I will leave it up to students of geography why on a flight between Los Angeles and Taipei we are over the Bering Sea.
I just finished racing through “The Da Vinci Code”, which took approximately 4 hours or so, and there is still approximately 10 hours left until our arrival in Taipei. The flight is very full, but fortunately my seat is against a bulkhead and on the aisle so that I have a little more leg room. The flight from Bozeman to Los Angeles was not as busy as I had expected given the proximity to the Xmas season. While waiting for my delayed Delta flight, not only did I see Tanya and Brian arrive from Minneapolis, but I also talked to Bonnie after she had returned from California and Oregon. My time in LA was uneventful, and I spent much of it in search of caffeine. At the airport alas, a can of imitation Red Bull was $5 and so I decided to pass on that. I certainly hope I can find some in Taipei or I am likely to be a very grumpy traveller.
The “Da Vinci Code” made for interesting reading, especially given my interest in the certain theories it incorporates in the plot. I think my brother ought to enjoy it, even if his pursuits are perhaps not as esoteric as my own. Tiffany and I were talking about our respective families the other night, we both understood that sometimes certain family members can be a complete pain in the butt. But that nevertheless, we cannot abandon them. As I have undoubtedly said before, it has been 20 months since I last saw my parents, and 2-3 years since I last saw either of my brothers. I've changed so much, unrecognisably perhaps and yet I still wish I could “go home again”. I really don't know whether that's possible or not… Oh well, I guess whatever will be will be and all that old song.
Well, on a happy note the headphones on the airplane actually fit my laptop! I would prefer not to have to use the CD-ROM as it will drain the batteries faster, but at the moment I have some of my favourite songs on the hard drive itself. The movies on this flight don't really interest me very much, and with my other book securely in the hold I don't have very much else to do except write or sleep.
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Location: Taipei International Airport
Time: 9:20 pm Local time
Well, I apparently survived the first and longest leg of the trip. The 14 hours between Los Angeles and Taipei were mostly boring, as I couldn't sleep. The trick I have been told is to ask for an eye mask, something they're willing to give out but not to advertise. Two of the three seats were taken, which was much nicer than being squished next to two warm bodies. I don't know what my luck will be like for the next flight to Sydney. I managed to pick up some Duty Free gifts, not much point getting alcohol or cigarettes given that I don't indulge in much of either of those. However cigarettes I have noted are about $17/carton in LA and ~$12/carton here. Ugh, I was just told upon asking that this flight is 95% full… Here goes a lot of wishful wishing.
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Location: Sydney International Airport
Time: 1 pm Local time
Well, I made it the rest of the way. This last leg sucked more since I was sharing a two seat with a guy from Australia. I was able to sleep a little, but the final leg over the Australian Outback seemed to take forever. I flew through Customs which was nice, but wasn't able to make it to the earlier connecting flight as I had expected. Instead I took the opportunity to change all my clothes, brush my teeth and hair and put on some deodorant. I'm certain I won't feel completely human until I have a long shower and some sleep, but that will have to wait a few more hours. Right now my skin feels really greasy. The guy sitting next to me reminded me that Australians can be just as crude as anybody else. Having not been home in 20 months, this can be easy to forget. I dropped off some film, that will be interesting to see.