Tune in Tokyo

Well well. i left my house at about quarter to seven on Tuesday. After spending the last forty-eight hours in quite a shitstorm, contracting a cold, and stuffing my life for a year into two over-sized suitcases, i was off to the races.

The parental unit made sure that i was at Mitchell International a good hour and a half in advance. After checking my over weight bag (s) and guitar (sorry Dad), we had time to sit around for a bit. The minutes ticked away, and we had our teary good bye. Like the loving people they are, they waited around until i successfully passed through security, and until their waves and faces shrunk to a mere blur.

The flight from Milwaukee to Minneapolis went by in an instant. i tooled around the airport when i arrived, in search of something substantial to gorge myself on before embarking on the fourteen-plus hour plane ride, and being subjected to space-like plane food. It has never been easy being a vegetarian in the Midwest. However, the Chili's (yes, i was going to try and eat there, get your snarky laughs in now) in the Minneapolis airport exemplified how ridiculous it can get. Would you like a side of meat with your meatwhich? How about a meat shake to wash down those meat fries? They had not one thing that didn't involve chicken or cow parts. How are you gonna deny me my last, all- American fine dining experience? i suppose, it was for the better. Thank you vegetable Gods, for intervening on my wavering convictions. i managed to choke down a veggie wrap from Subway before boarding my flight.

The plane to Tokyo was massive. It seemed more like a ship with wings and seemed to go on forever. Three rows of seats divided up the space. There were many Asian people on the flight, although i would venture to guess the majority of the people were either Chinese or Thai or Taiwanese. A middle-aged Chinese man and i shared row 56, with a seat in between us. Thank God i had arranged to have an aisle seat last minute. It gives me pangs of anxiety to even think about crawling over multiple laps every time i needed to use the facilities or stretch my legs!

The duration of the flight was long, but not as painful as i expected. i could get up and walk about freely. There were two babies sitting in rather close proximity, but they were surprisingly docile throughout the majority of the flight...i only awoke to a handful of screams, which pales in comparison to the memories i have of my younger brother on hellish, plane rides on family trips to Florida. That boy had a set of lungs.

The flight attendants made welcomed frequent offers of water. Being at such a high altitude for an extended period of time can dehydrate you. i swear, the guy sitting next to me must have had a bladder of steel. During the entire flight, he only got up from his seat twice! Either that, or he was afraid to ask me to move....

Despite having made requests for vegetarian meals on-line beforehand, this method undoubtedly leaves room for error. i sucked it up and in true Thanksgiving-esque fashion and ate the little side dishes. Luckily, i had come prepared with multiple bags of snacks that served as meal rations.

The in-flight movies were cinematic gems such as Baby's Momma and that crappy new-ish one about an election with Kevin Costner. If there wasn't a worse actor in the world. In between blips of sleep, i half-watched these in order to pass the time more quickly. Truth be told, they did aid in subtracting four hours or so from the monstrous tally.

We finally landed and i had seen the sun set and rise all within the confines of the plane. The pilot informed us that we had landed a bit late. i only had about an hour to find my gate and get through another round of security. i skipped the connection information counter because i figured i'd by-pass the crowded area and be able to find my gate on a screen.

The security check-point was a nightmare. Basically, all of the people on my plane were headed somewhere else too. After zig-zagging through countless roped off lines, i ran down the terminal, in search of my gate. i scanned multiple screens, multiple times. i couldn't find my flight anywhere. Slightly panicked, i asked a young Japanese woman to help me. She directed me towards another information/help desk.

Turns out, my flight to Seoul had gotten canceled and rescheduled for six thirty that next morning. i'm actually still not sure what happened. Perhaps some mechanical problems? Whatever the reason, i became uncharacteristically worried. i was stranded in Tokyo with no phone and no where to stay. After just completing a fourteen-hour journey, i was in no state of mind to deal with this cog that had gotten thrown in the wheel of my plans. The woman at the Northwest Airlines counter was very nice and let me make a call to my contact in Korea. Thankfully, i got a hold of him and said that i would not be making it to Seoul until the next morning. He assured me that he would be waiting for me at 9:30.

The woman working for NWA guided me towards the arrivals gate. i was a little confused because i had figured i was going to rough it and sleep in the airport. There were other Koreans displaced by the cancellation, that were filtering down into the same area. i still was a bit puzzled as to where i was going. Another airport worker directed us to fill out some forms and i finally realized i was going through customs. A Korean woman was confused about something on her form, but i could not communicate with her to help. i wanted to tell her that even if i could help her with her question, i was still probably just as, if not more, perplexed by the situation. After i went through customs, i got slightly nervous again because i did not know where i was going to be staying.

We came to another Northwest Airlines desk and there were another small group of Koreans already collected there. One of the men was pretty irate, screaming at the defenseless Japanese man behind the counter. The Japanese man quietly eeked out that he did not speak Korean. The Korean man then began to berate him in English. He was finally calmed slightly when another man intervened and gave him a hotel voucher. i received one as well and we were off like lambs to the slaughter to a hotel in Tokyo.

After checking in, i made my way to the room on the third floor. i passed some of the maintenance staff and all five of them bowed to me. It was one of the first real moments i had that really made me feel like i was in Asia. i made my way into my room and plopped down on the bed and turned on the television. Now, i know that i can not speak Japanese. But, the programs were just plain bizarre. Some man being force-fed some disgusting-looking slop, a crazy- looking game show, and some version of QVC were among some of the spectacles i observed. Then again, i'm sure if a Japanese person turned on some American channels and saw morbidly obese people competing in weight-loss challenges, they'd be kind of confused too. i finally settled on one of the two English-speaking channels. The voices of CNN reporters lulled me asleep.

i was up before my requested wake-up call at four (am) and got my luggage in order. By now, my internal clock was so screwed up, and my body was begging for some explanation and regularity. i boarded the shuttle bus with the rest of my Korean cohorts. The bus was late leaving the hotel and i began to wonder if i was going to miss ANOTHER flight.

We were ushered through security and then guided to gate twenty-two. After exceeding our scheduled boarding time, i began to become concerned again. Finally, as if waiting a mini- eternity, we began to file onto the plane to Seoul.