I landed in Changsha at 6:15AM rested and ready to get off the plane. As I got off the plane, a nice gentleman helped me find one of those yellow cards you have to fill out to enter China because the flight attendant ran out of them on the flight. He was really nice, but after he helped me, he was gone. I literally could not find him. Strange, but I'm grateful he was there to help me. After I cleared customs I made the mistake of thinking, "There is nothing that could go wrong now! I made it!" ...wrong... I went to go find my checked luggage, and as I watched the treadmill slow to a halt and the door close, I realized my bag never made it to Changsha... That's what I get for thinking that. Oh well. Now, I am living off of three outfits and one pair of shoes, and of course, my Chacos. I really should go to the store. :)
Anyway, my friend, Xiu Ming (Harry), picked me up from the airport and was pleasantly surprised I only had one suitcase. :) He is helping me try and track down my luggage because no one knows where it it! AHHHHHH! Life is great. The ride from the airport was only about 30 minutes, and we talked in broken Mandarin the whole way. He is such a nice guy. Once we made it to Hunan Normal University, he helped me check-in to my apartment. I am living in the Mu Lan Lou building, and to be completely honest with
you, it's very dirty. :) "Welcome to China," my mom told me. :) I haven't met my roommate yet, but she should be getting here in the next few days.
After I got settled, my other friend, Jane, came with me and Harry to get me a Chinese phone and set up a bank account. Truly, I am so grateful for them both. I do not know where I'd be without them. After everything was settled, they treated me to Pizza Hut, which is AMAZING here in China. It's a super fancy restaurant and I got to try pizza with rice crust! It is really nice to have friends here that truly care about my well-being. Another blessing.
Last night Xiu Ming took me to dinner as a "welcome to Changsha" gift. He took me to an authentic Changsha cuisine restaurant. And for those of you who know, they like to use spice... My stomach did NOT like my choice to eat that food. :) Hopefully I will get used to it soon! After dinner, we walked along the river talking. It was really nice to not have to worry about anything for a little bit. Something he said has stuck with me, "Maura, look. There are no clouds in the sky and you can see many stars. That means tomorrow is going to be a good day." It was exactly what I needed to hear. He continued by asking me why I came to Changsha and where I learned to be so brave. Apparently it's not so normal for a 19 year old to move to another continent by herself. *shoulder shrug* It is true though, every doubt I have felt in the past couple days is not relevant. I have fallen into the trap that I'm not good enough and that my language skills aren't good enough... but I know I need to get over that. What I'm doing is brave... What I'm doing is learning, and who cares if I can't hold a conversation about a phone or bank card? I know enough... I am here to learn. One day at a time I will get better. One step. One punch. One round at a time.
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