A haze of a day (in more ways than one)

It's been about 2 days since I've had a proper night's sleep, so I've been having random dizzy spells and a blurry gaze since I landed in Beijing this morning. Yeah, this morning. At 6 am (Beijing time, which also happens to be China time, since all of China is contained in one timezone). Let me just say that twelve and a half hours on a plane is not fun. I have an inability to properly fall asleep on a plane. If I had known this, perhaps I would have resigned myself to this fact, avoided the half-hour snippets of napping, and watched the many movies and TV shows that were available on a personal screen in front of me. I did not know this was a common option, but apparently it is.

Fortunately, the plane I took from LAX to Beijing Capital Airport was brand new, which meant modernity and cleanliness. I was very tempted to watch some of the classic movies that are on my to-watch list (i.e. "Casablanca", "Gone with the Wind", and "Citizen Kane") but I was attempting to fall asleep. I have to say though, there were more than a few Reese Witherspoon options. I spotted "Sweet Home Alabama", "Vanity Fair", "Just Like Heaven", and that recent movie in which Captain Kirk and Bane are spies and fight over Reese Witherspoon (yes, I'm referring to the actors Chris Pine and Tom Hardy). Maybe a Reese Witherspoon craze going on?

Anyway, I spent some time talking to the American man sitting next to me. Apparently he's been to China many times because his company has a manufacturing plant there. He has a lot of connections, too, which means that he's involved in the increasingly popular equestrian sport, of which his business partner's daughter is quite adept at.

The first thing I saw when the plane landed was a hazy airport. When I asked the American man, he told me that it was probably just fog. As the day went on and I waited for the fog to clear, it became obvious that the fog was from the pollution. I spent the entire day under a seemingly cloudy sky, without one sight of a blue sky or the sun. There was a ever-present haze in the air. What made it worse was that it was very, very hot and humid. I'm talking about DC-in-the-summer heat and humidity. After dragging my two big bags up two flights of stairs, I was sweating and convinced that I would have toned legs by the end of the semester.

I made friends with some of the other people, all of whom are pretty friendly to each other. Since a sizable chunk of the group is from American University (the original partner with Beijing University to create the China Studies Institute, my program), many of the students already knew each other. Despite this, I got to know some people while I walked around, got lunch (accidentally ordered a very spicy, hot noodle soup that I burned my tongue on), bought a sim card and calling cards, and hung out in the lounge as a battled with the George Washington University's VPN so that I could access facebook and blogger. Fortunately, after hours of work, I switched to Firefox, repeated the process, and succeeded.

This was followed by time spent studying a guidebook, putting important numbers into my cell, and basically just basking in the cool air from the air conditioner machine. There is no real AC in any of the buildings, just the machines and some fans (I kept myself hydrated with lots of water). I went to dinner with a pretty large group, to a place nicknamed "Hollywood". This meant that there were pseudo-classic-American dishes with a Chinese flair. I got the most Chinese dish, beef fried rice with a microwave fried egg on top. By the time I got back to the dorm, chatted a bit with a new friend, then got ready for bed, I was exhausted.

Note to self for tomorrow: 1) Buy some bug spray, 2) Wake up early for orientation, and 3) Try not to fall asleep.

Also, let me just mention that the back door to the student lounge is basically a small door akin to the one in the Disney Alice in Wonderland movie, in which she grew too big and had to crawl through a small door. The student lounge is technically in the basement, hence the strange back door. Fortunately, we don't have to crawl through it, but there is a lot of ducking involved.

Glorious sleep awaits me.

Fight (and) flight

Originally written on Tuesday, 11pm LA time, or Wednesday, 1am my usual Eastern time zone.

Yes, that's right. Part of my experience of flying across the United States and to Beijing is the fighting part - whether it's against United Airways, sleep, or the wifi at LAX.

I was lucky that my family likes to be early for everything, because upon entering Boston Logan Airport, I discovered that the United Airways system was down. Even though I had checked in online and had a boarding pass, I still had to check in two bags (and before you say, "That's a lot!", remember that I have to bring about twenty books, besides the usual clothes, bathroom stuff, school stuff, etc.). Checking in bags meant that I had to wait 45 minutes in line. There was a fantastically long line, which made for good conversation with other people (and I did witness two people flirt and exchange numbers in the process).

I made the mistake of not eating dinner, since I had had a large lunch a few hours earlier. To my surprise (and despair), I found that even during a 6 hours flight across the country, United Airlines does not supply snacks. Nope. Just drinks, so at least I was hydrated. Before I boarded the plane, I did get to have what I thought was my last American coffee.

