My brilliant friend Miss Casey Madden set me up on a blind date with her housemate Lorna after realizing that she was also studying in Hong Kong. Lorna is half Asian as well with her roots paralleling mine but she is even a generation closer to her origins, her mom has an Irish accent and her father is actually from Hong Kong. We flew over together and have been hanging out ever since. Alert and on top of things, she is the recently appointed navigator of the group.
Lorna and I recognized a girl, Erin, in the airport who we knew was going to be in our program, We said hi to her (recognizing her because she was the only white girl at orientation) and discovered that she and Lorna had seats right next together. So when the middle seat was never filled, I abandoned my previous wish to fly all the 15 hours alone and plopped myself in the middle of the two of them for an introductory bonding ride over to our new home country. She is a wide-eyed vegetarian who is our deemed nutritionist (because if we want to share meals we have to eat a lot of vegetables…god, I am glad I expanded my food repertoire or I would be screwed here)
Lastly, Miss Emma Lang who is most certainly not Asian, is a short haired Australian who just so happened to be Lorna’s roommate. We clicked right off the bat as she is ridiculously chipper and full of funny things to say but levelheaded enough to have a solid conversation with. The comic of the quad, “Langy” is my new nickname for her that she already is trying to shrug off but I am determined to make it stick just as I am determined to ensure that this group of girls becomes my family over the next four months.
Unfortunately they all live in one building and I in another. So I put in a transfer request where I explained/exaggerated that my mental health was at stake if I didn’t get to switch…doubtful that this will happen but it was worth a shot. But now that I have Skype (my username is “melis_wong” if anyone is interested in chatting!) and a phone it is easy to just meet downstairs. So I can make do. Flexibility is crucial here.
We have met fun people, spunky Canadians, creepy Canadians, the sweetest trio of guys from Beijing, Finland and England, a girl from Chicago, a Germans, Aussies and plenty of Americans. But somehow we have already seemed to established an unspoken understanding that we will probably be traveling around with just each other.
So, yeah, having friends is a good way to start and always a good way to be.
Lorna and I recognized a girl, Erin, in the airport who we knew was going to be in our program, We said hi to her (recognizing her because she was the only white girl at orientation) and discovered that she and Lorna had seats right next together. So when the middle seat was never filled, I abandoned my previous wish to fly all the 15 hours alone and plopped myself in the middle of the two of them for an introductory bonding ride over to our new home country. She is a wide-eyed vegetarian who is our deemed nutritionist (because if we want to share meals we have to eat a lot of vegetables…god, I am glad I expanded my food repertoire or I would be screwed here)
Lastly, Miss Emma Lang who is most certainly not Asian, is a short haired Australian who just so happened to be Lorna’s roommate. We clicked right off the bat as she is ridiculously chipper and full of funny things to say but levelheaded enough to have a solid conversation with. The comic of the quad, “Langy” is my new nickname for her that she already is trying to shrug off but I am determined to make it stick just as I am determined to ensure that this group of girls becomes my family over the next four months.
Unfortunately they all live in one building and I in another. So I put in a transfer request where I explained/exaggerated that my mental health was at stake if I didn’t get to switch…doubtful that this will happen but it was worth a shot. But now that I have Skype (my username is “melis_wong” if anyone is interested in chatting!) and a phone it is easy to just meet downstairs. So I can make do. Flexibility is crucial here.
We have met fun people, spunky Canadians, creepy Canadians, the sweetest trio of guys from Beijing, Finland and England, a girl from Chicago, a Germans, Aussies and plenty of Americans. But somehow we have already seemed to established an unspoken understanding that we will probably be traveling around with just each other.
So, yeah, having friends is a good way to start and always a good way to be.
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