The travel to ChinaIt is Friday 7 September. It is the day before the study tour Lián Xì is travelling to the distant country China. Most of us start the day long before 7 o'clock in the morning. Some of us and I get in the train at 6:57 in Enschede station and some of the other participants get on the train in Hengelo at 7:06. However, not all of the participants take this train to Schiphol. A group of five people, also known as 'Awesome', went earlier to China. Even though it was early in the morning everyone gets on the train, but not everyone will arrive on the same train. Just before we arrived at Apeldoorn station, our tickets were checked and it seems that some participants who bought a paper ticket at a reduced rate were not valid before 9:00. This means that it was necessary to take a short sprint to the nearest ticket machine at Apeldoorn. Finally, everyone gets their ticket, but not everyone gets back on the train. Once we arrived on Schiphol, we still had to wait on Denick. Also a few parents came to Schiphol to say goodbye. This resulted in some trouble, when we checked in and one of the parents made a picture and the incheck lady wasn't a lady anymore, but an old hag. The first flight was from Amsterdam to Helsinki, where we would take a transfer to Beijing. The first flight departed at 11:55 and in about 2 hours we arrived safe and sound in Helsinki. In Helsinki we had to wait several hours for our flight to Beijing which took off at 18:05. At the departure the Chinese time were set and the entertainment system were tested. Just a few more hours and it is Saturday. Eric Portema |