About 4pm on August 20, I arrived at the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport. When I checked in, I watched the clerk’s face, worried that she might charge me for my overweight luggage. It turned out to be OK because my luggage was still under the max limit. At about six, saying goodbye to my family, I went to passport control alone. I was thinking that security check would take a lot of time, but it didn’t. So after that, I just sat at the waiting area, reading and listening to MP3 to kill time.
On the flight to Hong Kong, next to me was a good-looking boy. Unfortunately we didn’t talk too much due to my shy nature. Shortly after take-off, flight attendants served meals with an astounding speed. There was only one kind of meal so we had no choice. I watched “Friends” and “Frasier”, two of my favorite comedies. Too bad that the screen didn’t work well!
Another security check was required when I transferred at HK. The clerk was a bit arrogant and looked like I owe him a million dollars. Well, never mind. The airport is very huge with about sixty gates inside (if my memory is correct). There are hundreds of duty-free shops and restaurants. Still, unfortunately, I wasn’t in a mood to shop since there were two heavy bags with me, and what I did was just pushing the cart around. Then, I got to the so-called VIP room, but it was quite different from my imagination. Actually, it was nothing more than a cybercafe: drinks, snacks, magazines, computers, and so on. All right, I thought, since I am here I need to do at least one thing. So I ate a vanilla-flavoured ice lolly. It was fantastic. However, at that time I never thought that this ice lolly would almost ruin my plan!
The boarding was at 11:45, and I got out of the room at about 11:30. I hadn’t realized that the gate was SO DAMN FAR until I wanted to get there! Without a cart, which was stolen in front of the room while I was inside, I had to carry those two heavy bags with my own hands. When I got the gate, I saw a few people standing in line. I thought maybe I had a few minutes left, and I went to the loo. (What the HELL was I thinking!) Then, as I got out, what I could see were only airline clerks. I was frozen in shock! Luckily, at last I didn’t miss that flight. Though it was very embarrassing.
I ate two dinners at that night. Although I was full when the second was served, I still ate it just because it looked more delicious. I also watched the film Mission: Impossible III, which surely beats MI2 but still isn’t good.
I tried to sleep, but behind me sat a family with a little kid. I wasn’t sure if it was the kid kicking or the dad moving. Anyway, my seat was never steady. Once I fell asleep, I was waken shortly by somebody behind.
After breakfast was served, we landed at Heathrow Airport. It was about 6 am I guess. I walked a long way to the Immigration Control. The lady there looked DAMN COLD and gave no reply when I said good morning to her, which made me very disappointed. She read my documents and said a lot to me. What the HELL! My English was so poooorrrrr that I only caught one to two words. It seemed she wanted me to have a health check. WHY SHOULD I? We have NO SARS in Taiwan now! Well, of course I didn’t argue with her. I did a health check in Taiwan already. So I just brought my report to the doctor and she soon let me go.
Walking out of the green channel, in front of me was the Meeting Point at Terminal 3. The terminal was much smaller than I thought, and the seats looked old and dirty. I phoned my mom and told her I was fine. Then I sat down. A girl came over and asked me if I am from Taiwan. She turned out to be a friend that I knew on the Internet, and then we waited together. School staff appeared at around 9:30. Until then I didn’t know that those young asian faces around me were all my schoolmates. They are from Mainland China, though.
We got on the school coach at about 11:30. The motorway looked little different from that in Taiwan, so I gave up watching the scenery and went to dreamland.
It took nearly two hours to go to the school. I felt a terrible headache when I got off. After putting down my luggage, I had my first dinner in the UK. Thank God I don’t have to spend lots of time accustoming myself to the food. I always like Western food.
