Millions! everyday... MILLIONS!
So this was a busy week - I was in NY for all of 3 days, and just got back (the rest of the week was spent in transit). It was a trip to make sure Fiona's greencard was in good order, and she has school so we took a few days off and are now back. That part went fine.
But the flight back to Shanghai was a fiasco. Our flight plan was NY to Detroit to Tokyo to Shanghai, but there were hitches every step of the way.
In NY, they wouldn't let me onto the plane because I didn't have an ongoing ticket, and the flight attendant at the counter was giving me attitude. Like, serious attitude. I was thrown, because she was being incredibly obnoxious unecessarily. So first, I had to buy a plane ticket leaving Shanghai in order to go to Shanghai - I now have a plane ticket charge of a thousand dollars on my credit card for which I need to get a refund RIGHT AWAY. The stupid woman didn't tell me until AFTER I had paid that I had to birng the ticket to a refund center (meaning I can't do it online), and I had to figure out for myself that I can only get a refund if I bring the ticket to a Northwest refund center IN THE US. I SPECIFICALLY asked her if I could do the refund online before handing her my credit card, and she said yes. bitch.
Then, our flight from Detroit to Tokyo was delayed. We were scheduled to leave on time and then we sat on the runway for an hour because detroit had shut down one of their runways (?!) and it was the only runway we could use(!!!). Which meant that we pulling into Tokyo airport at 6:15pm, when my flight onwards was scheduled for 6:30pm. while taxi-ing into the gate, they announced that the flight to Shanghai was delayed until 6:30 the following morning. lord. Fiona and I scrambled to figure out what was going on, and the whole thing was very poorly organized and no one had any answers. We ended up having to go through Japanese customs to leave the airport. They put us up in a hotel for the night, and gave us free dinner vouchers. Our wake up call was at 4, and the bus left for the airport at 5. I woke up at 3 because I was so afraid I'd oversleep.
We get to the airport, and there's no one there. No flight attendants, no on at the counters, nothing. Most of the lights were still off. and we all formed a huge line, but no one knew what we were lining up for. Finally one of the guys in front realized that our boarding passes from last nights flight were valid for today's flight. Thank you, Northwest, for making this clear to us. There was a mad dash for the metal detectors, and then a mad dash through Japanese customs. I have never been so relieved to get onto a plane.
So you'd think this would be over, but no, the guy sitting next to me on the Tokyo-Shanghai leg of the journey was weird, and it made the whole journey SUPER awkward. He kept talking to me, and kept saying self deprecatng phrases like "not like you care" and "don't you hate it when people try to show you pictures" while he was digging for his digital camera to show me pictures of his vacation. It was kinda uncomfortable. We sat and ate our meal and he talked about how amazed he is by food; "where does it come from?" He was like "in NY, everyday, there are millions and millions of chicken breasts being eaten. Everyday! Millions! where does it all come from? Millions!" I couldn't tell what he didn't understand - that chickens are animals hatched from eggs and raised on farms? that there are very established systems for how food gets brought in from farms into markets and restaurants? or did he just find it mindboggling how much consumption goes on? cause that's what got me while he was talking; something like one chicken death per person. Maybe even per day... But then he was like "I'm just glad there are smart people out there who have this all figured out," and I was back to being confused about what he didn't understand again. Sitting next to him was WEIRD.
At least I'm reading a funny book.
"Fashions come and go, come and go," said Ricki," but the length of the cheerleader skirt remains constant, and it is upon that abbreviated standard that I base my currency of joy."
and, FRIDAY IS MY BIRTHDAY! I'll be OLD!!!
My godmother took me out clubbing for my lunar calendar birthday, which was like a week ago. She has fake eyelashes and and wore a tiny miniskirt out to the bar; she said that she was too lazy to change her outfit from work so she decided to make up for it with a short skirt. The entire night she insisted that I called her my sister, not my godmother. She's 45 and awesome.
But the flight back to Shanghai was a fiasco. Our flight plan was NY to Detroit to Tokyo to Shanghai, but there were hitches every step of the way.
In NY, they wouldn't let me onto the plane because I didn't have an ongoing ticket, and the flight attendant at the counter was giving me attitude. Like, serious attitude. I was thrown, because she was being incredibly obnoxious unecessarily. So first, I had to buy a plane ticket leaving Shanghai in order to go to Shanghai - I now have a plane ticket charge of a thousand dollars on my credit card for which I need to get a refund RIGHT AWAY. The stupid woman didn't tell me until AFTER I had paid that I had to birng the ticket to a refund center (meaning I can't do it online), and I had to figure out for myself that I can only get a refund if I bring the ticket to a Northwest refund center IN THE US. I SPECIFICALLY asked her if I could do the refund online before handing her my credit card, and she said yes. bitch.
Then, our flight from Detroit to Tokyo was delayed. We were scheduled to leave on time and then we sat on the runway for an hour because detroit had shut down one of their runways (?!) and it was the only runway we could use(!!!). Which meant that we pulling into Tokyo airport at 6:15pm, when my flight onwards was scheduled for 6:30pm. while taxi-ing into the gate, they announced that the flight to Shanghai was delayed until 6:30 the following morning. lord. Fiona and I scrambled to figure out what was going on, and the whole thing was very poorly organized and no one had any answers. We ended up having to go through Japanese customs to leave the airport. They put us up in a hotel for the night, and gave us free dinner vouchers. Our wake up call was at 4, and the bus left for the airport at 5. I woke up at 3 because I was so afraid I'd oversleep.
We get to the airport, and there's no one there. No flight attendants, no on at the counters, nothing. Most of the lights were still off. and we all formed a huge line, but no one knew what we were lining up for. Finally one of the guys in front realized that our boarding passes from last nights flight were valid for today's flight. Thank you, Northwest, for making this clear to us. There was a mad dash for the metal detectors, and then a mad dash through Japanese customs. I have never been so relieved to get onto a plane.
So you'd think this would be over, but no, the guy sitting next to me on the Tokyo-Shanghai leg of the journey was weird, and it made the whole journey SUPER awkward. He kept talking to me, and kept saying self deprecatng phrases like "not like you care" and "don't you hate it when people try to show you pictures" while he was digging for his digital camera to show me pictures of his vacation. It was kinda uncomfortable. We sat and ate our meal and he talked about how amazed he is by food; "where does it come from?" He was like "in NY, everyday, there are millions and millions of chicken breasts being eaten. Everyday! Millions! where does it all come from? Millions!" I couldn't tell what he didn't understand - that chickens are animals hatched from eggs and raised on farms? that there are very established systems for how food gets brought in from farms into markets and restaurants? or did he just find it mindboggling how much consumption goes on? cause that's what got me while he was talking; something like one chicken death per person. Maybe even per day... But then he was like "I'm just glad there are smart people out there who have this all figured out," and I was back to being confused about what he didn't understand again. Sitting next to him was WEIRD.
At least I'm reading a funny book.
"Fashions come and go, come and go," said Ricki," but the length of the cheerleader skirt remains constant, and it is upon that abbreviated standard that I base my currency of joy."
and, FRIDAY IS MY BIRTHDAY! I'll be OLD!!!
My godmother took me out clubbing for my lunar calendar birthday, which was like a week ago. She has fake eyelashes and and wore a tiny miniskirt out to the bar; she said that she was too lazy to change her outfit from work so she decided to make up for it with a short skirt. The entire night she insisted that I called her my sister, not my godmother. She's 45 and awesome.