Getting to Suzhou, China…
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After about a total flight time of around 20 hours I made it to Suzhou, China.
Thirty-three (33) hours if you want to include stop overs and driving time, but hey whose counting :-p … if you really want to know the break down 
…
My Place –(Taxi ~ 20 mins) –>MIA Int’l –(Checked in, Groped by the TSA & Boarding the plane ~ 100 minutes) –> Plane –(Flight to JFK ~ 3 hours) –> JFK Int’l –(Picked up luggage, Sat around for a loooong stop over ~ 9 hours) –> Check-in to flight –(sit around some more ~ 2 hours)–> On the plane –(Flight to PVG-Shanghai ~ 16 hours) –> Shanghai –(zip through customs & baggage claim ~ 30 minutes)–>Find the driver–(Drive to Suzhou ~ 1.5 hours) –> Suzhou University of Science & Technology –(Wait around for 45 minutes for someone to show me where my apartment is) –> Moved In! 
Ok…guess I was bit off, it was more than 33 hours….
During my first leg of the flight, I had a pretty good Check-in Agent (Delta *amazement*). He reviewed my tickets and told me that according
to some international rule, I needed a round-trip ticket to China.
After putting him on the phone with my travel agent, he seemed a bit concerned that I might be refused to fly out from JFK to China with just a one way ticket,
but checked me in anyway.
Because of the one way ticket, I of course get stopped by the TSA to sit in line for a pat down - all I can do is watch my wallet, phone & laptops not walk away from the conveyor belt for 20 minutes…
After getting to JFK, I had a discussion with my travel agent about the whole one way, but suppose to have a roundtrip ticket thing…she said it was ok, and that this airline has a special agreement to allow people with U.S. passports one way passage…just in case I got her mobile #. With about another 8 hours to kill I walked aimlessly amoung the terminals at JFK pushing a luggage cart (with my 2 checked bags that I couldn’t check in for another 8 hours & me being too cheap to pay $40 to have them stored) looking for a wireless internet signal that wasnt going to charge me $15 an hour… After a bit of searching I found one that charged $8 for all day
access Sure enough 6 hours whizzed by (*cough*) and I was able to check in, and no issues popped up about having just a one way ticket.
Didn’t get pulled to the side for a TSA search detail either :-D. After 2 hours of calls from family & friends wishing me well & best wishes for not getting detained/deported for having a one way ticket to China, I boarded the plane…
After a not so spectacular flight (Not much leg room, none of the cool ammenities like Cathay Pacific/AA, but still better than EVA airlines) of 15 hours I arrived in Shanghai, zipping through customs without a word spoken, picked up my luggage and was suprised to see someone holding up my name (I was told I wouldn’t be picked up until 7:30 am, my flight landed at 4:30am) It was about a 1.5 hour drive from the airport to the university at tha time of day.
After 45 minutes at the university, my contact met with me and showed me to my place 
My place is much nicer than expected … Tile & Wood Floors, decent kitchen & bathroom & has a balcony :-D.
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Walking around Campus »