So, no one was really heartbroken to leave China (in fact, most of us cheered when our plane touched down later on, much to the confusion of the natives) and I don't think Tony was especially sad to see us go. However, going was tricky. Though we had buses pretty much take us everywhere in Suzhou, such a concept of hiring a bus to take us to the airport was foreign.
So, we had to lug all of our suitcases and luggage onto the subway to take the subway to a bus to the airport. Remember how crowded I said the subways were in Shanghai? How there wasn't any room to breathe? Yeah. Exactly. This sucked. Eggs. And it was probably the low point of the trip. Thankfully we all got through ok.
The flight went smoothly, though we waited at customs for ages for one of Albert's and Campbell's suitcases. Finally they came out with a yellow lock on them. Confused, I added two and two together and remembered that Campbell and Albert bought a dagger and two swords (respectively) in China. So...they weren't allowed to take them out of the airport. The weapons have to be stored at Inchon airport until they leave...and the guys need to pay for the airport storing them.
Campbell cut his losses and sold Albert his dagger for W10,000. Though, it is funny. I don't think Albert will make it back into the US without incident- he's traveling alone with about five huge bags, one of which has two swords and also he is bringing back soju (Korean alcohol) and he's not 21. I can see this ending poorly, don't you?
Anyways, we made it back to the dorms in Korea and I opened my dorm room to find my roommate's side empty (he hadn't checked out before I left) as well as my side empty.
"Oh ****" I groaned. I had left some souvenirs, gifts for a few Korean people, a few books, and about five pounds of paper on the shelves. Oddly enough, the nice shoes and shirts that I had hidden under and above the bed were safe along with prescription drugs. So, the stuff that was missing wasn't that valuable (well...it could have been MUCH worse...I didn't leave my computer). So, I talked to my RA and he called my roommate and the story is that my roommate left on Monday, left my stuff in the room and the door unlocked. So, possibly someone just entered my room and took my crap. But, an alternate theory was that the cleaning lady thought my stuff looked funny for a room that was supposed to be empty and stored my stuff elsewhere. I subscribed to this theory (until I found out the truth later on). The irony behind this was that Jim and Campbell were giving me some crap about me taking about 90% of my stuff with me to China (they left most of their stuff and their computers), claiming that I didn't feel safe leaving it.
Though I was fuming internally, I quickly transitioned to "It could have been much MUCH much worse." I ran into Jim and a few other people and they were surprised how well I had taken it. Miranda especially seemed impressed saying that most people would've been screaming and swearing their heads off in my situation.
I merely shrugged and said I wouldn't see the point in wasting the energy in something that was out of my hands. I was just at peace with it. I know it sounds really weird, but maybe a year ago, I would've flipped out, but not today. I just dealt with it and acknowledged that it could have easily been much worse. I am not certain if this was a sign of maturity or indifference or just surrender, but it certainly took a lot less energy than yelling about it.
I went out that night with Miranda, Jim, Libby, Campbell and Nancy and we had the house specialty at the local fried chicken and beer place. It was just so nice and relaxing. I had a bit of a epiphany that if I was in a situation with these five people a month ago, I would not have really wanted to deal with them in any way shape or form as I have a different major and personality than most of them.
However, there I was with them. I wondered if maybe when we got back to college if we'd all hang out again or if we'd just go back to our separate spheres and leave each other alone. I don't want that to happen. We aren't a John Hughes film. We are better than that, aren't we? We have Korea, a month together, to unite us. And sure, we are different but inside all of us there may be an introvert, a party animal, a jock, a princess, a country girl and an ice queen in all of us. Too cliche? I thought so. Anyways, I hope that we'll be able to hang out back at school and I have a good feeling that will be the case. -Reven
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