4:19 a.m. CST - My ride is here. I didn't sleep last night because it's easier for me to stay up until I have to leave than to try to sleep for 3 hours.
5:20 a.m. CST - I can check two bags free of charge, but they amount to 1 pound over the weight limit. The ticket lady doesn't charge me. <3 This means I have packed my weight in luggage.
7:12 a.m. CST - It's dawn and my plane is backing out from the terminal. A sense of finality sets in; I could have backed out any time before now, but I am encapsulated and well on my way. I feel alone (but not lonely). I feel the weight of everyone else's worries for me.
7:17 a.m. CST - As the plane lifts off and away from what has been my only home for as long as I can remember, I take note of the internal monologue running through my head. My day will amount to 24 hours total spent in airports and in the air. I may as well tell you all about it.
8:50 a.m. PST - The plane touches down in San Francisco. I suppose it was a good flight; I slept through the takeoff until initial descent.
9:05 a.m. PST - A lot of cute Asians at San Fran Internt'l, Nick. Look at all the my size people!
9:17 a.m. PST - I just spent $11 on a plate of eggs. I will even go so far as to say they were nearly worth it. Breakfast is my favorite.
9:48 a.m. PST - What am I going to do with the remaining 3.5 hours of my layover? Walk laps around the terminal and check out the duty free shops. Boy, if you like liquor, cigarettes, fancy fine chocolates, or perfume, this is the place for you.
11:26 a.m. PST - The motion activated toilet flushed before I was finished and splashed potty water all over my hiney. This is my sad face.
12:28 p.m. PST - There's a man waiting to board my flight wearing a Metallica tshirt, jeans, black combat boots, black trench coat, and sporting a partially shaved head, long ponytail, goatee and sunglasses indoors, carrying an orange duffel bag. He looks so menacing.... I love it.
12:46 p.m. PST - Boarding. Look out Korea. Here I come.
2:27 p.m. PST - I didn't know why airline food has such a bad rap, until now. Yuck.
4:08 p.m. PST - I got to watch the second half of "The Time Traveler's Wife." I don't know if I'll ever be able to watch it again without getting all teared up. There's a cool screen feature that shows a map of our plane's position over the Pacific in real time. The outside air temperature is -59 degrees F or -51 C. Fucking Celsius. Fucking metric system. Who thought up that bullshit anyway?
7:42 p.m. PST - We've just crossed the international date line. That makes it Saturday.
8:07 p.m. PST - We're being served Chinese noodles and given a spork and chopsticks. It's become painfully obvious that I can't eat noodles with a spork. I stare at my food in frustration. I don't do chopsticks. I say it's because I'm left handed. But the ladies on either side of me are slurping away, so I cease to worry about looking like an idiot with chopsticks and follow suit. (After landing, I heard some other American passengers complaining about the same issue. One guy said he couldn't use chopsticks and his friend asked him if he had ever eaten Chinese food. I almost turned around and said that's what forks are for.)
10:02 p.m. PST - I've been on this plane for 8 hours, 27 minutes. I would kill for a neck massage. And a shower. My own skin feels greasy to me. I found out I give a damn good self massage.
12:36 a.m. PST - HOT turkey sandwich on sourdough. Black Eyed Peas' "I got a Feelin'" in my earbuds. Does it get any better than this?
6:56 p.m. Korea - Turbulent landing. I think I'm gonna puke.
A guy name John (I think?) met me at the airport and put me on a bus. He said my stop is Ansan and it's the last stop. I asked how long the ride would be, and he said maybe 30 minutes.
It was closer to an hour. I waited outside for a bit but did not see any signs with my name, so I wrastled luggage weighing more than me inside to wait for my ride because it was damn cold, deciding it was my boss' job to find me now, not the other way around.
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