Thursday May 20, 2010 – Take-off; good-bye NYC and hello HK!

After days of hectic packing and unpacking from moving out of my Columbia dorm and then repacking again for my stay abroad, it’s time to take-off for Hong Kong. I will be staying at my second uncle’s house for a few days, then fly to Beijing to see the Great Wall and other historic sites, while staying at a 5-star hotel, and then return to Hong Kong to repack, and finally, visit my other relatives in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. In early June, I will join my fellow Columbia interns of the Columbia Experience Overseas program at Baptist University to begin my internship at Enlighten Action for Epilepsy. I hope to take lots and lots of pictures!

3:15pm – take-off at JFK airport

I have never before seen the inside of a plane, and my expectations were completely blown away when I was assigned to the cramped quarters of economy class. In my dreams, I imagined brightly-lit, spacious seats with medium-sized windows, just as in commercials for Lufthansa and American Airlines. They lied! Or perhaps I just did not book first-class. Whatever the case, after three hours of reading Oscar Wilde while listening to Lady Gaga and various aircraft music, my lower extremities were aching and I was shifting around uncomfortably. It is like being strapped to an electric chair for 16 hours, while being fed campus food, haha.

 so spiffy!

Shanghai Grand, starring my dad

nope, wrong plane