cleveland rocks!

well actually, that is still an unproven fact for me since i've spent most of my time here sleeping. . . anyway, i'm here, safe and sound, so you can all just stop worrying about me. . . hehe.

my flight was uneventful, as i prayed it would be. good thing we arrived at the airport early (around 4am) so i didn't have to wait for ages at the concourse (?!?). i also got my request for all side-aisle seats throughout my trip. also, the check-in procedure at naia is a lot more hmmmm. . . meticulous now. a lot of body checks and baggage checks and all that. you even have to take off your shoes and one poor man puts his hands into every single shoe. bleagh. the plane left on time at 7am for nagoya. i sat beside a couple who were going on a tour of canada. we started speaking just as the plane was landing in nagoya (since i slept and/or cried most of the way there) with my ears popping and everything so i couldn't hear most of what they were saying and my replies were limited to "ano ho?"s and a lot of nodding and smiling. next thing i knew, the wife was giving me her son's e-mail address. apparently, binebenta na pala ako sa anak nila. . . hehe. pero they were very nice about it.

in nagoya, i also got to meet a couple who live in cleveland. they told me a few things about ohio and i learned that osu is the largest university campus in the WORLD. . . i don't know if this is true (or sobrang exag lang talaga siya) but this probably means that the school is pretty big. . . hmmm. . . more places for me to get lost in. . . scary. . . the plane was delayed for 10 or s0 minutes in nagoya because there were 4 people who had sore eyes. i was totally unaware of this since as soon as i sat in the plane i was out like a light (gravol, highly recommended if you ever travel). i sat next to a girl from naga. she's going to columbus as an exchange student and she's only 17! she travelled alone and she's staying in ohio for 9 months with a foster family. syempre lalo lumakas loob ko kasi if she can do this, siguro naman kaya ko. inggit lang ako kasi she was travelling as an unaccompanied minor so the flight attendants were nice to her and they let her stay in front of the plane just so she won't miss her connection. were as i had to run through detroit airport like everyone else. i really thought i won't make it to my 120 flight since we were able to disembark at 1220 and we still had to go through immigration and customs. the people in immigration were hostile to say the least. the guy asked me "who's paying for your studies?" and i said " the school" and the INS guy says "why would they do that?" like it's my fault! i was tempted to say "and why wouldn't they?" or "because i'm smarter than most americans that's why!". condescending ugly american! humph! good thing the people at customs were a lot nicer. they didn't open my luggage! by then it was like 110 and my connecting was at 120. so i started running. my gate was gate 59 and the i started running from gate 21! sobrang hindi na ako physically fit. buti na lang delayed yung plane by 30 mins. useless din pala pagtakbo ko. in the plane, i sat beside a guy who looks exactly like that guy in jurassic park who sold the embryo at the black market? the fat guy? and he took off his shoes and i swear, his toenails were like claws! gross! as in! buti na lang nakatulog ako ulit. and i was seated directly behind business class so i had more legroom than usual ( and he had more room for his toenails... eeeuww!)

so i got to cleveland airport by 4pm. the first thing you look for when you get off the plane is your baggage right? cleveland airport is very strange in that the baggage claim is a long way off were you land. so i was walking down very long corridors and as i rounded a corner, expecting to see my luggage there standing was justine and george! i musn't have looked very happy to see them because i was very confused what with my luggage still not in my possession. hehe. so we got my luggage and i got to ride in george's and justine's new red rav4! george used one of those talking gps things and it was pretty funny because we kept answering her like "yeah, yeah liliko na". then the first thing i did when i got to justine's was take a bath. kaya bye-bye straight hair kaagad. then we went to dinner at applebee's which is similar to tgif's. i thought i was ok after i bathed pero in the middle of the meal medyo nagsi-spin na utak ko and medyo walang sense na sinasabi ko. weird din pala kasi while we were eating the tv in the restaurant was showing a match between django bustamante and efren bata reyes. . . ano kaya ibig-sabihin noon? then we went to walmart and i bought a few stuff na looking back now, does not make any sense for me to buy the first day i get here (like, nail polish remover and nail buffer). ganoon na ako ka-lutang noon. then when we got home, i fell asleep immediately in the middle of justine's living room while we were watching will and grace. pag-gising ko madilim na buong apartment. hehe.

right now, mag-isa lang ako dito sa apartment ni justine kasi pumasok sila ni george. medyo nalulungkot ako lalo na pag naaalala ko sina leeron and zeth. not that i don't miss the rest of the people back home pero sabi kasi nila mama sabi daw ni leeron gusto niyang patigilin yung airplane ko sa may bahay para makasakay ka. at si zeth naman pupunta na raw dito sa isteyts para makita si barney. i guess synonymous na si tita jona kay barney. hehe.

haba na ng post na ito. pag nakaabot ka dito siguro wala kang magawa 'no?