Summer's coming to an end. By that, I mean the vacation part. On the last day of #epicasia2014, as I'm standing in line for lunch at the Ghibli Museum (probably for another hour), I have some time to reflect on my travels in the past years.
Flying was a huge part of my travels. A lot of time, money, and sanity was devoted to it. Through flying, I've met various people and had various encounters.
Time for the strenuous trip down memory lane...
Take my most recent flight back to Japan from Beijing (connecting flight from HK). I sat next to a middle-aged Chinese man who asked me when the last bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto was that day. Flights in and out of Japan had been delayed all day due to a typhoon, so we're going to arrive late. Luckily, since he was reading some scientific papers on his laptop (I peeked), he knew English. Unfortunately, in mid-flight with no internet, I was of no help. Hope he made it.
Then, there was the flight before, from HK to Beijing. I sat next to another middle-aged Chinese man, who spoke even less Mandarin than I (as a reference, at least I know numbers, a few foods, and greetings). This dude kept propping his socked feet on the magazine rack on the wall (exit row), and blocking the path to the toilet.
Few years back... I think it was my college graduation trip. I was flying to Thailand from HK to visit my friend. Also my first time on an exit row without paying extra for it. I sat next to a fairly good-looking Asian woman. I forgot how we started talking, but I remembered how she was really surprised about my age (thought I was 10+ years younger) and work (didn't think I was an engineer). Probably because I've always looked young, and that I was cursing at a game on my iPhone like a child.
Summer break after my sophomore year, on my way to Okinawa from Taipei, I was upgraded to first class on a double decker plane. In mid-flight, my neighbor, a fat Taiwanese guy kept telling me not to use my laptop (in Mandarin). Then, he called a flight attendant over to join his fight. She ended up setting him straight about laptop use during flight. FYI, it's only during takeoff and landing when you can't use laptops and other electronic devices.
Fast rewind... mid-tour leave during 3rd year of the Iraq war, on my way home to surprise everyone for Thanksgiving. I wore my field uniform for the first time on a civilian flight. I think it's because I didn't have time to change. I've heard about people getting free upgrades and drinks because of the uniform, so I normally changed to avoid the attention. No upgrades or drinks, but I got a first row economy seat with lots of legroom. The best part was the middle-aged woman next to me said thank you for my service to the country. I felt pretty good afterwards.
Winter leave the year before, on my way home. My neighbor was a decent looking girl around my age, who worked at a bank near my hometown. After some chit-chat, I managed to get her name and number. I never called. Who knew if they were real or not?
Earlier in the year, coming back from 1st year of the Iraq war. After volunteering to stay behind for a few weeks, I flew home on a civilian flight with a connection through Charles de Gaulle Airport (a few months before a roof section collapsed). There was a huge fuss on the plane, because some famous music artists and their entourage were on it. People were scrambling for autographs. After 13 months of sleeping in vehicles, tents, and dusty buildings, I could care less. I was more annoyed that these people are robbing me of my first real sleep in a year.
Finally, a year before, my first overseas trip in 9 or 10 years, except I was going to Kuwait for work. Back then, planes had phones behind some seats that people can swipe credit cards to call and charged $10 a minute. I was probably too cheap to use it, but a few coworkers didn't hesitate. I wouldn't be able to call home for another 2 or 3 months, about 5 weeks after the start of the Iraq war.
Flying IS a pain in the butt, but can lead to interesting encounters and experiences. Hopefully, more to follow.
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