“Nĭ hăo” from the Chicago airport.

Three months of Rosetta Stone later, and “hello” is the only Chinese word I’ve been able to master.

My flight boards in approximately 30 minutes. So forgive any flaws of this blog post – it’s truly a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants post. Mostly to appease my mother, who, as far as I know, may be the only follower of this blog. From the moment my parents left me at the airport up until now, I’ve received no short of 22 text messages, complete with pictures and emojis. When I called just ten minutes ago, my mom’s first question was, “Will you call again before you leave?” (As mentioned above, flight boards in 30 min. Leaves in about an hour).

And people wonder why I’m single.

In all honesty, I’m glad to have the parents I do. I feel that, in a way, I’m following in my dad’s footsteps. When he was around my age, he left his home country of India to pursue a medical residency in the US. Little did he know he would fall in love with an American and his whole life would change. Of course, he always tells me how he came to the US with “only $8 in my pocket,” and I’m over here coughing up an extra $200 because I couldn’t manage to keep my bags under 50 pounds. (Girl’s gotta have her standards).

I’ll be sure to update with more videos, posts and pictures when I get to China. In the meantime, download WeChat to keep in touch with me: my user ID is ashamarieanand.

Until then, I’ve got about 20 minutes to load up on the best American food the Chicago airport has to offer. Come at me, grease soaked pretzels and jumbo sodas.

xoxo,

Asha