I'm HOME!!! FINAL POST!

So, I'm finally home! Most of you already know this.

Well, my trip home was terrible! First, my flight was delayed, as said in my previous post. Well, I had to wake up at 4 am to catch my shuttle to the airport. I did not sleep but for an hour that night. So I went two nights with about three hours of sleep total. Which, I could deal with hoping that I could sleep on the plane.

I got to the airport and stood in line for about three hours. As soon as it was my turn up at the desk the system shut down. Of course. So, I finally got checked in 30 minutes before my flight was supposed to leave, so I ran through the MASSIVE Beijing airport and got on the train to take me to the gate. I got to the gate and they hadn't even began boarding yet. So, I stood there for about 30 more minutes before finally getting on board.

There were a TON of athletes on the flight. I was sitting on the aisle, beside one of the USA Rowers that won Gold. Luckily, no one was in the middle so I had to room to spread out a little! So, I felt better knowing there were athletes on the plane because I am thoroughly convinced that they are the second safest people to fly with -- next to the President.

So, the take off was a little crazy for me because I had heard about the two plane crashes earlier in the week. So that along with my flight being delayed because of "Mechanical Adjustments" really messed with my head. But the flight was great! It was really smooth and peaceful. The movies sucked terribly and I only watched the one right before we got to DC. I did not sleep but for about two hours, but it really was not that bad. I didn't feel like I was in the air for about 12.5 hours.

One of my favorite parts of this trip was looking out the windows while we were going over the Polar Ice Caps. On the way back it was incredible because it was with the sunrise. Absolutely phenomenal! The ice was white and sparkling, there were clouds just kind of dusted below and the sun was rising which made the clouds look a pinkish, orange. It was one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen -- or will see, probably, ever!

Anyway, flight was alright. Food was terrible. Whatever. They lost my bags!

I got through customs and found that my bags were not there. They said if they weren't that they were in Chicago. How? I don't know. So, they said to go on through and my bags would be waiting for me in Raleigh. So, during my three hour layover, I called people and let them know that I was home. Well, as I was texting my friend Anna, who was picking me up at the airport, I became scared out of my mind.

I have pre-decisive text. So, as I'm typing it tries to guess what I'm saying. It's incredibly accurate -- my favorite feature on my phone. Well, as I was telling her what flight I was I got a little scare. I typed in United 459. As I was going to type in "Bags lost in Chicago, don't come in to baggage claim" I accidentally pressed a wrong button and my pre-decisive text said this: "United 459 crashes". I freaked out.

The take off was horrendous and my plane was extremely old. The seats wouldn't even lock in place on the floor. I was thoroughly convinced I was going to crash. But, I didn't. Obviously.

Got to Raleigh and immediately went to Wendy's where I ordered my FAVORITE Chicken Sandwich. Took one bite and about threw up because of all the grease. So, what a waste of money. But I got home and all was great. Except, still no bags.

My bags were not in Chicago. They were actually put on the next DC flight which left seven hours later... which was delayed about three hours. So they asked if I could stay up from Midnight-4 am that night to wait for my bags. I said yes, just hoping to get my stuff. So, I hadn't slept in nearly two days and I stayed up completely until 4 am. No bags.

I did get my bags the next evening though and everything was in tact and fine. Thankfully!

I'm SO HAPPY TO BE HOME!!! My apartment was just as I left it. My bed was just as comfortable as EVER and my friends were amazing. Courtney even came to cook me a homemade dinner on my first night back! It was amazing!

Overall, my trip was awesome! Looking back, I totally would have done it again! However with a few different things. I would have taken some snacks from the US. I would have tried to learn Mandarin (which I am still thoroughly convinced is IMPOSSIBLE) and I would have made myself not sleep so I could have tried to do more things. But all in all, I am extremely, extremely happy with my trip. It was incredible for my first trip out of the country.

The thing I probably took most from this trip was how amazing the United States of America is. I have always had this pride and nationalistic veneer about being from the USA but it is so much more powerful when you're in a different country. To see an American flag in another country... to hear OUR national anthem and watch OUR athletes on the medal stand... it is incredible and nearly brought tears to my eyes every time... I'm not going to lie...

I also realized how much I love my family and friends. You can ask anyone, the most important thing in my life is my family but being away from home really makes those feelings triple. I missed everyone so much and it was so great to finally be home and text and call them. I'm still waiting on Beth to get back to me so we can set up the conference call things to tell you about the trip!

I really appreciate everything in my life so much more now! Everything! All the material stuff, yes. But most importantly the people that I know and love so much. It was really tough to go to China and be away from everyone for so long.

I found out a lot about myself while I was there too. Some stuff I won't go into detail about because I find it to be very personal to me, but overall I found that I am a lot stronger and independent than I originally thought. However, I am still very dependent on other people to have a good time. Oh well -- I have a lot of things I took out of this trip, it's kind of hard to put it all into words.

Apparently I've lost a lot of weight while being there. Sadly, it is still not enough! But, I did. My roommate is kind of freaked out. Every time he sees me he just tells me how different and thinner I look. I can't really see it, I'm still very much overweight. However, it has been definitely helping me diet. I've been doing awesome since being back! I'm not snacking or anything. All it has been taking was someone who you never thought would notice something like that, to notice and tell you. Thanks, roommate! Haha.

Anyway, I'm going to go. I'm sorry this post was a little spacey, I've got a lot going on in the background right now.

Thanks for tuning into the blog! It's been great to see that people have been reading. I apologize for not making the final blog post until now. I have been extremely busy since being home. You can thank Jeremy for this, he called me out over email. This is what he wrote me:

"Where the hell is our last post..... To quote your post from your extra night in China.... "Anyhow, I'm going to go... just wanted to give you all a heads up. I will write a last post when I get back home." Aren't you safely back home???? I need an end to the story! How are you going to leave us all hanging??????? This is like watching a movie and then with 10 minutes left the dvd starts skipping.... COME ON MAN.... :)"

Haha--sorry Jeremy! I finally made the last post!

Anyhow, thanks so much for reading the blog and witnessing me being a complete DOOF! I had a lot of fun writing and it means a lot to me to know you've all read it! Just wait until next summer! At the moment it looks like I'll be touring Europe for a month! I'll keep a blog then too!!! :-) I LOVE MY JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk to you all soon-- send some emails if you want. bradleyy@unc.edu

This was my final post! I'm done! BOOK OVER!!!!!