another awesome adventure: Hanging out in Japan

Ko-Ni-Chi-Wa from Narita, Japan! We landed our 777 just 45 minutes ago after a 14 hour flight from Chicago. Wow. What an experience that was. Talking about a 14 hour flight and actually enduring one are two whole different animals. I thought it would be somewhat like my work day, as I sit behind a desk for 12 hours straight at the hospital, but it’s not the same. I was excited to see that our airplane was one of the newer additions to the United fleet, and had nice touch-screen televisions for each passenger: movies, games, and music at your fingertips! Sweet! Well, almost. Mine didn’t work. Out of the entire cabin, all 50 rows of seats, mine was the only one that didn’t work. The flight crew tried three times to reboot my computer, but to no avail. They were very apologetic and tried to be helpful, but it was an I.T. issue that had to be addressed on the ground. So I got a complimentary split of champagne (not bad!) and three United vouchers. Matt and I shared his TV and his headphones and we watched “Bridesmaids” together (We were laughing hysterically!), played cribbage, worked on our journaling, and tried desperately to sleep in numerous physical formations. I flirted with sleep a couple of times, but never got past the first kiss. I think if I added up all of my close calls, I probably got about an hour of sleep. Partly because of anxiety and excitement, partly because it was horribly uncomfortable, and partly because it hasn’t gotten dark outside yet. The sun went up at 7am in Grand Rapids, and here I am in the Tokyo international terminal and it is still sunny out. It is 3:23am Michigan time. We’ve been dragging the sun behind us like a pickup truck to a horse trailer.

It’s 4:24 PM Japan time. We have another hour to wait before we board the next flight, which will bring us to Beijing. I am still running on adrenaline and doing Okay with being awake for almost 20 hours at this point (minus the spotty little naps). Years or working the night shift at the hospital has prepared me well. I love international travel. The people watching is so interesting: the fashion, the language, the mannerisms. I love the diversity. I am listening to some the conversations around me in Mandarin, and trying to pick out the words I know. Matt and I are taking turns walking around the gate area before we are strapped into another airplane seat for four hours. I am watching a family of five here at the terminal gate and missing my sugar muffins. I hope their day yesterday went well, and that they are happily dreaming away the night. The girls gave me a necklace that they made and told me that if I missed them, that I could look at my necklace and think of them. I’m still wearing it. :o) I am thinking of them constantly, knowing full well that they are being cared for and loved, but missing the hugs and the snuggles. All of the joys in my life are pale in comparison to the joy of being a Mommy.

It’s my turn to go walk. :o) I will leave you with a few photos...

This was our jet plane from Grand Rapids to Chicago O'Hare