6 hours later in LAX, I was having another "last American coffee" (more Starbucks). One good thing about United was that it provided a movie and some TV, so I got to enjoy some "Big Bang Theory" (I skipped over the "Three Stooges" movie and the episodes of "Nashville" and the show with the numbers kid and the guy from 24). I stayed up the whole time, thinking that I could sleep on the way to Beijing. It would've been hard to sleep on my United flight anyway, since there were crying babies in front and behind me.

As soon as I got to LAX, I scarfed down a panini, which was a pleasant find (I will seriously eat any kind of combination of bacon, egg, and cheese). Even though it was 1:40 am my time, it was still 10:40 pm LA time. Through my blurry haze of sleepiness, I managed to eat then get some more Starbucks (the guy asked if I had a red eye flight, to which I replied, "No, I just had a 6 hour flight and now another 12 hour one", and he replied, "Good luck"). I'm running on a caramel latte right now, so hopefully by the time I crash, I will be on the plane.

While standing in that long United Airways line in Logan, I learned that LAX was not too great of an airport. Now that I'm here, I can see why people would say that. I had to do crazy things to switch terminals to get from my domestic flight to my international one. It wasn't even a matter of walking around and following signs; I had to ask A LOT of people for directions (thank you, helpful airport people!). Apparently, I was supposed to go down some stairs, go outside, take a shuttle to switch terminals, ride up an elevator, and go through security again. LAX, you don't make it easy.

I'm planning to meet someone from my same study abroad program, since we're going on the same flight. She's not getting to the gate until 12 am (I think she lives nearby), so I've got a couple of hours to kill. Unfortunately, I had to write this on OpenOffice (my sad version of Microsoft Word) because LAX's wifi doesn't seem to work.

As I'm sitting here, it might be a little foreboding that I'm a little freaked out by how many Chinese people are surrounding me. Coming from a community where Asians are scarce, I always need to go through a transition period so that I can get used to so many Asians in one place. It's pretty funny how people are spending their time, though. I spied many people sleeping, two Caucasians reading from Kindles, a group of Chinese guys playing cards in the corner, and a Chinese girl taking pictures of herself on her camera. Maybe they already know wifi doesn't work here.

This is me in detail, and why I decided to go to Beijing in the first place

Let's start with this: I'm a product of two cultures. Ethnically, I'm Vietnamese, and legally, I'm American. This means that I had a foot in both groups, so to speak. I may look Vietnamese, but I act just like an American. Whenever I'm in a group of Americans, I am the most Asian of the group. Whenever I'm in a group of Asians, I am the most American/white.

I have never been to Asia, never mind China. Yet here I am, about to embark on a somewhat crazy study abroad program to Beijing that I probably didn't think through enough. I decided on China partly because Asia is my concentration within my major (International Affairs) and partly because I thought it would be good for me to get out of my small American bubble*. I fully expect to have at best a surge of homesickness (a new experience - see lower note about adaptation), or at worst a small breakdown (also a new experience - I'm pretty calm and stable during emotional crises). Studying abroad in China isn't like popping across the Atlantic to study in England, where they helpfully speak the same language you do**. Nope. China will challenge my love of cleanliness, the English language, warmth, meat and potatoes, order, and being unique (see below).

In my defense, I have studied Chinese for a year and have a few Chinese friends (not American-born Chinese, also known among Asians as ABC's). Not that it will necessarily help me a great deal, but it's something. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you see it), many Chinese people think that I look Chinese, and many will probably assume that I am. I'm hoping that if I act more American, they'll give me a bit of a break when I start making mistakes***.

I like being different. In America, that means being Asian. I also like blending in (it's one of my strengths: adaptation). In America, that means acting like other Americans. It's a good mix, because I can feel both unique and similar to others at the same time. In China, it'll be completely different.

Anyway, back to packing (which is pretty easy if you think of it as a 3D tetris game that uses regular objects and clothes instead of blocks). I took a break to create this blog because I anticipate many thoughts that will probably be frowned upon if I said them aloud, like criticisms of the Chinese government. See? I'm already censoring myself.

By the way, I'm pretty proud of the title. It was a bit of a struggle, trying to find something that was catchy yet informative (yes, I google'd it for some help). I'll probably stick to this, unless something pops into my head.




*namely, the East Coast - or just New England and Washington, DC.
**I'm not knocking people who study abroad in England - actually, I'd love to visit sometime. Probably when my requirements are fulfilled.
***namely, when I start speaking Chinese with an American accent.