Jet lag is a mysterious thing. Not only are you sleepy and tired at a different time of day that normal, but your senses are all confused, too.
Friday morning after breakfast, I was quite tired. I brushed my teeth and rinsed with my mouthwash. After a few moments, I realized, “This doesn’t taste right!”
“Oh no! Shampoo!”
Talk about foaming at the mouth!
Mr. Wood
The gentleman from the Connecticut State Department of Education who organizes the Connecticut Shandong Sister Schools and all the travel related to that program is Dan Gregg.
Dan arrived in Beijing a few days before we did and met us at the airport. Our arrival today is Dan’s birthday, so we celebrated with a Chinese Birthday cake.
We learned many things from our guide as we traveled to the hotel for the first time yesterday. One thing we learned is that Beijing, like most cities, must conserve both electricity and water because they are in short supply.
Our hotel has a truly ingenious method for conserving electricity. We were issued a key card for entry to our room. Upon entering the room, we discovered there is no electricity. In order to have electricity in the room, we have to insert the key card in a slot, and presto, the electricity comes on.
Now here’s the ingenious part. When we leave the room, we need the keycard with us to get back in. One minute after taking the key card from the slot, the electricity in the room goes off again until we return. No forgotten lights. No television left on.
Key Card turns on Electricity
Energy Conservation. Clean and simple. Let’s try this America.
Mr. Wood
9:45 PM EDT
Our flight is just crossing the coast of Russia. Seberia! It is hard to tell whether we are actually over land or ocean. It is still all WHITE.
I suspect that we are over land because the cracks have disappeared. (not just because the tracking systems says so). Also, there seems to be some texture to the white, as if there is land beneath the snow. Also, occasionally there a brown spots on the snow.
Siberia looks like a very cold place, just as its reputation indicates.
See more photos of Siberia in the Gallery under Travel.
I’m getting a bit tired of being on this plane. Only five and a half hours to go. 
Mr. Wood
8:20 PM EDT
We just crossed the International Date Line, so I was watching out the window carefully. I took a picture at the time we crossed, so I think I have a photo of the line. Just one problem: It looks the same as all the other lines I’ve been seeing in the ice since we have been over the Arctic Ocean. 
I am a bit confused, so I could use your help. You can respond in a comment. [Reminder: If you are an elementary or middle school student, please ask permission from your parent or teacher before registering to send a comment.]
Here’s my confusion:
We just crossed the International Date Line. It was about 8:00 PM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time). That makes it about 1:00 PM at the Line. As we approached the line, it was Wednesday, April 8 back in Connecticut. When I crossed the Line, is it now tomorrow? Or is it now yesterday?
When I return to Connecticut and cross the Line again, what happens? Do I arrive back in Connecticut before I left, or something crazy like that?
Who can help me here?
Xiexie,
Mr. Wood
7:40 PM EDT
We are currently due north of Fairbanks, Alaska over the Arctic Ocean. This is another one of those things I never expected to see. It looks like solid ice with huge cracks that have refrozen.
I am seated on the left side of the plane, so the sun is shining into the windows on my side of the plane. If we are traveling east and the sun is directly to my left. how can that be? I’ll leave that for you to think about.
The temperature outside the plane is -58 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet the window of the plane is hot. The sun us very intense and the window shades are all down because it is blinding.
We’ve traveled about 3000 miles in almost 6 hours. What’s our approximate average speed?
Fascinating!
Photos from north of the Acrtic Circle
Ziajian.
Mr. Wood
4:02 PM EDT
As I am writing this, we took off from Chicago 2 hours and 8 minutes ago and we are flying over the western most part of Hudson Bay. This is a first for me that I had not expected. I remember learning about Hudson Bay in elementary school, but have never seen it. Well I still can’t see it. There are too many clouds, but a least I know that it is there.
Our current altitude is 32000 feet and our speed is 545 mph. and we’ve traveled about 1210 miles of the 6579 miles from Chicago to Beijing.
Wow! A small break in the clouds so I just snapped a two pictures of the ice floating in Hudson Bay!!! I can’t believe I saw it!
4:12 PM EDT
I think we are now due east of Churchill, Manatoba. The ice in the bay is not solid, it is broken into large flows with cracks between the flows. I always thought it would be a solid mass like a lake frozen over in the winter.
How am I determining our location?
We are flying in a Boeing 777. In the back of the seat in front of me is a small screen on which I can watch the flight tracking. It gives me a map, details of our speed, location, altitude, and estimated travel time to Beijing.
Soon, we will leave Hudson Bay behind and begin traveling over the Yukon, I think. I’m having a bit of difficulty remembering exactly what is where in northern Canada, and the maps isn’t labeled.
ziajian,
Mr. Wood
{This won’t be posted until I have Internet access in Beijing.)
Today I have spent a long time on airplanes and it has been a great experience. The first flight from Hartford to Chicago was a quick two hours. I had a nice aisle seat and no one sitting next to me. THere were a few television shows to watch on the overhead monitors while we flew to Chicago. We had a short layover in Chicago at O’Hare airport. We were able to have a quick lunch and walk around to stretch our legs before the long flight to Beijing. The layover time went by quickly and soon we were boarding the plane to Beijing.
I found out the importance of getting an aisle seat and being in an exit row for a long flight. During long flights you need to get up and walk around frequently to keep you legs from cramping up and keep your blood flowing to your legs. Being in an aisle set allows you to get up and not disrupt the other people in your row. One option when you are an adult is to sit in an exit row. Sitting in an exit row means that you would help the flight attendants open the exit door in case of an emergency. The benefit for taller people, like Mr. Wood and I, sitting in an exit row is there is more leg room! In my case, there is large space in front of me where I can stand up and move around without going to far away from my seat. The bad news is I am right by the bathrooms and there are usually people standing around waiting to use the restroom. Mr. Wood wasn’t as lucky to sit in an exit row but we have been visiting with each other frequently as we take “laps” around the plane to stretch. Oh well, Flat Mr. C and I are enjoying the extra legroom!
The other nice feature of this plane is that I have my own little television screen that I can watch movies on or track the progress of our flight. We have the choice of watching five different movies. All the movies are in english and have chinese subtitles but some have a chinese audio track. I just watched Marley and Me. It was a good movie but not as good as the book! Speaking of books, I have already read one entire book today on the plane.
I at this point we have been flying for over six hours, hopefully we have reached the halfway mark! We just were served our snack of Chinese noodles. The man sitting next to me helped me make them just right! I was also able to eat the noodles with chopsticks at 32,000 feet. I think I am getting the hang of using them to eat, which is good because I don’t think I will be using a knife and fork for a while now.
***Side note: I know that this post won’t go up till later but right now we are about to go over Russia and have already crossed the international dateline.
Zaijian,
Mr. Crawford