Going home, or leaving home?

I'm sure most of you are aware by now, but I had to leave Beijing 3 days ago due to my mom's health post-liver transplant. They aren't sure how much more time she has with or without a second transplant.
Despite the fact that it was my choice to leave, it was still one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Only my dad understands how hard that was. I've created a huge mess for myself in leaving because I was there for credits I desperately needed to graduate by May 2010, now I'm trying to deal with the consequences while there still may be time to fix it, but I'm still not sure what will happen for this fall and next spring.
We're playing the most costly waiting game of all now, and there's only one thing do to and that's pray.

Well the first week has come and gone, and not without incident. I'm not quite sure where to start so if I ramble a bit, I apologize.
Although I didn't want to leave Hong Kong at all, adjusting to Beijing was an easy task, all be it somewhat surreal at times as to actually being here finally. We live in dorms in one of the 4 buildings on campus, myself happily on the 1st floor although I do tend to climb the stairs quite a bit every day to visit my friends on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors. Adjusting to dorm life is interesting as I have never lived in one before, nor been within walking distance to class every day. I have to say the convenience is great. The cafeteria food is surprisingly good, traditional chinese dishes, but I'm sure we'll start to see some repetition soon. Our campus is within walking distance of 2 really good supermarkets, underground clothing markets, and quite a few good restaurants. (Don't get me wrong, we will walk all over Beijing to find things though.) The subway system is impressive, quite alike the one in H.K. but not quite so clean.
Discovering the city is amazing, an adventure every time we go out, and I do believe I have the best group of friends to do it with although I may be a bit biased . We never seem to stop sweating, walking, or eating for that matter. There's still many places I want to go, and I'm starting to feel we never have enough time in the 7 weeks we have left now, especially since we spend roughly 5-7 hours studying a day (outside of class time). Which brings me to that topic...
Classes are....well...for starters on the 4th floor of Dong Lou (the east building), start at 8:30a.m. (I am still not a morning person, but overcoming jet lag put me in a strange sleep cycle of waking up at 6a.m., convenient in this case), consist of 4 classes in the morning and one after lunch, and while the grammar isn't hard for the most part, learning a months worth of material in 4 days starts to eat away at your sanity. (well maybe not yours, but it does mine) They say the first week is the worst, and after the last 3 or 4 days, I really hope they're right.

Hi everyone,
had I written this blog sooner I'm sure it would have been much longer and detailed but at the moment I'm preoccupied with waiting to hear from someone about my mom's liver transplant (I last spoke to her and my dad right before she went under for surgery and haven't heard from them since-this was about 13 hours ago), and getting nervous about my placement exam for the chinese classes we begin on monday (it starts in 2 hours and I have no idea what to expect, nor can I focus). Despite all this I still want to catch up on what has happened since my first morning in Hong Kong.
My only full day in Hong Kong was VERY full, thanks to the Lussiers who were very sweet to help me with everything I needed and show me around. I'm happy to say that H.K. did not disappoint, everything that I was able to see was amazing and well worth the love I've continued to have for that unique city in my 12-year absence. We visited the Hong Kong harbor, Chungking mansion and Nathan street, Victoria's Peak, the shops at Mong Kok, and Sha Tin. Some things have changed a bit but overall it has only grown bigger. I took some awesome pictures (which I will try to get posted soon), especially of the Worlds Largest Suspension bridge which reaches from Hong Kong to the International Airport that I flew in and out of. Leaving H.K. was very hard to do again, but I can only hope that I will return yet again in the future.
I flew out of H.K. into Beijing on Wednesday, which brings me to the point I presented in the title of this blog. Hong Kong Dragon Air was a surprisingly nice airline, serving us multiple things that we definitely did not receive on United on the way in. Once we landed in Beijing however, the H1N1 panic that seems to have settled over China hit us full force. We landed at 3p.m., waited for a half an hour before someone came in to take EVERYONE'S temperatures, discovered that 3 people had a fever including the child in front of me, waited another half an hour for the people in bio hazard suits to come in and run some other tests, everyone proceeded to take pictures of them and then get yelled at by the stewardesses, and finally were allowed off the plane over an hour later. Everyone then had to walk through infrared scanners before the Immigration checkpoints (one of the students at CET who also happens to be from UT in Austin got stopped at this point and taken to quarantine), as well as fill out multiple forms regarding our where-abouts while in Beijing. All of this ordeal had me thinking I could have walked from H.K. to Beijing faster and avoided all the drama.
I was picked up outside the gigantic Interntl. Airport along with a group of other CET students and we were transported back to the campus by bus. My first impression--China hasn't changed that much at all, it still smells the same, with more pollution than you can imagine (yesterday while walking through the city it started getting dark at noon), and even the trees look dirty. Our first night we successfully ate by ourselves (however you define the awkwardness of dealing with the waitress and our poor ordering skills) then proceeded to get lost on our way back to the campus, but only for a few minutes. Yesterday was filled with orientation meetings and a group tour, as well as a group shopping trip. I think we're starting to learn our way around a bit better now. Today we take our placement exam, have lunch in the cafeteria (which serves surprisingly good food, but I'm still determined to try as much stuff on the street as I can), then one final orientation meeting before we're free for the afternoon, which will hopefully leave more time for exploration.
'Til next time,
~Jamie~

