21 hours later.
I have made it back to Japan, the land of crazy. I'm currently sitting in the Kansai International Airport waiting for a limousine bus to pick me up and bring me back to my roommates. I'm here to tell you about my flights and waste time while I wait for the bus.
So my day started at 2:30 Saturday morning (January 29th), but really it started at about 12:30 am because my mother's snoring kept me awake (not her fault, she has a cold... that I gave her :P). I woke up, got dressed, grabbed my stuff, said a quick and tired goodbye to my mother, and hopped on a bus to the airport. There, I had to wait an hour and a half before getting my boarding pass (the first thing you have to do at the Toronto Pearson International Airport). From then on it was pretty much smooth sailing. This 45 year old guy in front of me kept trying to flirt with me (I saw his info on his US customs sheet), and I was just like "Really? Do I look like I'm anywhere near your age? Or are you just trying to be nice? Because I don't do 'nice' at 3:30 am, and I probably won't start doing nice until around 10:00 on a regular day, when I'm not travelling halfway around the world." He got the picture soon enough.
All of my seats on the planes were window seats. My first plane to Chicago, I was doing everything I could to watch us takeoff. 2 seconds after we cleared the clouds, I passed out. I woke up 15 minutes before landing. The flight was only 1 hour and 15 minutes, but sleeping the whole time was a great way to pass it by. It wasn't so great when I found out that the flight attendants didn't wake me up to give me my complimentary beverage. Ugh.
I had to race through Chicago airport. It wasn't confusing or anything, but I made it just in time for the last call onto my second flight, where I managed to get my complimentary beverages for the 5 hour flight (which was taken up with short naps and episodes of That 70's Show).
At the San Fransisco Airport, I got lost inside, but I thought it was all right because I had an hour between flights. I found my way to the proper terminal, but I stopped to grab a sandwich and some water so I could finally eat ($14 bucks US for the lunch, I'm glad the dollar is slightly above par right now). I grab it, and was planning to eat it at my terminal gate when they're calling for the final boarding call for my flight! So I run for it, make it on the plane and it's filled with people. I was sitting beside a Japanese guy (probably around my age), and I had to get him to move so that I could get to my seat. The little bugger had bought so much stuff at duty free though, so there was only enough room for the smaller of my carry ons in the overhead compartment. So my giant backpack had to sit at my feet (and I had to hide it from the flight attendants, because if it doesn't fit under the seat in front of you, it has to go up). I was successful at hiding it (Ninja skills I acquired), and it proved useful in finding different ways to sit and nap on the 11.5 hour plane ride. Before taking off, I quickly ate my sandwich and shoved that under the seat in front of me. Then it was nothing but sitting for a loooong time. I only had to get up once to use the washroom, and I felt bad because the boy beside me was sleeping. I hate waking people up. It's one of those "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I hate being woken up, so I hate doing it to others. Unfortunately, nature called so I had to wake him up. Whoops. He took it pretty well, even though he was back to sleep when I got back from the washroom and had to wake him up again. Other than that he was a pretty good seat buddy on the plane. We never said a word to each other, he slept the whole time and then woke up for maybe an hour to read over some scientific looking notes. At one time, during my creative positions of napping, I woke up and found he was napping, but he had totally leaned over and was half on my seat (I was crouched in a ball on my seat and foot rest a.k.a. backpack). I didn't mind, I went back to sleep, but when I woke back up he was back on his seat again. When the flight was over, he was even kind enough to pull down my carry on from the overhead bin. I'm going to miss that bugger!
One of the greatest things at the end of a long flight (which has only happened today) is when you get through customs quickly and easily (can't say that for the U.S.), and when you go to pick up your luggage, your one of the first ones there, and you see your bright, pink-spotted bag coming off the belt with perfect timing. it seems to make the whole trip so much better, just to have it end so simply and easily.
Okay, 25 more minutes till the limo-bus comes. I can't wait to get back to the Seminar House and hear what my friends did in Japan over the break. I wish I could shower tonight, but my towels are locked in my other suitcase that I left in Japan, and I don't have access to it until tomorrow. I will remain a dirty-rat for a while yet! Also due to this, and the fact that I packed my camera in my suitcase, there are no pictures on this blog post (as I'm sure you've figured out by now). So, use your imagination as to what the inside of a plane looks like for 19 hours, and then get thrust into the future 14 hours. It's, so much fun.
Bus just pulled up! Peace and Love!
