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Back in U.S. ...Back in the U.S. ...Back in the U.S.A.
Saturday, October 1, 2005-2:26 AM (Beijing time)
After only a day in the States, I already adjusted to the time difference. I woke up at 11 this morning. The trip back home couldn't have been smoother.
The distance between the U.S. and China must have gotten smaller since the first time I visited China. When I came back yesterday, I left at 8:20 in the morning and arrived in Milwaukee before 4:00 in the afternoon.
It's taken me longer to travel between provinces in China than it took me to get from Guangdong to Wisconsin. In Northwestern China, I've even made intraprovince trips that took longer.
The 757 from China to Japan was packed with foreigners. About half of them were young (and some not so young) couples with Chinese babies strapped to their chests in baby carriers.
The layover in Japan was practically non-existent. I never even sat down at at the airport in Tokyo. I got straight on the 747 to Minneapolis.
I sat next to two Chinese on the flight. The man to my right spoke very little English, my last chance to use my Chinese before it'd be absolutely useless.
But I didn't have a whole lot to say. I tried to add some commentary to the in-flight movies, Fever Pitch and Herbie: Fully Loaded.
He was enjoying Herbie, but I was a little embarrassed by the movie and by the fact that I myself was watching it. He'd say things like, "Number 53 [Herbie] is going to win."
I tried to explain the history of the movie, how I enjoyed watching it because I watched the older ones when I was younger. I suggested that it was just nostalgia that made me like this movie.
But for him, nostalgia or no nostalgia, he liked the movie.
We got to Minneapolis and it dawned on me that I was home. I understood everything I heard perfectly. I understood all the nuances of the language for the first time. I recognized accents. I could tell things (or I thought I could tell things) about people by the clothes they wore, the way they cut their hair.
The gates were full of people on cell phones conducting urgent business with their laptops out. They said things like, "I just wanted to touch base with where you're at." They bothered me.
Maybe that's just because I'm unemployed and don't have anybody that I need to touch base with. The only person I could call would be my sister and say something like, "Yeah. I just wanted to check in and touch base with you to see where we're at with picking me up at the airport. We just have one issue we need to address. My luggage is heavy, and we might need a cart. One more thing I need you to do for me. Could you get on the horn with mom and see where we're at with dinner tonight?"
Now I'm back in Milwaukee. I'm already trying to plan ways to return to Asia.
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