Saturday, September 02, 2006

Wangs on a Plane!

Our journey is underway. We are currently sitting in Wayne County airport in Detroit, Michigan. Having just filled out stomachs with some airport-quality sushi, we have settled down at our gate, with approximately two hours to departure (3:30PM EDT). While I have some downtime (and an outlet to plug my laptop into), let me catch you up on my progress . . .

Yesterday afternoon, after some last minute shopping and packing, I hopped in a car service cab (note: form of transportation #1) to JFK to catch my 5:30PM flight to Minneapolis.

The flight presented little difficulty, despite some ear-popping issues and a frustrating wait at the luggage claim. Mom greeted me with a traditionally long welcome-back hug and we headed for the car.

Although I was only scheduled to be in Minnesota for a little less than 10 hours, I managed to squeeze in some fun. On our way back from the airport, we stopped at the Minnesota State Fair, a yearly staple of my childhood. We met up with Ange, Christian, JT, Isabel, Myles, and Carl outside the Grandstand and proceeded to consume our monthly intake of fried food. One corndog, bucket of cookies, tub of fries, beer, reuben sandwich, plate of garlic fries, fried shrimp skewer, and vanilla cream puff later, it was time to go.

I learned from Mom that this short detour has some significance to my current trip. When I was one year old, my grandparents came from Taiwan to visit me. My grandmother helped take care of me during this time, and consequently has a special connection with me as her grandchild. While they were visiting Minnesota, almost 23 years ago to the day, they went to the State Fair. Something tells me their Taiwanese sensibility steered them clear of the deep-fried cheese curds.

Upon leaving the fair, I spent some time with Ange in St. Paul, then headed home for a couple of hours of sleep before leaving at 5:00AM CDT for the airport.

Dad and I checked in, passed through security (liquid-less), got some coffee, and wandered to the gate. Our first flight, from Minneapolis to Chicago, took a little less than an hour, and we turned around and took the same plane to Detroit, where we currently stand . . . well actually sleep.Here’s where were going to be spending the next 16+ hours (Detroit to Osaka to Taipei):

Next stop: Taiwan! Blog you then.

2 comments:

Angela Wang said...

Wow, you're really keeping on top of your blog -- so far. I'm impressed! Keep it going, I need some entertainment while you're gone :) Enjoy yourself and eat some crazy food for me!

-ang

p.s. I think I might seriously need to reserve the "Tanks on a plane" blogspot . . . i'm checking into it as soon as i post.

paul. said...

Keep up the stories, j. I'm reading with great interest. Also, keep on the lookout for a bootlegged copy of Snakes on a Plane... you might even find the sequel: Snakes Vs. Tremors.

一路平安我的朋友。

my best to you and your family.

peace. paul.