China 2006 - arrival - the flight

written 20060314 beijing time

after seeing my family goodbye.. hahaha.. i walked back into the airport to the currency exchange office. at check in, we asked where travel insurance can be bought. they pointed down the hall, which we followed where we got lost. we asked two execs staff members about where to buy travel insurance and they pointed downstairs. we then asked the currency exchange box office that we were already standing by about insurance and they said that they sold them. made me wonder if these exec people know anything. yikes.
they didn't have any on hand so they told me to come back in 15 to 20 minutes. it was already 8:15 am so i told my mom that i'd walk them to the car. annie had work, my mom had work, and my dad needed sleep. i also wanted to see my dad who was waiting in the car, before i left. so we said our goodbyes.
after getting my travel insurance which is good for a year, i made that long walk into the gates. down the hall, through carry-on check, down the escalators, down the wrong hall, back down the wrong hall, through the right hall, found out that at 9:10 am people have not yet boarded the plane, sat down and waited. lift off was at 10 am and sat humbly as to what was going to happen next. i've never been on a large plane before, going overseas with so many people.
i'd say this is my first real trip on a plane. the other trip is with people i knew so i didn't pay attention so closely. the pilots got on first. all four of them (this is a 13 hour trip). eventually, the elite/first class people got on, followed by the accessible and children, then rows 33 and up, which is me!
i sat. put my coat and jacket in the overhead compartment. waited. was tired. the night before, zahra love came over. actually it was a long day. i met up with kathy, zahra, and john. i went to bed at about 1 in the morning, waking up at 5:30.
i sat. the person assigned to the next seat came finally and said, "Nee how," which is "Hi, how are you?" in Mandarin. i smile and try to nap again. he smelled heavily of cigarettes. eventually, we talked. he didn't speak English much, but he understood my purpose of going to China, and i knew his.
i must say, being on airplane is not so bad. yes, the worst part is comfort i think. i tried to push my chair down as much as possible. the best part of them (air Canada) trying add comfort is the nice blankets that they give us. i thought it best not to take it home, but i thought of it..
they gave us headphones. pride and prejudice couldn't keep me awake. i know the story already and i was really tired. the "radio" stations that they have were probably compilation cds that they were playing, obviously over and over again. some retro stuff i liked, and some alan cross recorded shows for air canada. corpse bride played, too, as indicated online. it still sucked. they played documentaries and a chinese movie, which i couldn't understand. the English words were too little.
waiting for the washroom, a woman and her child passes by and says something to me [in Mandarin.] i think she was trying to be humble but expected me to let her son go first. i don't like this, and insist that the woman before me is going first. i don't give her my turn either, but apparently the elderly woman after me lets the woman's son go first. i think it's really ridiculous. really ignorant. i think the boy's gotta learn to wait. there's bad parenting right there.
the food was alright. the first meal wasn't that great. white meat chicken and potatoes in some thick gravy. raw salmon salad. vanilla gelato. i opted not to have beef on the plane for some reason. second meal was noodles in a cup. snacks. rice and chicken. lots available to drink. alcohol, too. i had spicy clamato, orange juice, water, orange juice.
the trip didn't seem that long. lots of naps. i felt better by the end of the trip.
of course, i was above clouds, my favourite!! i look down and all the grooves in white and such. it looked like there could be life on the clouds. the sky. i saw the moon quite early in my trip. the sky. it was light, then dark, then light again.