the country

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Wednesday, August 8th, 2006

On Monday I met with a distant relative who lives in London. She is technically my aunt but much younger than my parents. The last time I saw her was when I was about 11 years old. I used to drag her to play with me and my dolls whenever she visited my grandparents, whom I was living with at the time. Right after I came to the States, she got married to her fiancee. I remember looking at the wedding reception pictures and drooling over all that yummy food that I didn't get to have. Now they have settled in the suburbs of London, been there for many years, and have two sons, aged 12 and 5. The older boy was in China visiting his grandparents, so I only got to meet the younger boy. What an adorable little boy, Chinese but speaks British English. He understands Chinese and English but mostly speaks English. Now it's his turn to drag me to play with him and his playstation.

We had dim sum in China town first. That whole day I ate so much, much more than I usually eat, because the food was so good. You know it's a good Chinese resturant when there are no foreigners inside at all. Sorry guys, to us Chinese people, everyone else is a foreigner, no matter where we are. Then we took the train back to their home in Surbiton (not sure of the spelling), it's near Kingston. Now I've finally seen something good about living in England. The little towns are very quiet and picturescue. I took lots of pictures. We had a pretty late start to the day, late lunch, and by the time we got to the wharf area, it was around 4pm. We were lucky to be able to catch the last boat to Richmond. We had about half an hour to kill. There was an ice cream truck there and my uncle asked if everyone wanted ice cream. To my surprise, the little boy, Sean, said he did not want ice cream. Now, what child of five turns down ice cream? Later his father explained to me that it's because he was afriad of missing the boat. He was so excited to go for his very first boat ride. He kept asking when the boat will sail, and ran up to the railing when the boat pulled in.

The Thames is narrower but more prettier in that part. Big estates line the river. These houses had their own boat houses and docks, with expanses of manicured lawns. They must cost a fortune.

We got off at Richmond, walked up the hill to see a wonderful view, just like a painting. Now that the boat ride is over, Sean clamoured to have ice cream. He had his priorities.

Back at my aunt's house, they cooked up some delicious Chinese food, mussels, shrimp, and duck. Even though I wasn't really all that hungry, I couldn't resist.

Monday was mostly sleeping off the food coma and trying to find a temporary place to live in Boston. Lucky me, a friend's mom had an empty room, great location. I thought I was going to have to shell out a couple of thousand on hostel/hotel for just two weeks. The hotel rates in the boston/cambridge area is killer.

I am so jet lagged I don't know what I should do. I had to get up at 3am to pack and leave the hotel by 4am to catch my flight. So I got about an hour and half of sleep last night. I arrived in Boston around midday and haven't slept since. Now it's 11pm here and I'm still awake. I guess it'll all catch up with me sometime tomorrow. I anticipate a slow start in the house hunting. =P I have my gym next door, good coffee available, internet and plenty of fresh fruit and good sushi all around the corner. What more can I ask for? Hm, how about a great one bedroom apartment right next to campus? That's my wish anyway. Once I get my bachelorette pad set up, y'all come and visit ye hear? =)

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