Air Time

I have been traveling for 3 days on an airplane. What sort of crazed human being agrees to this anyway? The funniest thing is, I seem to have only lived through 2 of those 3 days... there are 24 hours in there where I guess I went missing cause I crossed the date-line, time-line, whatever-line somewhere in the Pacific and disappeared for a while. (Man, this diet really works!) Anyway, I don't think I have ever stepped foot on so many countries and cities within the space of 72 hours; Detroit, Tokyo, Singapore, Perth, Adelaide ... and done so little. Highlights? here they go:

Spent 15 minutes waiting for a toilet in Detroit airport. I think the woman was scrubbing away dead skin cells in there while I prayed not to pee in my pants. It was disabled toilet I was waiting for because I was in a wheelchair myself. Meanwhile, I observed the overhead electric train that runs from one end of the terminal building to the other overhead. Now, why have I only seen this in Detroit?

The flight to Tokyo was on a jumbo jet, those once awe-inspiring machines, (with their twirling stairwell up into 1st class) now tatty and obsolete, at least in the face of the new Airbus 300 series with their freaky silence, power outlets in every seat (remember I am sitting in economy), individual screens with on-demand entertainment, comfy seats with the tilting head-rest sides to hold the ever-snoozing head, halogen slow-on, slow-off reading lights, superbly clean and flashy toilets... I got to fly on the A-300 for the first time on a flight from Madrid to Miami and actually saw how the airplane took off because it's tail had a camera transmitting the view into the screen before me. That was pretty cool. Anyway, back to the jumbo jet. I sat next to a Detroit couple who were on their way to China to adopt a baby girl. It had been a very tough 2 years for them and they could not believe the moment had come. I don't normally talk much when I fly but the girl, Laurie, seemed eager and provided good conversation. Amongst her parenting books and magazines I also spotted the 2 latest "People" magazines, which reminded me I had not purchased any gossip entertainment before boarding this 13 hour flight. I did have my computer, 5 books, my iPod and 3 movies aboard the flight, but in my mind all I wanted now was to shuffle through the mags so began devising ways in which to ask to borrow them politely. This is what long air travel does to you .. well, does to me. I seem to hoard entertainment options and then never do half what I intend to accomplish in flight. I suppose it is the survival of boredom instinct, particularly when 2 of the 3 movies on board you've already seen and the coach section does not supply power outlets for you to juice up your computer. I did eventually ask one of the crew if they could find me a power outlet in one of the 3 empty business class seats. A quick aside here - what is up with not upgrading people into these empty spots? I mean, even if just for the look of sheer gratitude and joy on their faces, and to know you will have made that person's day, and possibly a devoted future frequent flyer? Anyway, I got a very nice crew who actually did find me the plug (in spite of the Pursar's disagreement) and together with my neighbour voluntarily offering me the People magazines, I became a happy camper.

I landed in Japan with subdued excitement, nothing like what I thought I would feel back in 1996 had I gotten the scholarship for my semester abroad over there as part of my Japanese degree. I began thinking of the underlying reasons why I still had not gotten out to Japan this year given my personal history with the country and it's language. And thoughts of entering the JET teaching programme entered my mind for the umpteenth time. Part of me realises I am no longer fluent in this language, like I once was, and facing and owning up to the lack of follow-through after so many years of effort is somewhat difficult to come to terms with. I did manage to have a brief exchange with the ladies at the duty free whilst asking about some souvenir sweets to take to my hosts in Australia. The flight was promptly boarded just as I began kicking myself for how many things I no longer remembered how to say. And so, off another 7 hours to Singapore, where I would thankfully get a good night's sleep on a flat surface (at this point, any flat surface would do).