Home, Home on the Range

I'm back in Texas! Yehaw! It sure feels good. When I stepped off the plane I was hit by a wave of humidity and thought to myself, "So it begins..." It was shocking to hear so many southern accents, and stand in an immigration line where everyone was holding an American passport. When the immigration officer said "Welcome home" I just laughed and skipped through to baggage claim. As I saw my parents pulling up to the curb I started jumping up and down, the long skirt of my dress flapping in the wind like a flag signalling, "Here I am! I'm back, I'm back I'm back!" And it was beautiful.

But before this wonderful home-coming, I had several last adventures in Asia and in the UK. The night before Emily and I left Taiwan there was a typhoon blowing in. I was a little nervous about it, but totally determined to get out no matter what! We actually left Taiwan only hours before they grounded all flights for the rest of the day... what luck! Our time in Hong Kong was fun and interesting. We stayed in the dodgiest hostel ever* (an exciting story about the dodgiest hostel ever still to come... stay tuned), in the dodgiest block of hostels in the entire world I reckon (Chung King Mansion). We ate a lot of great food, including Mexican (and Dos Equis!!), did some last-minute shopping, took in the sights, and met a whole flight crew when we were out one night which was exciting (**WARNING** do not fly Qantas). It was great and wonderful to be in a new place. Hong Kong is an amazing place, it's very modern and new, but you can still feel the British undertones, especially when you see street names like Salisbury and Argyle. It's very pedestrian-friendly with miles of covered or air-conditioned walkways, including elevated walkways, and a mile-long system of escalators that connect downtown to a neighborhood district. This was great fun to explore because there are really good shopping areas around there, and lot's of unique restaurants, wine bars, and KRISPY KREME.

Suddenly it was time for Emily to leave, and I was facing a day by myself. As this would be only my third day alone in a year, I was feeling giddy/sorry for myself. I do not wish to write about the moment Emily got on the bus that would take her to the airport, or how I suddenly felt like part of me had been ripped away leaving behind a raw and exposed area somewhere near my soul, or how my eyes stung as I fought to hold back tears, or how I really just wanted to lay in the gutter and weep, or how I was deeply furious for not booking the morning flight to England. But I will tell you this, I was sad. I decided to go to Macau, I had almost the whole day as my flight wasn't until midnight, so I got on a ferry. Thus began a miserable voyage accross choppy seas that would ultimately lead to my going through immigration five times in a span of about 12 hours. Well it was worth it anyway, I ate a nice meal at a Portuguese restaurant, had a massive cup of coffee at Starbucks, walked through a little market, sat in an old church and pondered my sadness, and bought a couple of post cards. Macau is a lovely place. It was both the first and last European colony in China. It was settled and administered by the Portuguese until December of 1999. I was amazed by the old colonial European style buildings, especially in the city center, and felt like it could easily be a place in western Europe. What makes Macau really special is it's casinos, which generate most of the country's revenue. All in all it was a fascinating little trip, and I'm glad I made the effort to go.

*One last little anectdote from China: I was all alone, as I have mentioned, and I still had to go back to our hostel to get my luggage--an ungodly amount of luggage I might add. I braved the scary people who congregate outside of the building and went up the elevator to the seventh floor. The "receptionist" was there in the "lobby" along with another "guest" so I was able to get in. I changed clothes quickly and came out to get my stuff. I will stop here for a moment to give you a little more information about this place. It's a massive building of hundreds of hostels, and it is the cheapest place to stay in Hong Kong. It attracts all sorts of people, from friendly budget-backpackers like ourselves, to poor migrant workers, to women of ill-repute, to utter nut-jobs. You can stay in "nicer" places within the building, which is what we tried to do, but they're all still there if you know what I mean. So anyway, when I came out from changing clothes it was just the receptionist, a man from Ghana who we had chatted with a few times about things like "Is it safe to leave our stuff here?" and "Is it safe for us to be here?" and "Should we even leave and risk being knifed as we walk out the door of this place?" and "Should I really come back here alone at night to get my luggage?" Always his answer was "Yes! Of course! I'll be here!" I was just hefting my massive backpack into a comfortable "loading" position when he came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder and said "You are a very beautiful woman, I could not tell you while your friend was here. Would you like to go into that room and make small love?" and I said "Uh.... NO." and he said "There is no one here, are you sure you do not want to make small love?" and I said "Really, NO." and then he said "But it would not be a problem and we can go into that room." and I said "Absolutely not." This went on for a few minutes until I pushed my backpack into him and said "Would you mind helping me get my things to the elevator?" and he did. It was time to get out of Asia. I got to the bus stop right as the bus was getting there, and I was on my way home.

But first I went to England for a month. I got to stay with Ashley for a few days, and spend a day with my friend Jon Mortimer from Vail, and then spent three lazy weeks with Sam in the country going for walks, watching the Olympics, and having cream teas (as a result I am now well on my way to becoming an obese person). I also learned how to play Skittles, how to drive on the wrong side of the road, and watched a raft race. Sam's sister had a little baby girl while I was there and it was sweet to see people becoming new things like aunts, uncles, mom, dad, grandparents. Amazing how quickly that just happens. It was a lovely English holiday, complete with rain, pints in pubs, and crying over the terrible exchange rate. I love England!!!!!

So now, back to Texas. It is incredible how things are just the same! I discovered that I have certain natural instincts, like navigating the bend in the driveway while backing out, how to open my bathroom door without it banging into my closet door, and eating cheese. Other things have been super hard to get used to such as; flushing toilet paper (If I have visited your house since I left Taiwan, I am very sorry about what may or may not be in your trash can), ordering in restaurants without pointing and over-annunciating, and using credit card machines while paying for things in stores. The best way to describe it is that I feel I have just woken up from a coma. Things are familiar and comfortable, but different--I am different. Things in me have grown and stretched and have been refined. I have awoken into a world that I know completely, but I am not the same. It's exciting and shocking and it makes me feel weird. I guess this is what they call culture shock.