I remember blogging about the
trials of travel over the years. Some good and some not so good -
I used to dread the actual travel time as I wished desperately
for teleportation, but as I have learned to appreciate what other people, cultures and
religion can offer me indirectly, I do not mind sitting back and observing the
world from an airplane or international airport.
Upon my arrival at Incheon
Airport in South Korea, I was going on about 3 hours of sleep, so as I departed
the plane, I commenced exploring this unfamiliar airport. The cleanliness (which is always my
first assessment) pushed it up to the top of my favorite airports. Next came the smiles.
I was feeling sad leaving
everyone at Wat Opot, so viewing happy faces made me smile right back. I wandered around, and grabbed my
security blanket – a coffee.
My friend Karin told me the story
of how she arrived in India for the first time. She got off the plane walked outside and lit a
cigarette. How that cigarette
grounded her as she anticipated the journey ahead of her. Coffee does that for me. It calms my nerves as I hold the cup
within the confines of my comfort zone – a comfort zone that becomes small when
I’m in an unfamiliar place.
For reasons unknown, I was bumped
up to Business Class when I checked in at the airport in Phnom Penh. As I boarded the plane I had no trouble
finding my seat – #2C. As I looked
forward to stretching out in the bigger seat with more legroom, the flight
attendant motioned for me to put my backpack in the overhead compartment. Immediately my heart rate went up. I “NEEDED” that backpack. Everything I might need or want was in
that bag. But since the seats in
business class are all that, they have no room to put anything underneath. As I quickly contemplated how much
stuff I can take out and stash all around me, I consciously pushed away
feelings of contempt at this woman just doing her job.
I grabbed my new Nook and figured
that was all I needed at that moment.
Once we were in the air, I wanted to be back in coach, back in my
comfort zone with my backpack within an arm’s reach, I wanted my can of peanuts
and Korean pickles– just in case.
I didn’t want to be ‘pampered’; I didn’t want something to drink every
10 minutes. I wanted to be left
alone in my anonymity.
It’s not like I’m inexperienced
with first class travel. For over
seven years, I was surrounded by wealth and luxurious travel and
accommodations. I didn’t think
twice about it, it became my norm; although I experienced some of the same
feelings I had on this trip. The
same feelings of “just leave me alone, I do not want nor need anything at this
moment and chances are I will be perfectly fine if you do not approach me again
in this lifetime.”
Sometimes wealth begets helplessness, or is it just a need to feel
superior? I am neither wealthy nor
am I haughty. I am also not
invisible, but many times wish to be.
Well I survived that flight
without giving anyone the stink-eye nor wishing them ill-will and after
drinking my coffee decided to look for a place to sleep. I easily found what I was looking for
and more. There were docking
stations to charge your electronic devices, lounge areas, places to take a hot
shower and sleeping areas. I was
too wound up to sleep at that time, so I just sat back and took pleasure in
watching 2 kids play with their sleeping father – putting a napkin near his
mouth so it would gently float to the ground at his exhale, hearing all the
different languages, and seeing different cultural interactions. Finally my eyelids could no longer stay
open and I found a sleeper chair out of the mainstream and spooning my
backpack, fell into a deep sleep.
I awoke, glanced at my iPod and
saw that it was only 10:30 am although it felt much later. Ate some delicious Korean food and went
to the ‘free tour of Seoul” desk.
I told the lady that I would like the 1:00 tour and she looked at me
strangely and said, that tour is sold out, I can get you in at 3:00. I was thinking, “Well great what can I
do for a couple of hours now”…when she interrupted my thought with directions
to come back in 10 minutes and she will take me to the tour check in
place. Not questioning why I would
have to check in about 3 hours early, I just said Okay and went in search of a
locker to put my backpack in.
When I got to the info desk to
get a locker key, I saw a clock flashing 2:45 and wondered why this clock along
with the 2 that I had I seen earlier were all wrong; then it dawned on me…I am
no longer in the Cambodian time zone!
I didn’t sleep for an hour like I thought, but instead had crashed for almost
four! I dashed back to the tour
info desk and followed the lady as she lead me the back way through
immigration, flashing her badge here and there. I suddenly remembered the advantages of superiority and ease
of access wealth (or in this case – a cool airport badge) can bring about. She then gave me somewhat complicated
directions (turn here, go down there, find gate 8…) to the check in tour desk.
I found the desk and waited for
others to arrive for our tour and again took in the sights and people around
me. I laughed at loud at a group
of middle to late-aged Asian tourists.
The group of about 20 were milling about like chickens until one man had
them line up in two rows like children to organize them. As each one passed by, he would kindly
smack them on the back of the head and they giggled and cackled like 6 year
olds! Another group reminded me of
the ducks at Wat Opot. The group
orderly followed the leader, but then all of a sudden the last person said
something and they all turned and then followed him the opposite way. There was then laughter and they once
again all turned around and followed the original leader.
It was at this time I felt a
couple of pokes in my side causing me to jump and squirm. I turned and saw the small Korean woman
from the info desk. She said “I am
happy to see you again” and she gave me the thumbs up as she slid behind the
counter. I didn’t know what was
funnier to me, the fact that she poked me or that she gave me the non-Korean
thumbs-up sign. I don’t know why
she was so happy to see me; was it because many people are a no-show at a free
tour or was she impressed that I found the out-of-the way tour desk with her
directions.
As we debussed our first sight
was three 16-ish year old girls walking by in school uniform and our very
talkative guide became silent and quietly said “those young girls are so
wonderful just look at them walking by”.
Before I could detect any pedophiliac creepiness from his comments, he
said “So many of our young girls and boys were on the ferry.” We all grew silent as I remembered
hearing about a ferry that had overturned a few days before killing hundreds of people including school kids. I did not realize
that was in Korea not far from where I was at that moment.
When you hear about a tragedy on
the news, about something far away, it’s easy to have feelings of sadness, but then move on. When you travel and start to meet
people and befriend others from far away places, your world becomes small. I looked at our guide who 5 minutes ago
was just a funny host and now I saw a man, quite possibly a grandfather with a
grandchild the same age as the children who drowned. I know why I force myself out of my comfort zone when I
travel. Why I decided to take the
free tour instead of going back to lay down and cocoon myself in until my
flight. I have a need to
experience as much as I have a need to withdraw.
My tour guide was a human being
and so were the others in my small group.
I pushed out the boundaries of my comfort zone a bit and then with an unconscious roll of the eyes, I pushed it out even farther and inched closer and
fully accepted becoming a minuscule part, in this moment of their lives as well as accepting them into mine. We proceeded through the tour as
friends, joking, laughing, taking photos and when it was over, it was over. No need to become FaceBook friends, no
need to exchange contact information.
We are who we are by the choices we make as well as the people we
encounter in our lives. They don’t
have to be dramatic choices or extraordinary people, but a moment of silence in
honor of an unrelated tragedy changed my tour perspective, changed the way I
viewed those around me and added another positive layer to my heart.
2 comments:
Enjoyed, Melinda Kay!
Thanks Lucy!
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