A Great Start to A Long Haul

2.1 decades ago the world was graced with a birth rivaling that of the Great Caesar and according to many, surpassing that of Mr. Lincoln himself; while few have heard his name, all have benefited from his time on earth in some way or another. Like all great men, AJ Bayus has much to his resume—from single-handedly negotiating peace accords with the barbarian tribes of the Amazon, to saving thousands of oil-soaked seals and dolphins in the Gulf Coast during last years disaster. It was just twenty-one years and nine months ago to the day when Robin and Tony Bayus made what turned out to be the most profitable mistake of their lives.

For this unprecedented celebration in AJ’s life, I was blessed to be a part of his first two beers, shot of tequila, and shot of whiskey. Unfortunately, AJ goes to school at the University of Hawaii where he swings a bat for a living while bringing hordes of women to their knees with a quick flash of his furry chest. What this meant for me was that in order to celebrate his day of birth, I was forced to travel to Hawaii where I couldn’t leave the apartment wearing more than a bathing suit and flip-flops. It was torture. It’s hard visiting a place where the temperature varies from 75 to 85 every day during the summer, but I was a trooper and I put up with it.

Following AJ’s first few drinks, my time spent on the island consisted of eating, surfing, scuba diving WWII wrecks and fun things like learning how to pick up a car after it has been towed for illegal parking. Yea, that happened. Overall, my time spent in Oahu with AJ couldn’t have been any better. It was a great way to start my four months abroad with great people and even better weather. Thank you AJ.

Then reality hit me. I would be spending 120 days of my life living in what could be the most polluted city in the world where temperatures range from 10-40 degrees Farenheit. But before the misery began, I had one last glimpse of sunlight when one of my wonderful sisters, Janie, met me at the Seattle airport during my layover to bring Gabe and I what could be my last American lunch for a very long time. (Sidenote: Gabriel Garcia is in China with me. He will be here for the first two weeks.) After our great layover, we jumped on Hainan Airlines flight 496 for eleven and a half hours of pure misery. I’ve never experienced seats on an airplane that make you wish you were being burnt alive—a little bit of an exaggeration, I know. But seriously, they were that bad. I slept maybe 2 hours, if you call it sleep, and read the rest of the time while I complained to Gabe about my lower back.

When we arrived and picked up our luggage, it was off to Beijing University. Everyone in the program seems really nice and I’m enjoying getting to know them all. My roommate is awesome, he’s a great guy who goes to Notre Dame and happens to be Catholic (my new Church buddy). Gabe was able to rent a room in the dorm hotel three doors down from me so it worked out great. Not much has transpired other than what I’ve given above but I’ll be sure to check in regularly. Hope everyone at home is great, thanks for all the birthday wishes, I miss you all!

Michael