Elliott C. Back: In Aere Aedificare

I rarely write about my personal life on this blog, but this story is interesting enough to warrant the diversion.

This Christmas, I had carefully planned a trip home to Phoenix to visit my family. I was to fly out Friday evening, and return Wednesday morning. Then, I planned to spend a few days relaxing in NYC before going back to work. I have gifts for all my family members, and my grandparents who were in town for the warm Arizona winter season from icy Canada. A few of my friends from high school also wanted to see me.

Then something new, exciting, and amazing came up.

The girl I had started seriously dating offered to host me with her family in Shanghai. Wow. I was touched by the invitation, but at first I thought it was just a politeness. I checked it out anyway and found that I could buy a ticket from Phoenix to Shanghai on Tuesday, and returning to NYC the next Monday. I thought that if it were possible it would be the best week spent anywhere of my life–something I’d remember forever. When I came to understand that she really wanted me to come, I purchased those tickets and looked forward to the most lovely Christmas of my life!

Then, a minor mishap tumbled up all my plans.

I had to get a rush L tourist visa to visit China, so I went to the embassy in NYC, documents in hand, Friday. I was there when it opened, and they told me to come back at 2 PM. I didn’t realize that they closed there are 2:30 PM, because their website led me to believe something else, and because I was very tired at the time. When I came back they were closed. I couldn’t take the same flight home, and when I got back to Queens, I found by calling airlines and online that there were no tickets to Phoenix, and then back to NYC Monday night / Tuesday morning.

Calling Expedia I found that my Shanghai tickets were not actually issued yet, and that I could have them canceled and buy NYC to Shanghai tickets. So the new plan is to pick up my visa at 9 AM Tuesday, take a cab to JFK, and arrive in Shanghai later (much later, it’s a 16 hour flight) to spend the remainder of Christmas with my girlfriend and her family. I will visit my own family sometime later in February, since I still want to hand-deliver their presents. In spite of this trouble, I am determined to everything possible to make the trip to Wendy work.

At the end of it all, the experience is a jumbled mix of love, disappointment, excitement, my own incompetence, sacrifice, planning, fate, disruption, tranquility, and happiness. I lose the dollar amount of the flight to Phoenix, but I have a chance to see them soon to make it up. I lose the chance to spend Christmas with my family, but I gain the chance to have a wonderful time with Wendy.

3 Responses to 'One thing leads to another'

1. Wendy said:

   on December 24th, 2006 at 2:39 pm

   For two people in love, no matter how far the distance between them is, as long as their hearts are together, they would never feel lonely, right? =)

   At the moment when you shivered so much due to the accident in that cold windy day, I realized how much I

2. Elliott Back said:

   on December 24th, 2006 at 3:03 pm

   I <3 you too.

3. Ken Savage said:

   on April 17th, 2007 at 12:16 am

   What an offer!!

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