Life in the US 01

This article is a test draft and will be updated.

The Flight

Check-in process, I had very little luggage. The bag was beautiful and offered excellent protection; it left nothing, even water.

That evening at Beijing Capital International Airport, there were only two flights: one to my layover city and the other to my hometown. It was impossible not to feel stirred. I was torn between going left and right.

The Lufthansa 747, Queen of the Skies, stood elegantly. In German, ‘Luft’ means ‘air’ - as in Luftwaffe, the German Air Force. It was only when I saw the engine cowling in the picture that I remembered the drizzling rain that day. I was ready to leave home, and as my foot sank into the first puddle, I felt an ominous chill. Water had seeped into my shoe. Upon inspection, I found the sole had cracked. The light rain of Beijing had allowed me to overlook the fact that my shoes were on the verge of falling apart, and I had planned to wear them across oceans. At the airport, I opened my suitcase, swapped—disposed of the shoes, and my already light luggage became even lighter.

I passed through customs and entered the country. The journey was far from smooth. At my first layover in Frankfurt, I nearly missed my connecting flight because I didn’t realize that I needed to manually submit some inspection documents (COVID-19 nucleic acid test report—in English—which was required for traveling from China to the US at that time. I thought I had completed all necessary inspections at Beijing airport). At my second layover in Denver, my connection time was too short, and the customs queue was too long. If it hadn’t been for a delay of my next flight, I would have undoubtedly missed it.

Denver’s terrain is similar to Beijing’s, with tall mountains rising from the plains in the west. The setting sun is especially beautiful there.

The Initial Settlement

Upon arriving in San Jose, I stayed in a hotel for the night. The two landlords I had initially contacted both stood me up, and I had to search for a new place at night. The first night was tough; I didn’t sleep until six in the morning the next day. I had to catch a ride at 8:30 AM to view the house and signed the contract at 9:00 AM. I wasn’t too picky, only wanting to settle down as soon as possible. The last time I had eaten was on the flight from Frankfurt to Denver, which - at this point - was more than 24 hours ago.

The first few meals.

After settling down, I bought a bicycle. The photo shows where the bike chain fell off and got stuck , unable to be loosened. This bicycle would face more problems in the future, and I would have to become a problem solver (I have no choice).

During a sunny day in the rainy season, a small black cat basks in the sun in his territory. A few months later, the little black cat departed in the courtyard. After a tree falls ill, a thousand trees bloom in its wake; subsequently, three kittens played here all day.

Unexpected Loss

I could never have imagined that something like this would happen to me.

A water leak in my bag soaked and nearly ruined my two major productivity devices. About ten days later, the iPad managed to resume work, but the screen would sporadically go black. After getting a quote at an Apple store—$799 for a Mac repair and $899 for an iPad—I immediately bought a second-hand ThinkPad X1 Carbon that I fancied, which was older than the combined age of the damaged Mac and iPad.

From the picture, you can see that the X1 Carbon is already in use, and I really like it—it’s superior to the MacBook series. The sporadic eggshells hint that I had started eating eggshells at that point. Yes, while taking nutritional supplements, I realized my calcium intake might be insufficient, and eggshells are an excellent source of calcium. I ate them for a few months at a rate of one every two days, later replacing them with shrimp (can you guess if it included the shell?).

At the end of January, I spent my Spring Festival consumed by regret over the water damage incident. This month I started resuming my running routine and adopted a healthier diet, leading to a decrease in my weight. My highest weight at this point should have been over 80kg.

Next update: In February, there were a lot more sunny days. I binge-watched the show “Rush” (狂飙), which led to my eating a lot of rice noodle rolls…