Disorientated Feelings special: College Graduation Trip
My friends and I have planned a trip to head to New York via car as part of the graduation trip. My university is located about 40 km south east from San Fransisco, but New York city, which is on the other side of America, is 5000 km away from here. I'm leaving behind things that I don't need with a friend, so I had to fly back to California to pick them up before heading back to Japan. It's hard to book flights due to the unpredictability of the trip that could exceed the original plan by as much as a week or more. I could get a standby ticket if I want to get to the earliest available flight at that time, but only if there are still seats available at the time the regular check-in closes, which, considering that the international airports of California and Japan are major stopover airports, that's not guaranteed.
For this trip, we would be traveling in two cars. Whose car? Well, from someone who is joining the trip who lives closer to New York than California: one of the few guys who doesn't keep staring at me during my time in the university. Quite a number of guys who didn't know I have Itsuki as a boyfriend back in Japan were trying to compete for my attention. Besides taxis, airplanes, and long-distance buses, getting around America without your own transport (car) is very poor.
Most of the people who are coming along for the trip are mostly Caucasian, Hispanic, and African-decent Americans. I stand out because I'm the only Asian in the group, and that there are more males than females on top of that.
The journey was a very long trip: traveling on what seemed like a very long time across the highway covers only about 1000km. This is if the trip was a smooth journey and don't spend too much time at rest stops and there aren't any problems with the car.
Except, the car did encounter problems along the trip: the car I was in drove over something somewhere that caused one of the wheels to go flat. Changing of the wheels took a while as the wheels are quite heavy, and the car itself is lacking the tools needed to do so. I wish I could help if only I have the strength to even be able to carry those wheels. Thankfully, since the flat tire is visible by those driving on the road, someone stopped by to help us. That incident alone took up the most part of the day.
At night, we stayed at these motels. It's basically a no-frills hotel designed for people traveling by car to stay over for the night. We could have chosen someone else to take over to continue driving, but nobody wants to be in the car for the whole day and some roads can be quite dark at night as the streets are not lit in some areas.
After a few days longer than planed, we finally reached New York. I did not take pictures during this trip until I reached New Jersey, which is just right next to New York. I just want the memories of this trip without having the hassle and trouble that is associated with taking pictures. Besides, on this long traveling trip, I wasn't in the mood to take pictures anyway. Of course, I did send those pictures that I did take to Itsuki.
I had a great time there, but it's also sad that it is quite likely that this would be the last time I would see them. Being used to seeing them for quite a while, it doesn't really feel that way until after I had not met them for a long time... feels more like a normal meeting.
Now that the trip has been done with, I should head back to take my stuff back at California and then return to Japan. By plane, of course. When? As soon as possible: I enjoyed the trip so much that I completely forgot about my visa expiring soon. Itsuki already knows that I might come home soon, but not the exact day and time. If I call him on the same day as my flight to Japan taking off, he still has a day to prepare due to the time difference and the traveling time.
Due to the popularity of the flight, I can't confirm it, or warn Itsuki about it. I have to buy a standby ticket in order to get on the earliest available flight, but I could only get on if someone else on that flight did not turn up, or cancelled their ticket at the last minute. So, the time-frame between confirming the tickets and boarding the plane is quite small. Because of the duration of the flight alone, Itsuki should have at least 12 hours to prepare to pick me up, and the company he works for should know about me and my relationship with him.
Why do I have the feeling that Itsuki would have some surprises for me when I reach home though?
For this trip, we would be traveling in two cars. Whose car? Well, from someone who is joining the trip who lives closer to New York than California: one of the few guys who doesn't keep staring at me during my time in the university. Quite a number of guys who didn't know I have Itsuki as a boyfriend back in Japan were trying to compete for my attention. Besides taxis, airplanes, and long-distance buses, getting around America without your own transport (car) is very poor.
Most of the people who are coming along for the trip are mostly Caucasian, Hispanic, and African-decent Americans. I stand out because I'm the only Asian in the group, and that there are more males than females on top of that.
The journey was a very long trip: traveling on what seemed like a very long time across the highway covers only about 1000km. This is if the trip was a smooth journey and don't spend too much time at rest stops and there aren't any problems with the car.
Except, the car did encounter problems along the trip: the car I was in drove over something somewhere that caused one of the wheels to go flat. Changing of the wheels took a while as the wheels are quite heavy, and the car itself is lacking the tools needed to do so. I wish I could help if only I have the strength to even be able to carry those wheels. Thankfully, since the flat tire is visible by those driving on the road, someone stopped by to help us. That incident alone took up the most part of the day.
At night, we stayed at these motels. It's basically a no-frills hotel designed for people traveling by car to stay over for the night. We could have chosen someone else to take over to continue driving, but nobody wants to be in the car for the whole day and some roads can be quite dark at night as the streets are not lit in some areas.
After a few days longer than planed, we finally reached New York. I did not take pictures during this trip until I reached New Jersey, which is just right next to New York. I just want the memories of this trip without having the hassle and trouble that is associated with taking pictures. Besides, on this long traveling trip, I wasn't in the mood to take pictures anyway. Of course, I did send those pictures that I did take to Itsuki.
I had a great time there, but it's also sad that it is quite likely that this would be the last time I would see them. Being used to seeing them for quite a while, it doesn't really feel that way until after I had not met them for a long time... feels more like a normal meeting.
Now that the trip has been done with, I should head back to take my stuff back at California and then return to Japan. By plane, of course. When? As soon as possible: I enjoyed the trip so much that I completely forgot about my visa expiring soon. Itsuki already knows that I might come home soon, but not the exact day and time. If I call him on the same day as my flight to Japan taking off, he still has a day to prepare due to the time difference and the traveling time.
Due to the popularity of the flight, I can't confirm it, or warn Itsuki about it. I have to buy a standby ticket in order to get on the earliest available flight, but I could only get on if someone else on that flight did not turn up, or cancelled their ticket at the last minute. So, the time-frame between confirming the tickets and boarding the plane is quite small. Because of the duration of the flight alone, Itsuki should have at least 12 hours to prepare to pick me up, and the company he works for should know about me and my relationship with him.
Why do I have the feeling that Itsuki would have some surprises for me when I reach home though?
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