Lining up
behind long lines with the intimidating stares of TSA officers, struggling with
keeping all my backpacks and luggage with me, and trying to go through security
scans as quick and easy as I can. Flying experience has never been awful after
9/11, if you’ve heard me complain about this most likely it also includes how
airplane meal went from the best meal to the meal you wouldn’t mind skipping. I
love traveling but now I dread the process of boarding and such.
It’s my
first time in America. I thought it should get better after obtaining my visa and going
through all the security checks, I was so wrong. LAX. What a cool airport,
except it being the first airport that I land on in America (you’ll read about
the exhausting process that makes it uncool).
It’s like the scene in The Terminal, multiple booths with immigration officers, endless
queues that never seem to move, and people lining up waiting for their turn-who
knows when. Well, it’s almost like The
Terminal, except it’s LAX not JFK (after arranging flights by myself, those
abbreviation comes almost like my native language).
The answers
that I gave to the immigration officer’s questions seem fake, I can tell that
I’m a little shocked the fact that I am now in America. At least I have good
understanding and conversational skills in English.
Next thing I
know, trying to get my luggage and wait in yet another line for security
checks. Traveling with a huge amount check with the reason of studying abroad,
easy pass. Finally I am feeling more at ease. What an exhausting process after
landing in America! I wanted to take pictures of LAX airport because it was in
the song ‘Party in the USA’ by Miley Cyrus. I wanted to walk around the airport
and find interesting things I’ve not seen in other airports.
I’m then in
another panic attack when I realized it took me two hours! I did not calm down
until I asked multiple times to make sure my luggage will be in the (transit)
plane, walked for almost a mile to get my flight tickets, and find the boarding
gate. I forgot to mention; I did all of that while thinking that I only have
less than an hour to get on the plane. The anxiety and fear and confusion that
I felt was indescribable.
After
leaving my hometown, transit in the beautiful Taipei Airport, trying to sleep
in between a quiet Japanese and English illiterate Indian lady who kept leaning
on my shoulder for 10 hours, and a reality check (more like culture shock) from
LAX to confirm my landing on American soil, I am finally in Louisville,
Kentucky. What a long ‘ride’…
Without any
idea about the time difference, I was again worried that I missed the shuttle
to campus. As I figured out that I cannot called to Campbellsville from
Louisville with public phone (a mystery I never bother to find out), I decided
to just sit patiently until evening comes. If evening does come, surely I have
missed my 10am shuttle. (Hmm, I was strangely calm after 36 hours of exhaustive
traveling).
Before my patience runs out from doing nothing
but sit and wait, I hear someone behind me speaking in Chinese. My nervous
system just got fired up. I turned around and started to ask the same questions
I asked the receptionists. ‘What time is
it?’ ‘Do you know anything about the
shuttle to Campbellsville University?’ ‘How can I call the college to ask about
the shuttle?’
If I wasn’t doing anything to help my situation, I
get extremely impatient. I was too tired to bother the workers in the airport
until I hear the girl speaking in Chinese. Guess being multi-lingual comes
handy, very often. She is a returning student from China, learned a lot of
things from her and we became friends ever since (I will write about her story
in another post). Later on, we arrived in campus via shuttle.
My first day
on campus was the most beautiful (day) I’ve seen of Campbellsville University.
Everything was covered in white snow. January 19, 2012.
Ps.: To those who are curious; no, it was not the first time
I’d seen snow.
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