Back In China

An individuals soul on the hunt for the unknown. Knowing is getting to know the unknown. Five weeks in the states and the eager -readiness to return to the great red motherland of china is at a high boil. The noodles are ready to be cooked, eaten and digested.

Embarking on the long journey back feels like a time warp. I had three hopes for the return back: to sit by interesting people, to have a good nap, along with a drool. All of which occurred.

Having to be at the Dallas airport at 4 in the a.m. I decided just to stay awake. What was I doing in the wee late hours of the night? I will put this vaguely- I was having a splendid time and lost in the abyss of the night. With a nasty Texas thunder storm rolling in ( of all nights) I was concerned there would be delays.

Relieved at my wrongness my first flight was to San Francisco. I sat by a delightful older man from India. He had been living in the states for the majority of his life and was a veteran. We spoke of everything from nuclear bombs, Pakistan/India boundary issues and the aspects of life. At some point we both fell asleep. When waking the flight was almost over and I would wait three hours on my layover.

Eventually, the three hours passed and the flight to Tokyo is boarding at the pace of a snail. This concerned me since I only had an hour lay over in Tokyo.

Walking on the international plane, I have never seen seats so crammed and small. As I found my seat, I looked at the lady I would be sitting next to for the next ten hours and said "what kind of engineer designed this plane?"  "Ha, a man of course ! " she remarked quickly. I knew we would be getting along.

This woman was American / Japanese , returning back to Japan for the anniversary  of her mothers recent passing. Luz was her name and we talked up a bigger storm then that one that decided to roll into Texas. She pulled out all sorts of Japanese snacks and insisted that we shared. I tried to sleep the majority of the flight. Concerned with my short lay over in Japan, I addressed this to the stuartress. An older lady from Norway.  Understanding of my concerns  she let me sit in business class for the last painful hunch of the flight so I could make a quick escape off the plane.

Entering the Narita- Tokyo airport I had almost forgotten how attractive Japanese men are.. Wow... Oh ...wow...

I made the connecting flight to the du and met an interesting young man from Chengdu. He was returning from the university of Washington- coincidentally, the same university to which I am applying to doctoral school- to visit his parents. We chatted it up and also discovered we had the same exact iPad covers and would be sitting next to each other on the flight.

 The driver was waiting for me when I landed in Chengdu. It was late and and I had way too much luggage. Before I had left Chengdu, I moved apartments to the 5th floor. In the in between time I had forgotten the code and apartment number. Big problem.  However... problems are always solved....