Autumn of 2016, United States of America

Camera courtesy of Shi Hanyuan of Shanghai Jiaotong University.

This post follows on the previous ones about flight DL129 from Los Angeles to Seattle.

Since the previous flight from Los Angeles departed pretty much on time, we arrived at Seattle half an hour early, which meant plenty of time to go just from one terminal to another by tram.

Time to head back (so that I don’t miss too many lectures).
Comparing the different options, I thought a Lyft ride was the best way to get to the airport from downtown (Yes, I’ve got the free ride credits for new users). And thank God, the traffic was smooth all the way to the airport.

This post follows on the previous one of flight DL128 from Beijing to Seattle.

Learning the experience last time of flight AA186 to Chicago, this time I wasted no time after getting off the plane, race-walked my way to the customs.

I wasn’t expecting to go back to the States so soon.
No, I wasn’t, but somehow I messed a crucial part of the application process, and only way I could remedy that mess was to make a visit to the States during the school session.

Thankfully, the class schedules for senior-year undergraduates were usually pretty empty. Also, since it’s not peak times, the airlines were offering jaw-dropping rates across the pacific.
Yes, I thought a return trip to the west coast from Beijing at 3485 CNY with Delta Airlines was pretty much bottom, until I searched for flexible days at found the Hainan+Alaska combination offering 29XX CNY options. Well, I found consolation that the 29XX CNY rates came with overnight transfer at Seattle on the return trip.

Also, since the US Embassy bought into Cornell’s month-long "conference" and issued me a B-type visa, it saved me the burden of paperwork and presumably lies on the visa part.