Way Back Track 1: The Flight

Temporal coordinates set to 2007/03/19 Mr. Peabody.

Warning: Inconsistent tenses approaching.

The original notes that became this entry were scribbled in a notebook mid-flight. I take full credit for the apparent randomness of my thoughts. Before we get to that, I present some thoughts about the state of airline culture. The entire system seems geared toward the art of the vacation. It appears that no one in the planning phases ever considered the possibility that someone might use one of these “areo-planes” to actually move from one home to another.

I say this because I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to figure out the best way to fit my entire live into two bags in order to fit within the baggage restrictions. Anyone who has ever had to make a major move, weather it be across the city or across the country, will tell you that you always have more stuff than you think and it all weighs a ton. Well, obviously I did it as the trip went on as planned. Now, on to the scribbled mid flight notes I mentioned earlier:

The good news is that they have certainly improved the distraction technology on these flights. The days of group movie screens that you can’t ignore and evil peanuts with arms and legs that attempt to devour your soul are long one (mores the pity, I rather liked those peanuts).

These days, every seat has it’s own monitor and remote control that doubles as a video game controller. Granted, these are stripped down versions of games that you can play for free on yahoo, but when you’re careening through the air at breakneck speeds for nine hours and fifty five minutes, you don’t get to be choosy.

I was not ready to say good bye to Mom and Dad. I’ve known this day was coming for months now, but when the moment came, I still broke down in tears when Dad told me that I was talented and that I was ready for this. Naturally, my first thought upon passing through security was an overwhelming wave of “what the f%#k have I just gotten myself into?”

As I write this, I am sitting in seat 21-c on NWA flight whatever the heck over the Pacific Ocean. That’s it. At the moment, the only address I’ve got is seat 21-c. That’s because I don’t have a place to live yet. The company has yet to find me an apartment so I can’ begin to figure things like rent and utilities into my budget. So I have no idea if the $2000 in my left pocket is going to be enough to survive until I get my first paycheck in two months!

By the way, Will Ferrell is not funny. I’m writing this as Stranger than Fiction plays on my monitor. It’s a good idea for a film with some interesting commentary on literature and the nature of story and plot. There are even a few laughs, none of which come from Ferrell’s character. Please refer back to my previous comment about how fliers can’t be choosers.

OK, something amazing has just happened. A stewardess has just handed me an ice cream sandwich as a snack. It’s official, we have good airline food. Hell has frozen over.

The rest of the flight was relatively uneventful. Now it doesn’t matter how still you try and sit during the flight, your level of personal grooming will suffer after 10 hours in the air. After landing, I ran a comb through my hair and dragged my luggage off the plane and to the lobby. Now that’s more than it sounds like. Narita International Airport makes a point of placing the flights from the US at the far end of the building as far away from the baggage claim as humanly possible. It turns out that the Gaijin community refers to this as the Narita Marathon. It took me about 13:30 to complete, that’s gate to baggage carousel.

So I was unshaven, slightly disheveled hair, a strained shoulder, and probably some bad breath. This is how I met the first representatives of my new employers. Thankfully, they were used to this and I was still one of the best looking of the males. Translation: I didn’t show up in ripped jeans and a tee shirt.

That is the story of the flight from Oregon, USA to Narita, Japan. This city, which only exists because of the airport, is going to be my home for he next week as I go though the company’s training for new ALTs. But that is a story for another post.

This is Ryu Sensei signing off, type at ya later!