needed.  I say to her, surprising that they only gave the hotel a few minutes notice they were closing the roads. Well, it turns out they were closing them a few blocks away so maybe traffic around the hotel would be affected. Maybe it would but that was a lie. My novel says in China, only speak 30% of the truth. Well, she did.  We got to the airport at just the right time,  Check in is from 2:10 –4:10. How is that for precision? Since it starts at 2:10 and we arrive around 2:20, you can imagine the line. Everyone on the flight is in line ahead of us. And so we stand, sweat, wait and try and manoeuver three full luggage carts and one fully loaded double stroller.  By the time we reach the front of the line there is no line behind us since everyone came for 2:10. Note to self- aim for 3:10 next time.  Got all our bags checked in. Bought some last minute pandas and tee shirts. Kang Kang chose an orange shirt with a Chinese character the shop person said stood for "loud.: He thought that was great. Her English or our hearing was not so good as when he got to school on Monday his grade 1 teacher told us it said "Love." Well, that made more sense to me but he was disappointed.

Flight home was uneventful. Jet lag persists.  Oh yeah, the $36 ice creams. There was a Movenpick stand near the gate.I ask about price and am told 30 yuan per. Expensive at about 4 dollars but okay. Somehow, by the time we  each orderd an ice cream the bill came to $36. Not sure how, Nancy was dealing with them by then as all the Chinese people were lined up to get on the plane (even though it was 15 minutes before boarding time as it turned out) and I darn well wanted to ensure we got on with the pre-boarding group. This is important when you are seated near the front of the plane as otherwise, all the space in the overhead compartments is gone and your bags end up scattered and far from you. I tell you, getting settled for a long haul flight is a competition sport, and I have a gold medal. On a flight from China there is some very tough competition. North American rules do not apply. Remember even seat belts are a rarity in China.