The first day in the US
October 6th, 2007
I called F, my landlady, that I was going to rent a car to her house, but I might be late. I was worried that she had to wait for me to pick up the key. If she didn’t live there, it would be a pain for her to sit still and wait for me.
The staff at the counter noticed that I wasn’t confident to drive a car on my first day here. He gave some hints. Go out of the gate, turn left and go on the highway…. Always drive on the right lane, which is the slow lane. OK, OK, got it. I will be all right, I said to myself.
I rented the GPS as well, which made me sweat a bit. It kept speaking street names, which I was not familiar with and kept silence when I need to decide whether I should make a turn or not. I think both of us thought the other was idiot, which I saw in a cartoon book. I should have that illustration here for the better understanding.
I thought it would only take me 20 minutes by car to get there, but it took longer. This made me anxious and got out of the highway one exit earlier when I saw the sign of North Ann Arbor. I should have listened to my GPS buddy.
Finally, I was on the Eighth Street. Z came out of the apartment and welcomed me. He would be my roommate then. I haven’t shared a house with a guy before, especially no lock on the door. J told me it’s very safe in Ann Arbor, so we decided to rent a room to save some money. Also it’s a way to learn the culture by sharing house with others. I would feel so lonely in a star hotel.
Z is very nice and kind. He was going to drive me to supermarket for some fruit. He reminded me R. They look similar? Maybe or maybe not. Although they talked in different languages, the way they talked are similar. The moment they looked at the distance. Hahaha…. I had to admit that I always wondered around.
F came after a while. She offered me the lift to show me the conference center as well. She praised me a lot, which made me very happy and proud.
Z drove me to the conference center and a big supermarket, where I bought a lot of fruit for three days. The price was reasonable and everything was big and sound.
I thought I could cook breakfast for Z every morning to thank him, but I didn’t make it. I had to get up very early to catch up the morning session, while he was still sleeping. Also I found that he was very good at cooking sandwich for himself that night.
J came later. He helped me a lot this time. I didn’t book anything the night before my flight. I was struggling to find a hotel on 5th. He offered help and so here I am. I was planned to invite him for dinner, but he had a party with friends. He drove me around the campus and I went to his department to check my emails for a while. Although we had communicated each other through emails, it was our first time to meet in person. He was very sweet and nice. It’s my first day here, I started to like here.