I can't quite believe that I'm actually back in Hong Kong after 12 years. For one it's hard to believe that it's been 12 years since we left and moved back to the States, but after the 22 some-odd hours I spent in transit here yesterday, finally arriving seemed a little dream-like. The new airport (by new I mean it opened the year after we left, but still looks brand-new) is extremely impressive, located on an island with a massive bridge connecting to Hong Kong. I have to say that everything in the airport was run quite smoothly; even the longest lines' wait was not very long. (I'd like to see anyone in an American airport accomplish that!) The double-decker buses to Hong Kong were how I remember them, although a front-row seat on the top deck took some getting used to for a person sacared of heights -- but it was well worth it!!
Hong Kong never changes, in that it is always changing; high-rises pierce the horizon in the midst of the greenest hills you'll ever see. What I missed most I think was the unique smells of the village, Fanling Wai, where we used to live. It doesn't appear to have changed a bit and I'm hoping to get some great pictures today. Also on today's agenda is a trip to the KCR (train) to meet Brigitte (my friend Esther's mom; her parents still live here after 17 years!) and hit some shopping areas, as well as hopefully seeing the H.K. harbor (another great smell) and a few other things. Tomorrow I head to the airport around 8a.m. for my 11:55 flight to Beijing. Pictures to come as soon as I get settled there!!
'Till next time,
~Jamie~

I'm writing this from the San francisco international airport, just above the gate where I'll be leaving in a few hours. I wish I could tell you what time it is, but I seem to be stuck in a time warp between Austin's time (currently 12:35p.m Sunday 6/14/09), my current time zone of San Francisco (10:35a.m. Sunday 6/14/09), and Hong Kong time which I will be flying into in roughly 16 hours (1:37a.m. Monday 6/15/09). Somewhere between all that I'm not quite sure whether I'm coming or going, partly due to the madness of packing last night and the one-hour nap before leaving for the airport at 3a.m. I'm also currently carrying more types of currency than I ever have before, U.S. $, RenMinBi, and Hong Kong currency. I won't tell you how much, but let's just say this much cash defnitely makes me nervous. (Not that it will be in my hands long before it's spent!) There are a few things I'm suprised I wasn't suprised by (if that makes any sense), flying alone for one, which I've only done a couple times before and have not found it in the least intimidating; manuvering my way through the rather large international airports (I've always joked that I could live in an airport and be perfectly content since I feel that I grew up in one -- happy to say it hasn't changed a bit); already wishing I had packed less --my carry-on bags are already killing my back and I haven't even dealt with major lines anywhere yet. Things that did suprise me: leaving Austin and Texas wasn't as sad as I thought it would be, wistful maybe that I can't take all the things/people I love with me, but more exicted to leave that I would ever have thought; I haven't cried yet, not even waving to my parents from the security checkpoint (sorry ya'll but I think the excitement of finally going won over on that one).
Til next time,
Jamie