Early on the 15th morning, woke up after a 2-hour catnap around 5am to finish packing my bags and got ready to head off to the airport. Had literally started packing the night before my trip, and Naomi and Ozzie came over in the middle of it so the procrastination only continued.

I tried to sneak Naomi on-board with me, but she wouldn’t fit in the suitcase!

Got to the airport, said goodbye to the familia, and it was off to Asia! Was traveling alone for the first time, and to Asia of all places which was a first as well. The plan was to stay in Hong Kong by myself for a couple nights, and then head over to Singapore to begin my internship, which i had only a vague idea about. Was literally going to be flying halfway around the world, as Hong Kong is 12 hours ahead of the US!

My flight stopped in O’Hare first for a couple hours, and met a really interesting international business teacher from Goucher College who was also going to Hong Kong. We bonded over the fact that we were quite possibly the only two non-Chinese people on our packed 370 person flight. I quickly found out that was not the case, as I met a fascinating American named Robert Reiner, who may have actually been one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met.

Adios again America

O’hare airport!

Befriended a dinosaur in Chicago

We met standing in line to board the plane and hit it off immediately as we joked about how the line forming was similar to a Chinese fire drill. To our surprise, as we boarded the plane we realized that we were actually sitting next to each other in row 47. It seemed like every time he opened his mouth, he shared some sort of ridiculous and fascinating story, or insight about the world or some random industry. He went to Dartmouth, and while in the Military serving in Korea he hosted a radio show and started his own Korean newspaper. He helped develop the legitimate US casino industry in Atlantic City and Vegas as he was the General Council Of Caesar’s Hotel and Casino’s for like 15 years. Oh, did I mention that he owns his own casino and restaurant consulting company, and is an extremely successful lawyer who is currently suing Donald Trump in a huge case..

I couldn’t have thought of a more interesting person to sit next to on a 15-hour flight, and his presence balanced out the fact that the awkward 50+-year-old Chinese lady from Kentucky in the window seats seemed to have to go to the bathroom every time I began to fall into deep sleep. Also, had a giant douche Chinese dude sitting in front of me who reclined his chair for most of the flight, resulting in his seat being literally on top of my knees the entire flight. This was a major problem as I was trying to catch up on the blog on the flight, and my computer screen was literally closed because his seat was reclined, and the dick wouldn’t move his chair up even after I asked politely multiple times.

That brings me to my next point, United Airlines Blows! They didn’t even have individual TVs on the seats, and the movies they were playing on the tiny overhead screens were terrible. Also, the seats had absolutely no legroom, and if I were even a bit taller I would have been absolutely miserable the whole flight, and the flight attends were little bitches. Don’t mean to whine too much, but if you have a choice DON’T fly with United…Good thing I only have one more 15 hour flight back home with them haha.

Regardless, was very exhausted and excited to get off my plane and to Hong Kong, which was an unforgettable trip! I’ll write about that in my next blog post, which will hopefully be sooner than later..

Hope everyone is doing well!

-Sahil