Unwanted . . . by China

With a U.S. passport, a Hong Kong permanent resident card, and a ten-year China home visit visa, I have never had trouble going anywhere in the world. I don different identities, slipping into and out of the various languages, sometimes out of convenience, sometimes out of laziness. If I'm headed to Barcelona with my friends, I pull out the U.S. passport and breeze through security. If somebody in China customs is giving me a hard time about certain procedures, with an unrepentant smile, I sometimes pretend that I have absolutely no idea what they're saying.

Which is why I was shocked when they wouldn't let me on the plane to Shanghai in the Detroit airport. All I forgot to bring was my flimsy China home visit visa. I had left it back home in Utah, safely tucked away in a plastic folder. I tried to convince them that I do indeed have a visa and please can they check my name in the ether of some computer program? Isn't it obvious that I'm Chinese? I tried frantically to demonstrate how I could speak all three languages. The stewardesses who were smiling so patiently at the bumbling business class flyer a moment ago turned around and glared at me, "you think anyone can go to China? Why should we believe you?"

Used to living in my little Utah bubble, I wasn't sure what surprised me more: the fact that somebody would think I'm lying or that I was refused (no! retained, turned away, and bundled off to a different airport where I was somebody else's problem) by China!

I'm ashamed to report, that I did what any respectable college girl would do: I called my parents ten times, and when that failed, I cried.

In someways, that worked. The stewardesses came back to me, promising me a free flight back to Utah (and then from there to Shanghai but it turned out my visa was expired anyways). I was surprised that my little histrionic outburst had effected such a change, but then I suppose that I had passed the test: after all, terrorists trying to enter China illegally don't cry.

Feeling Old

Even though people at the office teased me for being only twenty, I can't help but feel incredibly old now that I just had my twentieth birthday. The big 2-0 is a milestone, one that launches me into another decade of my life. I don't know if I'm ready to leave my teenage years behind yet. Regardless, it was ready to leave me behind. So with some reluctance I will resign to the fact that I'm going to start learning how to deal with adult issues like insurance, mortgage payments, retirement funds, etc. Man, I'm not even greying yet and I'm already being nostalgic.

I had a great birthday by the way. Last week we celebrated all the July and August birthdays at the Barlow Center. My friend Marie is an amazing cook and apparently she's also an amazing cake decorator. She piped our faces onto the cake, and President Obama's too of course.





On my actual birthday, my friends at the Barlow also surprised me with chocolate covered strawberries and a video that they put together for me. I nearly cried!

The center of the universe

Last week we got to go to the Capitol and spend an hour with Congressman Jim Matheson (Utah Democrat). He was a great speaker and made me think that maybe I can be a Democrat and yet still stand for fiscal conservatism, among other things that conform to my religious beliefs. Afterward, my friend Jason used his special connections (aka his Senator Hatch intern badge) to show Andrew and I around the Capitol.





Since we didn't have much time, we just poked around a little bit. Below is the site where they were originally planning on burying George Washington (if what I remember is correct):



He even took us to the underground tunnels where we were able to ride the trains that are only reserved for people who work on the hill. Needless to say, I was easily impressed.

The streets in D.C. are laid out in quardrants with the Capitol building as the center of the city. Jason, Andrew, and I located the very central spot of the building and got to stand on top of it. Guess which foot is mine? P.S. the swelling has gone down, thank you.



For an instance while my foot was on that spot, I felt powerful.