The Plane Has Hit the Tarmac

I’m finally here!  Wow, what a trip.  What an incredible undertaking it was just to get here, and the journey has only just begun!  Right now I am sitting in my apartment in Xi’an, China watching HBO.  Stranger than Fiction is about to come on; fantastic movie.  There is a flood of emotions flowing through me right now.  I am excited to be in a new country starting a big chapter in my life–potentially life changing–but I am also incredibly intimidated and a little bit afraid.  I mean, c’mon, I’m in a completely foreign country where not many people speak serviceable English, and I’m entirely by myself.  Alright, that was only three emotions, but whatever, you get the point.  I can only imagine that this part of my life will be very challenging.

For now, I’d like to illuminate the past two weeks leading up to my arrival here in China.  First off, I went to visit my grandparents and cousins in Hazleton, PA for a few days.  Since I was a little kid I’ve always enjoyed my visits there.  Nothing particularly exciting happened while I was there this last time.  It was just a simple visit to see my family before I left the country.

The next event was a little send off at a local bar near my home.  Most of my friends are at school or working at a job at some far off place, but a few people did make it out to have some drinks with me two days before I left.  At the time, it was very fun, but now that I look back on it it seems a little bittersweet.  Maybe bittersweet is not the right word I’m looking for.  Maybe it’s just that in my current frame of mind, I’m lonesome for the people and connections I have back home.  For however long I will be here (possibly up to a year) I will not be able to easily contact those people and everyone else I know back home.

On February 11 at 9 AM, I left for Bangkok with Mike and his mom.  We had a five hour layover in Narita, Japan, which was a great opportunity to stretch my legs and have a little peek at the country.  I’ve never been to Japan before, so it was very interesting to have even just a tiny taste of what it’s like.

My first ever bowl of actual, real ramen. From a real ramen shop!

After the quick stop in Narita, we returned to the airport and headed off for Bangkok.  So, after 29 hours of travel from New York to Bangkok, we finally arrived.  We got to the hotel around 2 AM and we all immediately crashed, trying to get some rest for the next few days that followed.

No related posts.