Leaving America - My New Life Part 1

Airports are something that I have never dealt with growing up. Until my trip was to begin, I had only been to the Portland airport and only maybe three or four times to pick up or see off friends and family. The purpose had never been for me. As I was driving to Seattle I could only think of how the flight would be and how nervous I was to do something as big as what lied in front of me. I knew literally nothing about flying; didn’t know how to check my baggage, how to get through security, or even get my ticket and boarding pass. I felt like a little child again learning things that the typical person has done several times or more.

In the end, the Seattle airport was quite simple. It was empty due to being nearly 11:00 PM on a Monday night, so there weren’t crowds of people to work around. I walked to my gate, sat down and waited for my name to be called from the stand-by list as all of the other passengers with real tickets boarded. I could see my plane out the window, and that is when I felt more scared than ever before.

Walking down the corridor that links the planes to the terminal I knew I was about to do the biggest thing I have done to date and there was no turning back. Within 20 hours I would be in Tokyo, Japan. Uncharted territory to not only myself, but to my entire family and most people I have ever had contact with. I felt like Lewis and Clark!

We took off and flew for about 4 hours through the middle of the night to Houston, Texas. Along the way, crossing many other states that I had never been to and seeing city lights that I had obviously never seen before. One my biggest thrills was seeing the lights of Dallas out the plane window. Millions of small dots that seemed to go on forever, and this being, at the time, the biggest city I had ever seen. It was phenomenal.

The plane landed in Houston around 5:30 AM and there I had nearly a five hour layover until my international flight to Tokyo. I went outside to catch a smoke and breathe the Texas air, and also just to say I had been to Texas rather than just another airport. Even at 5:30 in the morning Houston was nasty muggy. I felt wet as soon as I stepped through the doors. I don’t think I could handle that much humidity on an everyday basis, although I have been told that here in Okayama during spring, the humidity will soar past 80% multiple times a week so I better be prepared to be a sweaty mess.

Around 10:30 AM I began to board my second plane. This time would be an international flight, and I would be leaving the only country I have set foot in, and most of all, my home. But I was time. I had worked very hard to earn this year in Japan, and had waited nearly a year for the moment that the plane would leave the ground.

Once aboard, my aunt Michelle asked one of the flight attendants if I could have a look in the cock pit. It wasn’t even a stretch and I was led up there in just a few moments. The cock pit of these jets are insane! So many little gadgets and gages, it looked like a nuclear launch consol at the pentagon or something from a war movie. I stood there for a few minutes talking to the pilots and explaining that this was my first overseas flight. One made the comment that it was his as well, obviously joking, trying to make me laugh a little to calm my nerves.

Once I found my seat, I couldn’t believe how nice the plane was. Three sections wide, including two isles and 10 seats. In the rear of the seat In front of everyone had a small touch screen TV imbedded inside loading with nearly 100 movies, a number of sitcom episodes, small video games like asteroids, space invaders and solitaire, as well as part where you could look at all of the flight details, including our speed, distance to landing and how far we had traveled in miles, and our altitude. This setup kept my quite satisfied and entertained through the 13.5 hour duration of my flight.