My Trip to China: Journey

Day 1: October 4, 2026

After waking up at 5:45 to the alarm, I quickly ate my breakfast and packed my bag and luggage to head to IAH. On the way, the Uber driver told me that she could only earn one-third of what I paid, basically $19, and the rest goes to Uber. She thinks Uber is not treating the drivers fairly.

I arrived at Terminal E, which was renovated in the last few years. The new terminal looks nice and more spacious. There were not many people in line, and I went through security in less than 10 minutes. The process has also changed: I don’t have to lift my arms, and there is no spinning thing either, so it’s faster.

After waiting for about an hour, I boarded. The pilot announced that the flight would arrive 20 minutes before the scheduled time. Indeed, it arrived early. However, the assigned gate was not available, so we had to wait for about 40 minutes to get off the plane.

During the flight, I watched two movies and read 50 pages of a book. The first movie was called The Devil Wears Prada 2, starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. Meryl is the chief editor of a famous fashion magazine called Runway, which faces challenges from downsizing, smaller budgets, and potential layoffs. Anne used to be her assistant 15 years ago, but she left the fashion industry, traveled around the world, and became a writer. She was laid off right after she received an award from the writers’ academy. She was asked to come back and help Meryl reestablish Runway magazine. After some drama, they achieved their goal and made the magazine more successful.

The second movie I watched was a Chinese movie about a mom who became pregnant but had health issues that required her to lie down in bed to help the baby grow; otherwise, she would lose the baby. At first, the mom wasn’t sure if she wanted the baby because she had just been promoted to a manager position that required her to travel. She faced the dilemma of either having the baby or losing her job.

In the end, she decided to stay in bed and keep the baby. However, the baby had to be born prematurely because the mom couldn’t hold him anymore. The baby was born at 1.1 kilograms and had to stay in the NICU for months. After 15 years, he grew into a normal, very handsome young man, and the family lived happily together. I think the movie showcased a mother’s love for her son. It was very touching.

Please let me know how your visit to Zhusong’s house was.

Love you,
Mommy