Christmas Arrives Early

I am sorry to be so behind on my blogging. The days have flown by, especially since my dear Colin has arrived. But I may as well do the other half of the half-baked week in review.

Wednesday is quick and easy, because I skipped my class and spent almost all day cleaning and reorganizing and buying things. I also finished this modular origami star, made of the wrappers from the Euphoria chocolate bells that my mom sent me for my birthday. The wrappers were very delicate, but fortunately the star was very simple. I liked the colors of it very much.

Thursday I meant to leave early and get some things done before my lunch date with YHz and WW, but somehow it took me forever to leave the house. And then WW sent me a text message requesting that I meet them in YHz's office at 11. That left me exactly 40 minutes to get to school and get my things done, and it usually takes me more than 20 minutes to get to school. But somehow everything was going smoothly, and I performed a complicated series of exchanges, involving books and IDs and CDs in the library, so I was able to turn back what I was done with and get what I needed next, and miraculously it all went off without a hitch.

Then we got into WW's car and headed to a fancy Peking Duck restaurant. WW had made reservations for it in advance, it seems, and was very pleased about it all. I was intimidated by the restaurant, because it was a cloth napkin sort of place, even at lunch-time. We got many dishes, including duck liver, duck webs in horseradish (yeah, that's the feet), and the duck itself. It was hard eating the duck webs, not because they were bad (a bit chewy and gelatinous, but good with horseradish)--just because they were the most ducky of all of it. They made me think of how much I like ducks and how cute they are, and how really I shouldn't be eating them.

The Peking duck itself was superb, and there was no room in my mind to think that I shouldn't be eating an animal I think is so cute. All I could think of was "delicious delicious delicious." The duck was served in slices of meat and delicious crisp skin, with hoisin sauce, rice pancakes, scallions, and tiny cucumber slices. Every bite was heavenly. But we had to eat it fast because once it gets cold it changes completely, especially the skin.

It was a pleasant meal, and I felt quite comfortable--perhaps even more comfortable than I should, I don't know. After all, there was a sense in which it was a business lunch…

They gave me advice about how to get to the airport, but I ended up being too nervous and impatient to follow it. After WW dropped me off, I just hopped in a cab and went there. I was about an hour early. The place was packed. I stood by the rail of where the passengers were pouring out. Everyone else was standing by that rail too, layered four or five deep, staring up at the gate where passengers were coming out. I watched the flight numbers on people's luggage tags until I saw ones from the Chicago flight. No Colin and still no Colin. First I savored the excitement and then I got worried. Finally when almost everyone was gone I turned around and saw him trudging past with big zombie eyes. They had let him out at a different place! I actually waved him hand right in front of his face before he noticed me; that's a thirteen hour flight for you.

There's no point in describing how happy we were, because it's way too mushy to put into words.

Then we went out the doors planning to wait at the cab stand. However, the line wrapped around itself three times and continued about a quarter-mile back from where the actual cabs were. Making use of the directions I'd got from YHz and miraculously remembered, I suggested we catch the airport shuttle instead. Colin said he was following my lead on this. We got a bus almost right away, and two seats together, and I felt quite satisfied. It still took a while to get home, but better than waiting like an hour in the cab line. And then we were home!

At some point we had instant noodles for dinner because we didn't feel like stirring from this cozy little room. I made Colin stay awake until nine or ten, and then, impressively, he managed to fall asleep right away. I had more trouble sleeping--hard to believe how thoroughly I have got used to living alone, and I kept waking up feeling shocked that there was someone else there. But it was a good kind of shock!