Coming to America (4) (初来美国 4)

The day I came to America was the longest and hardest day in my life. I barely slept the night before. I was very nervous, not knowing how was I going to get to the school, where would I sleep that night, how my life was going to be for the next two years ...... I found myself a little sick in the morning with a sore throat, but I had to troop on. My parents went to the airport with me. After a brief goodbye at the customs, they quickly left, not wanting to keep the taxi driver waiting too long outside. Standing there alone with a pile of luggage, I knew from now on that I had to be on my own. I had to take care of myself, find new friends, and somehow survive my new life in America.

I had never flown before, let along taking a 12-hour non-stop international flight in a Boeing 747. The plane was packed, and the service was horrible. At least that was how I felt at the time. Since I took some cold medicine in the morning, I felt thirsty all the time. But the flying attendants rarely served any drink, and when they did, the cup was so small, I could gulp it all down at once. I didn't know at the time that I could go and ask for more water if I needed. I was just sitting there in my middle seat, praying they would serve some water soon.

After twelve miserable hours, we landed in the U.S. Our connection was really tight. So you can imagine my panic when I arrived at the customs, found myself facing a sea of suitcases, all looked like the same. For some reason, there was no luggage conveyor. All the bags were simply put on the floor in seemingly endless rows. There were hundreds if not over a thousand bags there. I didn't know how could I possible found mine in time. I was running around like crazy, trying to find my bags quicker than the others, so I could clear the customs first.

After I located my bags, more trouble. An old guy at the customs asked me if I had any food in my luggage, I said no. He clearly didn't believe me, and gestured me to go to an extra line so my luggage could be scanned. Qian was right behind me at the time, and he was waived through by the same guy. I remembered he said to me: "I'll go to the gate and hold the plane for you". I almost cried. How could he hold the plane for me? And what if the plane went without me, what should I do? Luckily the extra line moved really fast. I was able to run to the gate before it's too late. Three more hours later, we arrived in Houston on schedule.