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For the past two weeks when anyone ever asked me if I was excited about my trip I always hesitated. It’s not that I wasn’t excited about Hong Kong, it’s that I was stressed abot the 15 hour flight to get there! The days leading up to my big trip, I chose not to think about it. I had the Junos to thank for that.
So on Wednesday morning when my friend Taylor, who herself just returned from Asia and put the fear of God in me about squatting, dropped me off at the airport I was offically out of time. It had come down to me vs. the airplane.
A 15 hour plane ride is inhumane to someone like me. As my roommate can atest to my attention span and ability to actually sit down through a 30 minute sitcom grows smaller and weaker by the day. In my day to day life I have to be constantly occupied. That’s why when I sit down to watch TV, I usually have my laptop on my lap, my cell phone beside me and during most commercial breaks I run downstairs and pat the neighbor’s cat. LIke I sad ADD.
So there I was sitting on the plane. I was actually lucky enough to be able to hit the Airploane Seat Jackpot by securing 4 seats, beside eachother no less, all to myself. The seats were the perfect distance from the television sets and just far enough away from the bathroom which is great because from what I hear it will be the last time I will be seeing an actual toiler for a very very very long time. Thanks again Taylor.
But I was prepared for anything. In my murse I had packed everything I thought would be able to occupy be. On top of the airplanes’ movies, I had my nintendo DS, my travel books for Hong Kong and Beijing. I also my new Ipod touch, my novel that I have been trying to get through for two year (see=ADD), candy and writing paper. I was ready.
One of the things I do like about flying is the people watching time it affords you. A 15 hour flight gives you a lot of time to judge, criticize and mock (all in your head of course). To my left and up one row there was a lady, we’ll call her Karen, who played cards by herself for 3/4 of the trip. It wasn’t solitary but something similar. At the end of each game she would shuffle the deck like a Vegas pro exactly 7 times. Never 6, definitely not 8. 7. Seven. It got annoying.
But not annoying as the gentleman to her right, who like me had snagged 4 seats to himself. He was that person that fell asleep before the plane even took off and he never woke up. Which was unfortunate for the rest of us because he was literally the LOUDEST snorer of all time. This is no joke. If I had a cup of water on my tray it would rattle like that famous scene in Jurassic Park. He was so loud that not even the loudest songs on my Ipod could drown out his clogged airways. While lying behind him I thought I would start having some fun…since I wasn’t getting any sleep. So since his armrest was up, and thus very close to my face, I would flick on and off his light. Not alot. Just enough that it would stir him. While it didn’t ever stop the snoring, it did make me feel better.
Beside him was this interesting lady. While I brought have my life onto the airport, she brought nothing. Like literally nothing. She sat down and that’s about it for 15 hours. She didn’t watch TV, read a book, listen to music, she didn’t even sleep that much. If it wasn’t for the whole “being a woman” thing I would have sworn she was a monk. It was impressive.
As for me, the plane ride wasn’t actually that bad. I did manage to get some sleep. The movies were shit (The Rainmaker…like seriously…the Rainmaker?!?!) and I was able to get some writing done on a good ol’ pen and paper. And if you promise not to tell the chinese government I even actually snuck in a gronolla bar. I know I’m a bad ass.
So that is what has started my 15 day adventure. I can’t wait to see what is next!
