I made friends! Well, kind of.

So after that miserable flight to LA, I was hopeful for some productive down time, as oxymoronic as that may seem.

Turns out, LAX is probably one of the most confusing airports ever – and with all the shuttles, cabs, and random loiterers, I was surprised I even got to Terminal 2 – half an hour after I got off my first flight.

Checked in with China Air and met a nice man that said I had a sucky seat, (50K), and proceeded to ensure the best seat on the plane – the last seat next to a security guard. Said security guard would be big and handsome, and would be seated in the aisle seat, while I am in the window seat (60A), meaning we’d have a seat in between us.

Whatever, I don’t really care, an empty seat is cool – so I took it.

Three wifi-less hours and a Burger King meal (which I was not too happy about) later, it was time to board.

Lo and behold, I was seated at the very last row, right in front of the toilets, but as I look to my seat, there is no middle aisle.

I was promised two seats to myself and now I’m stuck next to some big security guard? Unhappy deal.

Fingers crossed, I hoped this security guard wouldn’t show up.

WINNING. He didn’t. So I had two seats to curl up on all by myself. Woke up for the meals, watched two movies, and slept the rest of the time. BUT! The point of this post!

So towards the end of the flight, the flight attendant came over and asked me something in Chinese, and with my limited Chinese, tried to reply to him. Of course, he thought I was Chinese, asked where I was from, why I know Chinese, the usual, than he went on some rant, which clearly I didn’t understand, left, and came back with this little post-it.

How cute, right?! I couldn’t say no, so I gave him my email address. He came back and gave me the second post-it. The one on the left.

GOOD THING, because I plan to call this guy to see if I forgot my cell phone on the plane. ): Realized I lost it this morning.

Made two other friends – one dude and his basketball team who’s playing professional b-ball in Chengdu – we plan on meeting up in Shanghai…if he remembers to email me. AND! A cool taxi driver who gave me a ride to Ikea

Both great stories to tell, but there are so many other things to blog about! So I’ll spare you guys the details.

Conclusion from this post:

1. It’s easier to make friends than one might think! Don’t trust everyone, obviously, but some conversation never kills. You might be pleasantly surprised at how nice someone is. But still, guard up!

Next post will be about Beida (the university I’m staying at) and some of the foods I’ve tried!

No diarrhea just yet!

Over and out,
kv.