Jet Lag

After something like 20 hours of travel time (and still facing nearly 8 more), I landed in China at 6 pm Friday the 12th. Lucky for me, it didn't really matter that I had spent 13 and a half cramped hours in economy class with little sleep or circulation in my bum- I have been in Beijing airport numerous times in many different states of consciousness. And so, after de-boarding and tiredly making my way through customs (cleared it with a one-way ticket, thanks Mao), standing in line at the luggage carousel, collecting to pieces of luggage that weigh nearly as much as I do, rechecking said pieces of luggage and clearing my third security check of the day, I sat down in PEK and debated the merits of TCBY (I eventually decided against it- what kind of yogurt of place doesn't have soft-serve?).

Then finally, FINALLY, I boarded my final flight. The three-hour hop to Chengdu. And I must say- you never know what you are going to experience in airports, on planes. For example, how many times you do come across a box of 'small-diameter, bone-crusing' arrows? Let alone when a stewardess is walking them up the aisle after having confiscated them from a fellow flyer? Yea- not too often eh?

So I can safely now say that I am in Chengdu, hanging out with my dear man, and driving him bananas with my jetlag induced crankiness. All I want to do is sleep and bitch and moan. Not exactly the most appealing attitude after having not seen my guy in nearly three months. I'm lucky he hasn't whomped me back on a plane headed anywhere that is not here. I must say it, not that it hasn't been said before, but jetlag is a Bitch. I mean, let's be realistic here. If the big guys in the sky- the string pullers extraordinaire, the fates and whatevers/whathaveyous, etc- intended for us human folk to be able to skip time zones like stones across a smooth pond, we probably would have developed speed on our own. Or wings. See where I'm going with this?

Instead we get planes. Very fast, very large tin cans that are launched into the sky (defying the laws of nature) and take you from point a to point b in the most effective way possible. What could be the downside? Oh that's right- having to force your body to adjust to a totally different schedule at the expense of other people's patience while they try to deal with your constant napping, nagging, and general sleeplessness-induced spaciness. Ah yes, the marvels of modern technology... making me a less pleasant person than I already am.

Cheers mates!