OK, I decided to stay calm. Nothing you can do. I'm trapped on the runway and I was hoping the pilot can make up the time in the air. We landed in Chicago and of course, all the other flights were delayed with the exception of the Shanghai flight. I started to think...does this mean that Matthew and I have to stay in Chicago for a night without any clothes AGAIN? Not if I could help it. I wasn't going to have a repeat of what happened to us in June.
I called American Airlines and they were able to get us on a flight to Shanghai via Tokyo and we would arrive Monday night at 9:30 PM in Shanghai. OK- no choice. I either take that or have to stay the night in Chicago. Wait....what about my luggage? The American Airlines representative told me "I requested that your luggage get pulled and you can rest assured it will arrive into Shanghai when you arrive." Gee, thanks. That was easy.
Matthew and I ran for the plane and fourteen hours later, we arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo. I had to straighten out the mess about our boarding passes and I even inquired about our luggage again. I was assured by the representative at Japan Airlines (the plane we were transferring to) that the luggage will arrive in Shanghai. We spent two hours killing time by wandering around the airport and we were very happy that our flight left on time for Shanghai.Matthew and I were waiting by the carousel ready to pull all the luggage, when we realized that there weren't any new pieces going on the belt and many people had already left. That meant NO LUGGAGE FOR US. I had to break into my Mandarin and ask where I would file a report about the six pieces of missing luggage. Luckily, I was able to dig deep into my brain and make it work again since it's been two months since I've had to use it. Filed the report, had a reunion with Tony at the airport and we were well on our way home. Total time for the journey to Shanghai from door to door: 29 1/2 hours. Priceless.
