JAL has great service. After checking into the airport I got to stick around at their "Sakura" lounge. After being greeted by an attendant I made my way into the lounge which was stocked with free drinks, tea and snacks... none of which I ate since I had other things on my mind... mainly trying to get my iPod mini chalked up with music and ready to keep me entertained for my 9 hour flight to Japan.
With about 1 hour left before take off time, I spent most of it editing the ID3 tags which the iPod is so dependant on using to categorize music. Unfortunately, my music in that respect was a mess (never had the need to organize the ID3 tags before) so off I was on the quest to organize enough music before dumping them onto the iPod. That never really happened, because I was too engrossed in fixing the tags that I barely had enough time to pack up my laptop, power cables, wires and external hard drive before having to make a mad dash to the boarding gate as they sent out their final boarding call. I did make it to the gate with no problems at all.
I boarded my plane right in front of one of the rear door exits on the starboard side. I was flying "economy class" though somehow my luggage was bestowed with the luxury of "executive class/priority luggage." My heart nearly skipped a beat when I remember checking in thinking that I too somehow managed to get bumped up into an executive seat... but alas that was not to be.
I made my way back to my seat where I was greeted by a Chinese looking business man sitting in the middle... not decked out in a full suit but wearing slacks and a shirt. A younger Caucasian found his way to the isle seat, I had myself a window seat.
The Chinese businessman was exactly that after he introduced himself to me and the other person sitting opposite to me. His name was Paul, probably the most talkative and friendly Asian business man I've ever met. I have the impression that most Chinese business people are secretive money grubbing people with the sole purpose of grabbing the most profit as they possibly can. I was rather amused to find that this character to be quite difference, friendly, outgoing, polite yet frank and willing to share about his experiences about his work.
From what I learned about this Paul character, he originally studied genetic engineering in university, later did an MBA and was off doing property management and investing work... very interesting field of work eh?). This man apparently owns a Chinese newspaper distributed in the lower mainland, does real estate in Asia and was off on a business trip for the opening of a new food court and vice president of a family run company which he and his brother works together on (take this with a grain of sand by the way, since this is all talk). Paul does offer some interesting tips, mainly traveling abroad and living in foreign countries for 2 to 6 months is a great experience to open one's eye to the rest of the world. In that respect, I took comfort that I would be doing my masters here for the next 2.5 years or so and that I would become more infused with "culture."
Ben, the person sitting on the isle seat did his undergrad in economics and was going to be studying at a university just south of where I would be studying in Sendai. Ben spent the last 2 years living in Japan I believe, I don't remember the details exactly, but his Japanese was better than mine! I would learn too that he was another student coming from BC to Japan on the same scholarship as I.
The flight was uneventful. The attendants kept us well watered with snacks and food and the rest of my time was spent either sleeping, flipping through random movie channels and then reading research papers on my laptop (however using a laptop on an airplane was quite awkward because it was so cramped). My butt eventually went flat then sore but fortunately the flight was over before it went dead.
Arriving at customs at Narita airport was most interesting. I ran into a large entourage of students with bookmark like tags stuck onto their jackets (the same one I would have to wear to identify myself as an exchange student to the people designated to pick me up after I left the baggage claim area). The large entourage of students were Brazilian students, I could not speak a Spanish though they could speak back to me in a form of broken English. I did meet up with another student from Montreal whom studied Physics (Photonics) by the name of Jer. I was quite happy to see another physicist in the group.
When most of us assembled together, we had people from Venezuela, Columbia, Nicaragua, Spain, Brazil, USA, Morocco, Canada and a few other countries that I can't name off the top of my head. Quite the group. Most of us stayed over at the hotel nearby the airport for a night before heading off to our respective universities.
My uncle and cousins also came out to visit me at the airport. It was great to see them again since the last time about 6 years ago. My cousins have grown up a lot! We caught up over a late lunch (they hadn’t eaten since waiting for me) and it was nice to talk to them for a while. I had a Tonkatsu lunch (deep fried pork cutlet) and then made my way back to the hotel for the evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment