10 years ago on a late summer day I was in the Washington DC airport flying to Portland, OR on business. I was at the gate quite early that day and ended up meeting and talking to a young kid who was in America for the first time as an exchange student. There had been some confusion at the gate
about his ticket and there was a bit of a language barrier so I helped him through the situation. He was from Hamburg, Germany but of Korean descent and his name was Daniel. He was a typical European kid. Bright, polite, curious and mature…so different from most American teenagers. We became fast friends in the hour or so we talked at the gate, and since I had upgraded to First Class and had some extra vouchers, I invited Daniel to sit with me on the six hour flight to Portland. (This was years before 9/11, when things were so much simpler for high mileage flyers like me.) That flight was the fastest six hour trip I had ever taken. Daniel was such a well rounded young man. A piano player, into theater and the arts and wise beyond his years. I regaled him with stories of the things he would do and see in the Pacific Northwest during his nine months in Oregon. The Pacific Coast, Multnomah Falls, Mt. Hood, downtown Portland, Mt. St. Helens and so much more. He was very excited, and as our plane touched down, I handed him my business card and said “Good luck Daniel. Today’s the first day of the rest of your life.”
When we exited the plane he looked around for his host family who was supposed to be meeting him at the gate (which again, was allowed back in those days). I waited with him to make sure they showed up, and 15 minutes later, there was still no one there to meet him. I told him that maybe there was a mix up and they were probably at baggage claim. (Cell phones were not widely popular back then.) Just as we were about to leave the gate, I noticed a family that could only be described as “out of place”, looking around. They were dressed in tattered clothes, a father with a long ponytail, a very large mother (think Susan Boyle without the voice and with an extra 200 pounds), and 3 quite unkempt children. As they were the only other people in the terminal, I approached them and asked if they were looking for an exchange student. They said yes, and I introduced them to Daniel. They looked him up and down as if they were looking at a Martian. I surmised they were expecting a blond/blue eyed German kid in lederhosen; not a nearly six foot tall Korean kid. As I came to find out, they weren’t exactly what they would call “city folk”. In fact, they lived about as far outside of Portland as you can get. After the initial shock of seeing Daniel, they awkwardly introduced themselves.
It was painful to witness. I wish I could have taken him with me and shown him all the things I had told him about. But I knew I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. M
y job was done. So I shook his hand, and said, “Goodbye and good luck!” That was that. I left the airport and pretty much forgot about the whole thing.
About a month later I got an email with no name from an AOL address I did not recognize. The email simply read:
“I’m doing well. School is great. Thanks for everything.”
That was it! It wasn’t even signed. I wrote back and said that I was glad things were going well, but that I didn’t know who this was. I received a once sentence reply:
“I’m Daniel! I’m the boy you helped on the plane!“
To make a long story short, that was the beginning of a ten year friendship. Throughout those first 9 months, Daniel became my little brother. As his host family sadly never took him to any of the places I had told him about, Daniel and I did many of those things together. (I got their permission of course, though they could have cared less. They weren’t bad people, they were just simple and never left their small town. Why they wanted an exchange student, I’ll never know.) The photos you sere here are of us in the
Columbia River Gorge and
Multnomah Falls ten years ago. I visited Portland on business frequently and even took Daniel to rent his first tuxedo for his first prom. I attended his school plays and even put him on a budget which his mother later thanked me for immensely. Daniel made the best of his situation and had an amazing experience in America.
A few months after he left, I happened to be in Germany. I wrote to Daniel and he and his family invited me to
stay with them at their home in Hamburg. His mother was so sweet to me, and treated me like a member of their family. I also became good friends with his older brother David, whom my regular readers may remember
visited me earlier this year with his girlfriend and
last year for the Oscars. Daniel has also visited me here in LA before, most notably during the
Great GLY New Year’s Eve 2004 at the
Hotel Careyfornia:
Daniel, me & the gang. It was the most guests the Hotel Careyfornia has ever had at one time! My 950 square foot condo slept 21 people! What a great New Year’s!
Other European vacations with Daniel & friendsTonight, Daniel and his entire family checked into the Hotel Careyfornia. It’s his parents first trip to the United States, and I’m so happy they chose to spend it here with me. To me, Daniel will always be that
little boy I helped on the plane, but now he’s a successful sound mixer in Germany who owns his own business! I’m so proud of my little German/Korean brother!
Why can’t most waitresses hold a camera steady??
One of Daniel’s amazing mixes
(Don’t read if you’re easily offended by juvenile sexist comments!)
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