Random thoughts from my trip

I saw a man who had spinners on his luggage, how SICK is that?!

Another guy had the most legit sideburns I have ever seen.

I want to take my camera to the airport one day and walk up to random people and ask them to take their portrait, they're some of the most interesting people I've seen.

I sat across from a guy that looked like a monk.

I ran into my neighbor in the airport.

The best part of flying is landing, or maybe taking off. It's a close call.

Flight attendants are funny people. That last one was a little high-anxiety, though. I hope she was just having a bad day.

I've pretty much got the speech about the seatbelts, life vests, emergency exits, and oxygen masks down.

I read the aircraft saftey card in Spanish and learned some new words. (ubicado)

I sat next to a really hot guy from Harvard today.

Airports are the best for people watching. (Call me a creeper, I think people are really interesting.)

Public restrooms are scary places.

In Chicago, riding the bus, my mom and I were the only white people on the bus. There were more Black people on one bus alone than in my entire hometown. No exaggeration. It interesting to be in the minority instead of the majority, not to give the wrong impression, I'm not trying to compare racial prejudice or anything, it was just different from what I'm accustomed to.

I rode in a taxi for the first time.

It was also my first time in below-freezing weather.

My mom is one of the funniniest people. She stuck up a conversation with anyone and everyone. We met Rhonda, Keisha, John, and Kelly before we even got to the school. And we didn't just introduce ourselves, we practically swapped life stories. My mom would comment on anything, a person's jacket, shoes, hair, bag, accent, eyes. Absolutely anything. She reminded me of a little kid, her eyes would light up and she would just babble and babble until either the person or we had to leave. She loves people so much. It was nice to see her so happy to be around other people, cheerfully smiling and chatting up a storm.

I met a girl from China in St. Louis. She was here by herself looking at colleges. She is an only child -- it's extremely rare for a Chinese family to have their only child as a girl, and even more rare that she has the opportunity to come to school here. She wanted to study media and return to China to help reduce poverty. She was such an amazing person to talk to, she had an incredible perspective on the world, she was very optimistic and compassionate. I realized I had an awful stereotype of Chinese people as cookie-cutter people who are brainwashed by Communism. Needless to say I no longer believe that stereotype. The things this girl had to say were so intelligent and thought-provoking, it's unbelieveable.

Life-lesson: my attitude and how I approach/treat people truly does affect how they respond. (baggage claim people, baggage check people, flight attendants, the guy in the seat next to you, your friends, your family, your teachers, your boss, anyone, consider that, be mindful of your words and your actions.)

More to come (?)

:)