To the other side of the world

The journey to Hong Kong went off without hitch. I left New York at 12:30pm on Monday the 13th, and finally arrived at the Chinese University of Hong Kong at 12:30AM on the 15th. June 14th was pretty much swallowed whole by the international date line. I had a three hour stop over in Narita Airport in Tokyo, bringing back memories of my first trip abroad five years ago. If a country's level of civilization was determined by its bathrooms, the Japanese would make Americans look like Visigoths. In Narita airport, a nice plush carpet led up the entrance of the bathroom. The stall doors reached all the way to the floor and extended three feet over my head for a completely private environment. The sink had temperature controls with actual degree markings on it. The automatic soap dispenser placed the perfect amount of pre-lathered foam soap into my hands. Ah, Japan. This brought memories of the toilet in the apartment I staid at years ago, with it's water jet for complete hygiene and comfort. I also talked briefly to a marine who was heading to Thailand on vacation but hoped to be stationed in Japan after he graduated from college. I told him that I had signed up for a physical to enter Marine Platoon Leadership School a few years back, but that a broken collar bone had sunk my plans. He said that he had never broken a single bone in his life, and he had not been sick since he was 18 months old. This made me think that it was probably better to leave the fighting to people with this kind of constitution. I'll take care of the politics. During the descent into Hong Kong nature treated us to an amazing show. It was lightening oustide, and the entire sky lit up every few seconds, as jagged bolts of light illuminated the harbor and outlying islands. The director of Yale-China Association's Hong Kong office met me at the airport, and soon I arrived at the Chinese University of Hong Kong where I fell fast asleep.