Tokyo Rose

By which I mean Tokyo Dia.

Hello from the brand, spanking new Star Alliance Terminal at Narita! This email will have a fair amount of snark it:s the fatigue! Really! so beware...) Basically, I've done nothing but fly for the past day, so commuting, plane food and airline lounge comparisons it is!

Anyway, after spending some time unpacking my new place, Chris and I left Charlottesville at about 4.15 so I could catch my 8.45 flight to Chicago out of DCA. 8.45 flight, 2.5 hr drive - plenty of time, right? (It usually takes me just under 2 hrs). All I can say is WHO LEAVES FOR WORK AT 5am? That:s obscene! People! Is your planned community in the middle of nowhere REALLY offering you such a great quality of life when you spend longer getting to work than actually at the office? I:m just saying... The traffic was ridiculous - or so my driver said. (Thanks again Chris - I needed that nap. Tough day of flying and all!) Anyway, we got there with a tad less time to spare than I would have liked.

Plane food:
Plane french toast is naaaaasty. It was all pasty and mushy - like the guy next to me. There were two kinds of meats - maybe ham? And sausage? But neither resembled any sort of meat I:ve encountered. There was also this creepy jello-y mush that was completely unidentifiable by touch, smell or taste. The Large Party to my right (I was in 1A) spread it on his French Toast and seemed to enjoy it a lot. Um, hi - is weirdo blobby yellow stuff a substitute for maple syrup? No! Anyway, thanks to the good folks at United First for preparing me for a few weeks of unidentifiable foods and condiments! The food from Chicago to Tokyo was, well, wedding-like. Chicken or beef? Chicken or pasta? Meh.

Airport Clubs:
US ones stink. The ANA one is fantastic. It:s shiny, clean. has soothing classical music, free intahnets, huge windows, free food and drink, showers, some sort of massage thing I:m not going to try and lots of other lovely things for civilized passengers. Have I mentioned how nasty, dirty United's club in ORD was? (Worse than any in DC, I:ll tell you that much. And those are pretty gross. And yes, Mom, I know that bitching about airport lounges is yet another reason why my survival, come the revolution, is highly unlikely. BTW - this is a Japanese keyboard and I know I:m using a colon instead of an apostrophe, but such is life. And I'm an ignorant American, so having four possible combinations for every key is waaaay too many options at this hour, which happens to be 15.51.)

Marines:
During the flight, I sat next to a Marine currently stationed in Okinawa. (The good ole high and tight's always a dead give away.) Lucky me - one of his previous postings was in Moscow, but more on that when I hit the Russia leg of my trip. Uh, he did echo the whole - watch yourself - thing. And also told a funny story bout going for a run in DC and all of a sudden getting really, really nervous about where he was. Tough guys, those Marines! Here:s my amusing anecdote: so, his wife went to visit some friends and family, meaning he was left with the kids. He starts talking about how his daughter has a drawer full of hair stuff. "Barrettes, ribbons and all those other kinds of girl hair things. I can maaaaybe do a pony tail on a good day, but that:s it. I'm getting her ready for school and we're negotiating her hairdo. Well, finally my daughter just looks at me, and says 'it's ok Dad, I'll just wear a hairband.' She came home and her hair was all snarled. Can't figure out how she does it, but my wife sure had a good laugh at me when she got home. "

OK - maybe it's just my being punchy and jet-lagged (btw - aha! if you're ever using a Japanese keyboard, the apostrophe is above the #7) but hearing this Marine talk bout his sub-par hair dressing skills and fear of DC's streets made me laugh. But not to his face. That would be dumb. Sort of like running alone in the middle of the night in deepest SE DC.

So, that's about all the news I have for you thus far, but I've got a few hours to waste here, so I may go find another anecdote to share before my next flight.

PT - Chris and I had a discussion last night - who would be a worse blogger - Kiosk or me? I say me, but he seemed to think that it would be the Prof. Me, MBA candidate and world traveller vs Professor Kiosk, Italian Greyhound and, what, eight pounds of fierce? Thoughts?