After receiving my visa, I got in touch with L University's Association of Chinese Students and Scholars (ACSS), inquiring about:
- What’s the best way to get there?
[Answer: Fly to Houston, Texas, then take a greyhound bus to city B]
- Who could pick me up at the airport?
[Answer: No one. City B is 90 miles away from Houston airport. ACSS doesn‘t have the resources to go to Houston to pick up new students. After arriving at city B, give ACSS a call, someone will go to the bus station to pick me up]
- Where should I live after I get there?
[Answer: Once I get there, ACSS will try to set me up with someone, so I can sleep on their couch for a few nights until I can find my own housing]
It was certainly not the answers I had hoped for. I would rather have both my pick-up and accommodation arranged ahead of time, then trying to figure them out later. And how was I going to take a bus by myself with all the luggage? Where to take it? How to get to the bus station? ......
The only good thing coming out of contacting ACSS was, they told me that there was another guy from Beijing going to the same school that fall. His name is Qian. Qian and I got in touch quickly. We were both disappointed in ACSS’ unable to pick us up at the Houston airport. Unlike me, Qian had been to America a couple of times for business before, so he knew America a little bit (I was totally oblivious. I didn‘t even know where Texas was until I received the letter from L University). He said he would try to get someone to come to the Houston airport to pick us up. I had no idea how could he do that. Who would drive 180 miles round trip to pick up two strangers? Anyway, I felt much safer now that I got Qian along the journey. Even if we got lost, I wouldn’t be alone.
