Wandering through the Korean airport I ran into the same elderly Indian
man several times. Finally he asked me, "Are you American?" Then he asked
incredulously, "And your travelling alone?" I said, "No." I was, after all,
travelling with the baby.
On April 1st, with Saraa happily in the Moby Wrap, I set off for Mongolia. Our first flight from Los Angeles to San Fransisco I sat next to a young woman and her miniature service dog. Saraa fussed most of the time.
From SFO to Korea--the 12.5 hour flight, I sat next to a nice man with a southern accent who called my baby "cute as hell." On the other side I sat next to a lovely Korean couple who had been married over 20 years and had three grown children. They were on their way to Korea to visit their son who was studying there. She was gorgeous. And her husband doted on her the whole flight. They held hands whenever they were not eating. And they whispered to one another like newlyweds. We talked babies and faith. And I prayed for them.
Besides that Saraa fussed for most of the flight. I spent a huge portion of those 12.5 hours standing in the little corridor between the lavatories so the whole plane didn't have to hear her crying. While standing in the bathroom corridor I met a lady who knew Pastor Che. While standing there I also read an entire book.
It's great travelling with Asians, though. Seriously, I think if the plane had been filled with Americans people would have been far less obliging and far more irritated. But, Asians seem to understand more about life and babies. Whenever I would apologize to someone for Saraa's screams, they would sincerely say, "No problem. She's so little. Don't worry about it at all!" I was half-wishing someone would say something rude, because I had prepared the perfect sassy comeback. She tends to be fussy, so I think I'll hang onto it for the future, just in case.
In Korea there was no one at my transfer desk to give me a boarding pass, so I walked to my gate. There was no one at my gate. So, I started walking back to the transfer desk. Then I ran into a dear friend who was also on her way back to Mongolia and travelling alone. How amazing is that?! We had a lovely visit and sat together on the plane.
On the way home from Mongolia I flew from UB to Korea, leaving at 12:20am. The plane was really empty. So, I got a whole row to myself. I laid down with Saraa, nursed her to sleep and slept for three hours.
In Korea, I discovered that the Incheon Airport is the best airport in the world. They have "Rest and Relax" areas where there are comfy couch like chairs. I pushed three together and made a bed. I curled up with Saraa and slept some more. They also have prayer rooms, shopping centers, a museum, kids play areas, free Internet, nurseries, cafes and restaurants, and even inexpensive massage rooms! We had a relaxing six hours.
From Korea I flew to Tokyo. I sat next to a poor fellow who should ask for a refund on his ticket. He sat wedged between me with a fussy 3 month old and a couple who had purchased their baby a seat complete with a gigantic car seat. They kept handing her nosy toys that lit up and played music and banged, banged, banged. As soon as we took off he put on his ipod and went to his happy place. In Tokyo I met a man, intent on making small talk, who asked me if I knew where the airport bar was so he could get drunk. He had some time to kill in the airport. I pointed in the far opposite direction of where I was going.
I set out to find something to eat. I figured while in Japan, I may as well eat sushi! While looking for the most accommodating place to sit with the baby, I passed a McDonald's with a humongous line. Gotta wonder at people who choose to eat a BigMac and a coke in Japan instead of sushi and sake. I don't think such people are completely in their right minds and probably should not be travelling unaccompanied.
Then I wandered around for about an hour. I bought another book to read on the way home and a small bottle of sake for Gana.
I met a nice hippy looking couple--she was American and he was French. They had a cute little baby whom she nursed with her whole boob sticking out. I wondered what the Japanese thought about that.
On the flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles I sat next to an elderly Japanese couple who took no less than the first hour and a half of the flight filling out the custom and immigration form. You know the one that takes about 5 minutes or less as you check "no" to all the answers. No, I'm not carrying any illegal drugs. No, I have no endangered animals with me. No, I did not acquire more than $10,000 in goods while in Japan. The man looked really sweet. He wore a red Mr. Rogers-like cardigan sweater. He did sudoku in pen the whole time he was not filling out his customs form. His wife should have brought some sudoku with her, because she spent all her time being irritated with him. What kind of shenanigans could he get into sitting next to her in the plane minding his own business? Yet, she spent all her time nagging and bossing him around. He didn't do anything right, apparently. She was even irritated with the way he ordered his drinks. I bet he wished he was travelling alone.
On my way to Mongolia I travelled mostly Korean Air. On the way home I travelled mostly United. There are two main differences. First of all Korean Air's food was edible. Not delicious, but edible. I could not swallow United's. It was like eating lukewarm plastic. Seriously bad. I found myself wishing Chef Ramsey was there to throw some of it around and ask them if they really expected travellers to eat this &*#(@#! The other main difference is with the
stewardesses flight attendants. On Korean Air their job seems to be making the flight pleasant. They are young and beautiful and the uniforms are even pretty. They are very obliging and speak in soft voices that are almost sing-song. On United their job seems to be to keep everyone in their seats and not making any noise. The head flight attendant called herself a safety officer. During the pre-flight formalities she said, essentially,
"I know you have all heard this before. But, stop talking and pull out the safety card anyway. And be quiet until I am finished." I'm not even joking! The flight attendants were all much older than the Korean Airline flight attendants, with the average age of at least 45 compared to Koreans 25-30. And their uniforms with their industrial flair and sensible shoes are obviously for functionality and not beauty. They seemed slightly irritated if you asked them for a glass of water when it wasn't beverage service time. I bet you can guess which flight was more enjoyable. It reminded me of what Victor Hugo said:
"There is in this life no greater gift than that of being charming; to cast light upon dark days. Is not that to render service?”
I never felt unsafe travelling alone, but I missed having Gana with me. When I saw something comical, something interesting, something beautiful or even something irritating I missed having someone to enjoy them with! You know?
Sure, I'd do it again. But hopefully next time I can be with someone who will appreciate people watching with me. Saraa is not quite up to it, yet.
Gana's political candidate
Poop-face
