Day 1: October 19, 2012 - Monday
This is it...
The daily countdown on Twitter has come to an end. Instead of placing something like: “(n number of days) ‘till #XCEBeijing with #TeamLuceatLux @tedtiu @muchobuncio @GINOrous @RyanStayceyChua @RIVcage @FANdesal @8marky ++”, it was a resounding message: This is it! It only occurred to me around eight the previous evening that I will be leaving the comforts of my home. For six weeks, I would not be sleeping in my own bed. For six weeks, I wouldn’t be eating my favorite home-cooked meals. The realization that hit me the most was that for the next six weeks, for the first time, I would be without my family. What hurts the most is that it’s in a country that blocks Twitter and Facebook (Really very difficult to connect!).
It really hit me... HARD!
I entered this experience with a new found excitement that finally, I got the much deserved “alone time” in isolation.
I was wrong.
As we look forward to something, we block ourselves from the daily things we see and what we experience on a daily basis. That’s how our mind works: actions follows our thoughts and images. Instead of saying that for 30 more days I will be enjoying the company of my family, I was more focused with what I would want to do in Beijing. It was very selfish of me to do so because it was because of my parents that I am able to enjoy this experience---this once in a lifetime trip!
Our day started very early in the Angelo King Multipurpose Center at four in the morning. There were students who chose to interact with their fellow batch mates and some, like me, who stayed with their family. It was our last chance to have a fruitful conversation filled with reminders for the trip. Nevertheless, it was still time well spent.
As I bid my parents good bye, it really made me understand my purpose for this trip: to really learn as much as I can. If I can say that waking up early in the morning at below zero-degree weather is the toughest part of my day, then I must be living a good life. This is one great opportunity that presented itself and it’s up to us to make the most of it.
As we arrived in the airport, we spent the time there interacting with our new family. An ohana, where nobody gets left behind. The journey was about to begin...
And so it has...
When we arrived at the school, it was roughly around six in the evening. We were all billeted in our own ‘accommodations’ with our own roommates. I’m roomed with Ted Tiu. Yup, you’ve probably heard that name before: The ICA Variety Show Model. (No wonder to why he was picked.)
Dinner had a wide selection of different dishes consisting from Chicken Curry (Mom, ours tastes wayyyy better!), Chicken Nuggets, and Fried Rice. Yes Mom, I ate my vegetables.
After dinner, we were fortunate to be given jacket and T-shirt from Huawen. A generous gesture indeed. It’s enough to suffice for my already broken XCE-jacket. No worries, I fixed it.
We were given the opportunity to buy our groceries in the shopping mall about a five minute walk from our dorm. Me and my roomie bought a variety of things ranging from air fresheners to hot chocolate. We did make a big mistake thinking that the hot chocolate we bought was similar to that of Swissmiss. We were wrong. What we bought was the cocoa baking powder! A dumb blunder indeed but thank God for Zhou Lao Shi who was able to talk to the cashier, she was able to refund our money.
The mistakes we’ve made are part of our growth. We commit mistakes because of our aroused curiosity. How we respond to them are what defines us as people. Citizens who could potentially change the way we do things back home.
Day One was a tiring one but it has only just begun.
Notes: Beijing weather today is very cold and windy. Temperature is about 15 degrees Celsius. Accommodations look much much better in the pictures. (I learned not to judge through photographs. Very deceiving.)
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