HOTlanta!

I left my school on June 28. I had to trudge my things 20 mins through the village that I lived in, climbed on a bus and left in the face of several crying students. Hung out a night in Lincang before flying out the next morning. I said goodbye to John Kuo, Lucas and Casey from my hotel and then climbed in a cab with Monica and Laura to the airport. Our flight was delayed. In the wait, Monica, Laura, and I watched the Eurocup Italy vs. Germany game. Italy kicked Germany's ass and because our flight was about 75 mins late, we saw MOST of the replayed game. Monica and I worried about our flight transfer and we happily climbed abroad our flight 90 mins after we were supposed to. We arrived to the new Kunming airport, which is nice but still somehow doesn't have the two things I like to see in an airport - McDonald's and Starbucks. I guess it was China, not America. A few more hours of delays later, we found ourselves in Beijing. Four intense nights and days of celebrating our two years later, Lo, Mo, Axel and Andrew left to return to America. Meanwhile, I stayed behind, celebrating my remaining days with Nora, lunch with Nora's mother and her friend Missy, Sarah Ye, Sean, Greg, Annie, Ben, Manel and Tom. Some new friends and old - I ran around Beijing, enjoying the city life. Hailing cabs and eating delightful food that was good under any circumstance, not just because it was foreign food and not mixian.

Soon, the night of the 9th arrived, and I needed to repack and figure out how I was going to transport all of my belongings back to America. I had four suitcases and about... 230 lbs worth of things. As there is a weight limit of 50 lbs per bag, I needed to somehow sort all the bags to even weight and then figure what to do with 30 lbs of extra weight. Stress! How was I going to fit everything in just one cab? I called ahead to see if I could rent a minivan for an hour - the cost? 1000 RMB! Oh, helllll no! A normal cab to the airport costs 70 RMB. I ordered a cab on the phone and then waited for a cab drive to return my call. In Beijing, not knowing how things work is no excuse not to get things done. I skipped sleeping for the night and got all my things downstairs in time for my 4 am cab. My cab driver surprised me in how tall he was. He, along with the two doorman, helped me manage to load my four jumbo suitcases, my carry-on rolling suitcase, a large Longchamp, and a huge Gucci handbag into the cab. I gave directions to the airport where I was to meet with my aunt and her family of four.

We boarded the flight at 6 am from Beijing to Detroit. I enjoyed 11 hours of business elite diagonal seating! In Detroit, I encountered probably the most surly Customs and Immigration officer I've ever met. At 6 am, if you don't have anything nice to say, you probably shouldn't say anything at all.

Another short flight later, I arrived in Atlanta.

Now - four days later, I'm still in Atlanta. Let's hang out in the near future!