36 hours ago I put (what feels like) everything I own into two suitcases and a backpack, said “see you later” to my beautiful family and boarded the first of three flights that would ultimately deposit me in Jakarta, Indonesia. Two hour flight to Chicago, 13 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan, 7.5 hour flight to Jakarta equals Twenty three hours enjoying the comforts of a pressurized vessel at 33,000 feet. I was fortunate to find myself on Japanese Airlines. Japanese Airlines is a little like Disney World in the sky. The staff are joyful, the food is delicious and the entertainment is on point. I managed to snag a window seat. No one was in the middle of the row that I shared with another passenger. That was my first bit of happy mojo. I was really fascinated by the level of respect and quality of work from the JAL steward team. My steward would bow to us before serving meals. Let me say that again.. he bowed to us!. I also noticed that the JAL pilots would bow to the people in the airport before turning and exiting the terminal to board the plane. It was comforting to see them give respect to the awesome responsibility of shuttling 500+ souls safely to the next destination. Namaste. Managing to heed my mother’s advice I took a couple of walks around the cabin, I was surprised at the number of people that remained securely fastened in their seat for 13 hours. Obviously their mother’s had not discussed with them their almost certain fate of swollen ankles and deep vein thrombosis. Somewhere around my third cabin loop I noticed a young mother with an upset baby. My noise cancelling headphones had prevented me from hearing the baby before (thanks Chris). I recognized her distressed look as she frantically tried prevent the inevitable outburst. I wanted to tell her that she is doing a good job and that at best she gets 18 years of nurturing this little human. Then ,as if overnight, she will find herself moving that baby into a college dormitory. But I realized that topic was much to raw for me so I just smiled, gave her my best “it’s gonna be fine” look, and opted for another loop. The window view of our approach to Japan was just beautiful. I don’t know what I expected to Japan to look like but was surprised by the amount of green space. The Tokyo, Japan airport was a delight to the senses. So many new and exciting things to see, smell and taste. I met up with some of our cohort and we busied ourselves with trying to find some green tea ice cream and something called a washlet (TOTO). The green tea ice cream was a bust for me. It was not sweet and tasted too healthy to be ice cream. The washlet on the other hand did not disappoint. Every toilet in the Japanese airport has this bidet feature that also includes noise cancelling and varying degrees of “spritzing” pressure. By “spritz” number 3 I found myself laughing hysterically and had to wait for several people to exit so that I was less embarrassed to leave. I exited the restroom telling myself to be cool and feeling like I had just discovered something that not everyone was privy to. The Tokyo to Jakarta plane was much smaller than the one from Chicago to Tokyo but the amenities were still wonderful. I managed an aisle seat with another vacant seat beside me. After another delicious meal and the best miso soup on the planet, I was finally able to get some sleep. Our entire group met up in the Jakarta airport and it was a very joyful reunion. The zombie-like survival mode that we had all been in for the past 23 hours went away as soon as we saw each other and the selfie taking commenced. The people of Indonesia are so friendly and amazing. We made our way through the quickest customs on the planet, loaded our luggage onto a charter bus and made a “relatively” short and uneventful trek to the hotel. The Shangri-La Jakarta hotel is breathtaking. The room alone is something out of a Bond movie with a marble tiled bathroom floor, TOTO toilet (YES!) and a tricky system used to prevent you from accidentally leaving your lights on when you leave the room. In order for the lights to work, you have to put your room key in a slot at the door. This was a learning curve for me and after about 10 minutes of walking around the room in the dark I admitted defeat and texted the group for advice. To my credit this is not a feature at any of the 3 ½ Priceline star “fancy” hotels I’ve visited back home. After some Facetime with family and a few more minutes to soak in the view I’m ready for sleep. We have a packed itinerary and lots of adventures ahead. I hope you will continue to join me on the journey.
1 Comment
"This blog is not an official U.S. Department of State blog. The views and information presented are the grantee's own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State."
Missy King
7/15/2018 08:48:38 pm
I’m glad to hear you have arrived safely! I love your flair for storytelling and love being able to experience all this awesomeness through you! You make me smile and laugh and make my heart happy!!! ❤️❤️❤️ Missy
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
September 2018
Categories"This blog is not an official U.S. Department of State blog. The views and information presented are the grantee's own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State."
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