Crash Landing

or, How it Took me 24 Straight Hours to Find My Way Home.

I left my apartment just before 4:50 a.m. and carried more than my own weight on my back, shoulders or rolling behind me. Catching a 5:15 a.m. train to Himeji - in order that I might be on a 5:30 bus that would get me to the airport at 6:50 for my 8:o0 a.m. flight - was no easy task. Following that with two additional flights and traveling around the world in a 24 hour time span has completely killed me.

I slept (albeit cumulatively) for about eight hours between Himeji, Japan and Toronto, Canada. And I managed to do it in all the right places. I'm not sure if I slept on that early morning bus, nor do I remember sleeping on the first flight that took me from Osaka to Tokyo, but I secured a broken but gratifying six hours between Tokyo and Dallas. I knew I would need the rest and my body, having been deprived of sleep in any form the night prior to this heavy-handed exodus, collapsed after finding my spot on the plane.

I stopped in Dallas. The U.S. Customs Agents were polite to me and to my Canadian passport.

One of them let me line up in the U.S. Citizens' check-in line because it was shorter and I had a flight to catch.
Another one said that moving to the front of the line was not an issue because I didn't need to be fingerprinted.
One told me to have fun in Toronto as he scanned me for dangerous metallic objects with a large magnetic device.
One of them searched my bag and threw away my toothpaste because it was too big.

I was almost home, and I knew that being as polite as possible would get me through Texas and back home to good old Canada. Sprawled across three empty seats on a 737, I slept for two sweet hours during a two and a half hour flight from Dallas. I slept through the free beverages and I slept through the on-board movie. I slept through pleasantries with the stewardesses and neighbouring passengers. I woke up just in time.

I watched with amazement as my home city's skyline came into view, appearing like a miniature village of familiarity on the lake as I coasted home.

In Toronto, a customs agent was polite to me and to my Canadian passport. He told me how to speed up the customs process next time so I could get home faster. With a two-in-one question ("Japan? Teaching?") and a pleasant nod, he wished me on my way. At 3:00 p.m. on December 18th, 2006, I was home. It was 5:00 a.m. in Himeji once again, and I was home.

Mount Fuji is that white blob in the middle of the photo, as seen from my airplane

December is update-a-day month! To read all the posts this month, click here!