A Summer Fling 9525 Miles Away From Home

"I could not describe my excitement upon the arrival on Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Everything here was a new experience for me – the airplanes, the toilets, the customs, the shops, the roads (Automobiles travel on the right side of the road), the people, and the weather. Thus, I was wandering around the premise with a childlike ecstasy, wanting to see more and experience new wonders. However, in the midst of these happy experiences, two of my friends who are traveling with me were detained by customs officers and interrogated. Both of them were forced to miss their connecting flight to Cleveland which they later retold their plight with hateful vengeance to us.

Fortunately, our two friends reunited with the group at Cleveland greyhound station. Nobody at that moment dared to ask them what really happened back there at the airport for the fear of arousing anymore unhappiness among the group. Despite all that, the two remained cheerful and even joked about their experience. Well, the truth is, we are so excited in this foreign country that nothing can dampen it.

Due to exhaustion and jet lag, we slept through an otherwise scenic journey to Sandusky. Upon reaching, we were unfortunately separated against our will into different rooms in different apartments. So I had to share a room with two African Americans and a White American. I was initially quite pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the Americans. They would take the effort to greet us and strike a conversation with us although we were completely strangers.

Getting Used to Life in the Ghetto

“Welcome to the ghetto!” This is what Todd, my roommate told me. It’s already been a week living in the apartments, and I got to know people from completely different backgrounds in my apartment. People partied from night to night, alcohol flowed like water and tobacco fumes choke the corridor. Once a while, visits from the Cedar Point police are normal. It was not anything I experienced before in Singapore. I learn to be more street smart, the dos and don’ts to get you out of trouble. I did not experience anything bad while I stayed there, but some of my friends got their valuables stolen due to carelessness.

Every day, we would persistently inquire at the front desk for vacant rooms so that we could stay together in one room. Eventually, our efforts paid off, much to the relief of the front desk people who had to endure our unrelenting requests. We were moved to on to another place.

Working for Hotel Breakers

Working at Hotel Breakers was quite enjoyable. "

Cedar Point

Above is an excerpt of the $1395 essay that I am working on. A lot of drama happened in US, almost too exciting to tell - the treachery, lies, betrayal, love blossoming, defiance, etc, etc...

I'll leave the other part of the essay for another day.