Contrary to what I expected, things at the airport seemed to move pretty quickly, or at least it felt that way to me. I was in autopilot and mentally preparing myself for the year ahead. Dad, I presume a little hesitant to let me go, stayed with me all the way until the security checkpoint. After that he still lingered so he could wave to me as I passed through security, repacked my carry-on, and started heading for my gate. Oh, Dad. I was impressed he didn't cry though. :)
My flight to Los Angeles also seemed to pass quickly. I sat next to a nice elderly woman from Ottawa who had recently moved to San Diego and was returning home. She still had a thick Canadian accent, which I loved! Around 34,000 ft. she busted open her quart-sized, TSA-approved, plastic baggy filled with vodka mini-bottles. We had "Bloody Cesar's" (as she called it) together and it was fabulous! I slept for the rest of the 5.5-hour flight.
At LAX I made a few more "goodbye" and "until next year" phone calls during my layover. It still hadn't hit me fully that I was about to move to Hong Kong. Surprisingly, the 13.5-hour flight from LA to HK also passed quickly. Before I knew it, I had my bags (thank goodness they made it) and was heading through the HK airport to meet Mr. and Mrs. Lau. We spotted each other almost immediately. It helped that they were waving a sign with my name on it and that I had called Mina in LA to let her know what I was wearing. Just as I suspected, they immediately started doting on me. They took my bags so I didn't have to carry them (despite my polite objections) and even pulled the car around so I didn't have to walk through the airport parking lot. On the drive home, the Laus let me use their cell phones to call Mom AND Dad and reassure them I arrived safely. The Laus made me feel welcome and secure, which is just what I needed. The drive home from the airport was BEAUTIFUL! The sun set around 7 p.m. so all the city lights were on and the hundreds of skyscrapers glimmered against the water. There was also an enormous full moon, which was pretty cool.
Once at home, the hospitality didn't stop. Mrs. Lau (or Suk Yee - pronounced "Sue Eee") had house slippers waiting for me (although a size too small, but it didn't matter). They showed me my room and even let me take a shower before heading out to dinner. Mr. Lau (or CK, as he prefers to be called) kept telling me to just take it easy. He said there was no rush to move out and I should make myself at home. I must have looked stressed. Admittedly, I was concerned about finding a reasonably priced, fully-furnished apartment near campus.
Dinner was amazing. It was my first time eating authentic Chinese food. At the time it felt like we were eating enough to feed a small army, but I soon realized there is always food leftover. We ate a shrimp and egg casserole, lobster (so good!), barbecued pork, some kind of chicken dish, Chinese tea, white rice, soup with shrimp and scallops, veggies with scallops, and for dessert we enjoyed three different bowls of seaweed with white beans, red beans, and sesame goop. It was all very delicious. ("Delicious" in Cantonese sounds like "ho may"... I always think of "homemade" since it's referring to food). Something interesting I noticed was that women sit at their seats with their purses pressed between their backs and the chair back while dining. Suk Yee said it's because it's harder for people to snatch it that way. Reassuring. All in all it was a very nice experience and I left the restaurant extremely stuffed.
Later that evening I spoke with Mina on the phone and she told me not to eat a lot of food the first week because it'll give me diarrhea... nice to know after the fact. Thankfully, so far so good. :)
Posts
