I just arrived in the airport in Tokyo and I have about 2 hours before my flight boards, so I figured I’d write. I can’t see any of the city at all, just runways and planes which is too bad because I’ve heard that Tokyo is just such a cool city, even just to look at from above.
This morning my parents dropped me off at Bradley Airport and my first flight left around 8:20 and it was about 2 hours to Chicago. I’d heard horror stories about the Chicago airport: about it being disorganized; inconveniently designed; that I’d more than likely have to walk across the entire airport. Fortunately, none of that came to fruition and I made it to my connecting flight very quickly.
The flight from Chicago to Tokyo was roughly 12 hours and it wasn’t bad at all. We were extremely well fed (overly fed even) and I was able to sleep, read, listen to my iPod and play games on the monitor in front of my seat. Most of the people on the flight were Japanese, but there was a good number of Americans. So far in the Tokyo airport, I would say that 1/6 of all people who have passed me are Westerners. It’s easy to point them out. The flight attendants never had to ask if anyone spoke Japanese or English; if the person was white or Black, he or she was assumed to speak English and if the person was Asian, he or she was assumed to speak Japanese.
In Brazil this was not at all the case as Brazilians, like Americans, are a mix of European, African and indigenous-American descent. Thus, playing the find-the-English-speaker game was one that involved waiting for the newest unwitting contestant to speak. In Korea this won’t be the case. Asian – speaks Korean, possibly English. White or Black – speaks English. Also, I imagine, there will be more native-English speakers in Korea than in Brazil for a collection of reasons, which will be helpful.
Also in the airport, along with there being lots of Westerners, there are lots of people wearing masks like the SARS masks that were in style back in 2002. I suppose now that this vintage look has made a new appearance, it’s under the new name of an H1N1 Mask or Swine Flu Mask (sort of like how when bellbottoms came back in style in the mid ’90s they were referred to as flares instead of their original name.) I’ve literally seen between 20-30 people wearing them in the last hour. That number represents an incredible minority of the people I’ve seen today, but nonetheless it’s noticeable. I know that in Korea (and I’m guessing also in Japan) the people are very concerned with H1N1 and if I have any flu-like symptoms, such as a temperature, I can get quarantined. I’m doubting that this will happen, but it’s always a possibility.
I think I’m approaching Korea with a more relaxed attitude than I did Brazil. As long as I don’t have H1N1, it’s all good. I’m not going to put unnecessary pressure on myself and I’m just going to enjoy the ride. I’ll be landing in South Korea in 4 1/2 hours and hopefully going straight to the schnazzy hotel to sleep.
