AKL - LA - CHICAGO - PHILLY

WOW WOW WOW!!!!
I am in America, America, America!!

Ok, so I know that as an educated person, I should not be so awestruck by "America"... but I am, I am, I am. When I stepped off the plane into the LAX I thought - wow my first step. And then when I stepped onto the grey sidewalk, not disimilar to ones in New Zealand or Hong Kong, I thought - my first step on American "soil". I could not help the giddy feeling rushing through my body. It's such a child-like feeling and I love it.

Customs was pretty tragic - it took like three hours of waiting and answering questions. I just find it a bit funny that the guy asked me all these questions concerning my motives for entering the country. I mean, seriously, why would I even bother with harmful thoughts, let alone harmful actions. But he seemed to think that a young person like me attending an education conference was pretty dodgy, so he asked heaps of probing questions and asked for written proof, etc. Even WHY it was a copy and not the real version and I just said that I'd received it by email... I was going to make some lame as joke about the wonders of the 21st century but decided against it.

Anyway, the first newstand-type shop, "Hudson News", I went through the goods with my eyes. I devoured every new sensation, sounds, sights, smells, touch... not so much taste because I was feeling too overwhelmed by the costs of things, dividing every price tag by 0.7. Every sensation brought new exciting emotions and I truly did feel like a child in a toy-shop and it was wonderful. I scoured the landscape for "familiar" things and came upon Oreos, Ritz biscuits, Starbucks (of course) and some distant, foggy names like Jolly Ranchers and Tootsie Rolls. But the choice is just astounding... and only at a small store! I could not imagine the real selection that Americans have... and I wonder - do they know what they have? Do they know that not everybody else has that choice?

The bustling terminal is like music to my ears - people embrace friends and family they are happy to be reconciled with, or sad to separate from, workers herding confused or dazed travellers, little kids running around while their parents try in vain to control their free spirits. I immediately notice the different demographic to Auckland. Race is always at the forefront of my radar - it has had such impact on my person that I cannot go a day without thinking or experiencing this it - this strange phenonmenon that is race. I actually feel less subject to racism here. I feel that people do not notice my being "chinese" as much as it offends people in Auckland. However, I do get the occasional, "Oh, you and all your money" stares. How do I differentiate between stares? Experience I suppose.... experience from being the subject of racism and other types of bullying. Anyhow, I feel racism is geared against "blacks" here. I know I've read about it, but I actually do feel it right now. What I notice is that most of the people working are black and most of the tourists or travellers are white. That is obvious to any person. Another thing I notice is size. People sizes... generally much larger. And I thought that New Zealand had an obesity problem. Now I notice why statistics of diabetes and other obesity-related diseases are always quoted from the U.S. It IS a serious problem here and much worse than New Zealand. Problems are hard to quantify unless you see it and I guess Americans will find it hard to identify their problem because they do not have another reality to compare it to.

I took the bus to Terminal 7, got my boarding pass, then headed to the Tom Bradley terminal, where there are actually things to do. I have like 11 hours here, so why not. I wish I could go outside the terminal, but I do not want to risk bad things happening again. I am such a pansy I know, but I really want to meet these people and present at the conference I've been looking forward to for so long. I don't want to jeopardise anything or let anyone down.