On Leaving America

On Departing America

I’ll be boarding a Singapore Airline flight from Houston to Moscow in a matter of hours, but wanted to get a few impressions on the record.  My eleven days here have been filled with lots of lovely experiences and a few not so pleasant. 

I was home for just a day before I had to leave for a series of meetings in Greensboro, NC.  I had rented a car when I landed since I had decided to drive to Greensboro, partially because it was just too expensive to fly, but mostly because I love to drive and thought this would be a wonderful trip.  I was correct!  I drove down the spine of Virginia on beautiful 81.  I have been on 81 before in the early spring and it was just spectacular, but even in the dead of winter it is a lovely road.  The trip took about five hours and from the minute I arrived at the hotel until the moment I departed, I was constantly bathed in the warm waters of southern hospitality. 

We have all been exposed to ‘faked’ hospitality, like Disney, or grand hotels, but what I experienced was genuine and heartfelt.  It didn’t matter whether they worked for the lovely hotel or for the Quick Stop gas station, everyone was courteous, smiling and soft spoken.  Their greetings were sincere and when they invite you to come back again, they mean it.

In addition to my meetings, I had the great pleasure of dining twice with friends of my host in Greensboro.  Goodness was it fun to be around adults who speak English and have lots of varied interests.  I realized that for most of my time in Moscow, I’m alone, or at best, with young teachers, who while committed and intelligent, have not yet had the life experiences to be as totally interesting as my dinner companions.  It was an unexpected and very much valued part of my trip.

Upon my return to West Virginia I had three days to play, cook, talk and laugh with the family.  Colin and Meagan will soon be heading to New Zealand for a two to three year assignment, so we had a grand time looking at maps, reading about adventure travels, and sorting out all the little things that have to be done before they depart.  Colin and I continued our cooking experiences by preparing fancy dinners and informal lunches.  We watched the Super Bowl with the WV grandkids after cooking up a Super Bowl dinner.  I couldn’t believe how long the spectacle was, especially with that silly half-time show.  By the time it was over, I was exhausted and fell fast asleep until eight the next morning.

I stupidly lost my drivers license on my United flight from Paris.  The plane was a 777 and it only had about 70 people in coach, which meant that there were lots of empty rows of five seats.  I took a three-hour nap in one of those rows and all of my credit cards fell out of my pocket as I moved around trying to get comfortable.  I thought I had picked them all up but obviously I missed the driver’s license.  This meant that I had to drive to the local DMV, which is about fifteen minutes away.  I was dreading the process, but really needed to get my license replaced.  Much to my joy and amazement, the entire process took only about twelve minutes, most of which was spend filling out a short form and waiting for my new license to be laminated.  Everyone there was so friendly and professional and I remembered why I have always enjoyed living in small towns.  Incidentally, the three ladies behind the counter all agreed that the Black Eye Peas were silly.

The dark side of my trip involved what is jokingly called commercial aviation.  I had to fly from Dulles to Houston to pick up my flight to Moscow.  Since it was a one-way trip, I was condemned to a connection in Charlotte, NC.  A non-stop flight on Continental would have cost more than eight hundred dollars, while a connecting flight on US Air was only two hundred.  I had no problem with the service on US Air, they were on time, and safe, which is all you really need.  My problem was with my fellow passengers, all of whom seem to have gotten very, very large.  I read about Michelle Obama’s efforts to fight obesity, about the FDA trying to get folks to eat better, but judging from my experience on just two flights yesterday, these appeals are falling on deaf ears. 

My Fellow Traveler Catching a Nap

The first flight was on one of those Regional Jets, which means small and packed.  It was just a one-hour flight to Charlotte and yet more than half of the people who boarded the flight were carrying enough calories to go transatlantic.  I can assure you that the sights, smells and sounds of these folks consuming their food at nine am was nothing short of disgusting.  I don’t know how they were able to finish everything within the hour.  I had a very long layover, more than four hours, so I had ample time to walk the airport and view the ample bodies of my fellow travelers.  The old joke about how people who used to take the bus now take the airplane has never been truer, but now it is more like the people who used to clean the bathrooms at the bus stations are taking flights.  No more dressing well to fly and certainly bathing has become optional.  It is just depressing.  The last leg of the trip was a three-hour journey on a fully packed 737.  If you have ever been on a bus where they have flip up seats that can be lowered into the aisle when they need more seats, you will understand how I felt when I got up to go to the back of the plane to use the toilet.  I was in row seven (I had to pay $25 for an aisle seat) and when I turned to go back I thought they had these flip up seats since it looked like the aisle was completely filled.  There were no flip up seats, it was just people spilling out of their narrow seats.  Feet were in the aisle, shoulders, and ham hock arms flowing into the free space like so much molten lava taking the path of least resistance.  I had to walk sideways like a crab in order to get to the rear of the plane. 

Getting off of that flight was like getting out of prison and I reveled in the space and relative fresh air.  Since I’m traveling with far too much luggage, I had to check it and it took one hour for the bags to get from the plane to the baggage area.  Wouldn’t you think that when they charge you $25 to check the first bag and $50 for the second, they would be able to get you your bags in record time?  Houston was experiencing record cold and standing outside in the raw wind waiting twenty minutes for the hotel shuttle prepared me for my return to Moscow.

So, I’m off and excited to get back to Cindy and to Moscow.  With luck the Moscow Musings will be start to flow by Saturday.

Best wishes to all, William