Power of Insomnia

Here I am, back in the quiet little town (Eugene) in Oregon again. Starting from the moment I got on the airplane in KLIA, it felt like I’ve been through a century. Many things happened and my mood kept swinging between 0-360 degrees (unbelievable extreme changes). And that is definitely due to lacking of sleep recently. 4 DAYS, I could hardly fall asleep because of bad airline connection and jetlag and pressure. After I arrived at PDX, I had to figure out how to get back to Eugene, get my phone connected again, and move to a new apartment… blah blah blah. Generally speaking, I had to get my life in this weird town back together again. That’s when I truly learned the power of insomnia.

11:15pm, Sept 17th, I took the plane to Singapore from Malaysia to make a transfer there. I had to wait till 3am to get my new boarding pass and the flight to Tokyo wouldn’t take off until 6am. So, I made my previous post in the airport there. The air conditioning made SIG freezing cold. The people who can fall asleep there must be some super-heroes.

Finally, I got on the plane to Tokyo and then Portland. The service NW airline provided was really nice. They constantly served us food and water. But that just kept me awake! The flying attendance with the sharp voice saying “duty free products” was really annoying. I imagined stretching out one leg to trip her so she could shut up. Yup, I know I’m evil. I met a friend from UO on the plane. He’s from Pinang Malaysia and is doing his PHD in vocal performance in our school. I knew him because my previous roomy who’s studying piano had a pretty hard crush on him. Ohh… that was long time ago. People change fast. Anyways, back to my story line. So we chatted when we were waiting for planes. I wasn’t too bored. And his let me stand in front of him at the immigration in PDX so I didn’t wait for too long to get through the custom. It was all good.

I was so excited when I got out of the Portland airport ‘cos I thought I could meet with Dave there since he was going to Japan on the same day. But then I found out that he wouldn’t be at the airport until noon and it was not even 9am yet when I contacted him. I couldn’t wait for that long and we wouldn’t have a lot of time to hang out at the airport. I was so disappointed sitting in the departure hall in the airport. After I tried to calm down, I dragged my luggage to the train to get to the greyhound station. I had to walk several blocks from china town to the bus station with my heavy luggage. I felt the place was so foreign while walking on the street. I kind of think people look at me strangely. I’m the “lao wai” this time. I was super sleepy on the bus but the kid sitting next to me was talking (more like yelling ‘cos she’s too young to talk) all the time. I tried really hard to control my temper and not to twist her head off.

3pm, Sunday, I arrived at Eugene… finally~. My roomy took me home and I crashed really hard that evening. The next day I got up around 7am. Later I found a freaky news when I saw trying to test my phone to see if it works- Dave was still in Hillsboro. He missed his flight! Well, it’s definitely terrible for him, but to be honest I was a little bit excited. That means I can see him earlier. But then I thought probably he’s gonna find a way to go to Japan eventually since he’s always determined. I was right. He found another flight the next day and took off. My mood dropped to freezing point again. I tried to tell myself that friends support each other and we are much more than friends. I should understand him and give him the best support if we really have the connection. I don’t know if that means much to him, but that’s all I can do for him. Dave said I’m a very traditional girl. I don’t know if that’s a compliment or something…

The next day I moved to my new apartment. My friends were really helpful, especially my old roomy. I truly appreciated them. However, maybe because I had jetlag, maybe I was in a new environment and it was so messy, I couldn’t fall asleep again for 2 nights. I sat in my room and started to cry. It was the first time to see the power of lacking of sleep. It made me so emotional, weak and unorganized. I felt my world was falling apart and I was so helpless and lonely. I wrote a really depressing email to Dave, but I was wishing he wouldn’t be able to read it at any time. I called my parents for help. They asked me to go out for a walk until I feel tired. It helped! I got a really good sleep in the afternoon and another one at night. The happy and optimist CiCi is back to me now. And I’m ready to make everything comfortable at home and wait for Dave to come back. Jia you, Yay!