Hot Knives

"She went to see a Mystic who made medicine from rain

And gave up her existence to feel everything, dream others' dreams

Bid farewell to her family with one ecstatic wave (Please take care I love you all)

Out the window as the car rolled away

She just vanished into a thick mist of change"

(Bright Eyes, Hot Knives)

Twenty hours, two planes and a few tears later, here I am. HELLO TUEN MUN, HONG KONG. You are hot and sticky and humid, and although very beautiful, your residents keep giving me funny looks. Went to the shopping centre today and Katerina and I were the only non-Chinese people there. But I get ahead of myself. Back to the journey. Back to Friday 21st August.

It is 3pm. I have to leave the house no later than 4pm to catch my plane. This means I have an hour to pack my handluggage, shower, eat, and generally finish sorting out my life. While this is possible (with help from Dad and Liz), I would not recommend it. Major stress ensues. Somehow, however, I manage to get there on time. Because I'm flying with BA, they have this nifty thing where you check in online 24 hours before and at the same time print your boarding pass. This means all you have to do at the airport is do a speedy bag drop off (you can get your bags automatically checked onto your next flight), say a (less ecstatic, more slightly tearful) goodbye to your loved ones and then get through security. This is what my life has been compressed into:

I get a few good omens for the trip - I find £5 on the floor, and the security man is extra nice to me because we share the same birthday. No full body searches for me! One free newspaper later I am on the plane for a short hop down the country to Heathrow, a journey of approx. 50 minutes. It's not long but you still get complimentary sandwiches and a drink. I opt for tea...the 90year old woman next to me in full safari get up goes for a Bloody Mary. I feel decidedly un rock and roll. Our flight was slightly delayed so we have to circle over London a few times before they can find us a slot. The pilot makes us totally forgive this by giving us a mini guided tour: "And on the right, you can see The Houses of Parliament. It was raining before, now it's quite nice. Barbeque weather even." A nice farewell to England.

But before I can leave England, I have to suffer Terminal 5. Yes, it's very pretty and all, and I do love the "The Future is NOW" ethos (I have to ride on a train to get to my gate. I'm impressed. And there are lots of tunnel-y bits, which is always cool) BUT I get lost twice as the signs are tiny/unclear and they send us through to the plane too early, before the doors have been opened, and you end up with a lot of people in a very small place wishing they were still sitting down.

Then my nice, long-haul, 16hour flight. Not a lot to say about this other than the food is not amazing but okay for plane food, and the selection of films and music on offer is pretty good. I eat my dinner, watch X Men Origins: Wolverine (http://www.digitalpimponline.com/strips.php?title=movie&id=468) and then have an awkward few hours sleep. I wake up over China and in no time at all I'm on my way through their security and Swine Flu screening. As far as I can tell, this involves waiting forever in a massive queue and then handing over a piece of paper that says "No swine flu here, guv'nor". The nice lady at the counter tells me that as I am classed as a resident, I could have gone in the teeny-weeny 5 people long line. I resist the urge to kill her.

I swan past the sniffer dogs, collect my case, and settle down with a cup of tea and a book for my four hour wait until pickup.

Two hours later, I realise I definately shouldn't have had the second cup of tea, as I am now desperate for the toilet. The trolley with my luggage does not fit in the toilet. I don't know anyone to watch it. I cannot hold it in for another 2 hours. Thus, what followed was a wonderful five minutes in which I dragged as many bags as possible into the cubicle, leaving my case in front of the door, and then tried to pee whilst looking under the door for feet approaching my case. Not that I know what I would have done if any had.

Anyway. I eventually meet up with everyone else, they seem very nice, blah blah, I am the only person from England but one of the people from Lingnan lived in Bristol for a while. Then it's a coach ride to the campus where I befriend Katerina, a lengthy wait to check into the halls while everyone's temperature is checked, a quick unpacking (I don't have a lot of stuff, and there isn't a lot of space) and an explore around the campus at midnight. Before we leave, a great moment where we discover the security guard knows no English. We try and explain where we're going, he leads us down a corridor then realising that's not what we mean mimes riding a bike. One laboured mime of walking and 10 minutres later, we're out. The architecture is amazing (I will take some pictures soon) and there is a lovely pool and lots of feral cats. One has the smallest head and the biggest eyes of any cat I've ever seen. It also has only half a tail. Perhaps the eyes are meant to be a distraction. Back to the room and I'm in bed by 1am, on a mattress that is 2inches thick and has the consistency and comfort level of a plank of wood. Luckily, I'm so tired I fall straight to sleep to the hum of the air conditioning.