Getting Ready for Japan

Today is a great day…. I’m up and running around my house like a madman trying to organise my self for my flight to Japan in a couple of hours. Even though I had been preparing for this trip for the past three days; organising lists, exchanging money and other assorting run of the mill pre international travel requirements. No matter what I always feel as though I have forgotten something. Do I have my passport? Yes. My Itinerary? Yes. What about hotel details? Sure do… Oh crap what about my passpor…oh yeah I do, but what about my itinerary… oh yeah next to my passport. This continued for at least an hour. But it was too late now for Homer Simpson impressions; I had to don my best Mr. Magoo impression and trip over my bags, then it was time to leave for the airport.

I always worry about the time and difficulty associated with international travel in regards to the logistics of herding the cattle of passengers into the plane on time. However this experience went so smoothly form check in to boarding. I was amazed. Though I could not have been more correct earlier when I likened passengers to cattle… I’m just saying, I’m fairly sure that farm animals now have internet access and can purchase tickets through Jetstar. Which is amazing because I thought that their hooves would have been a problem when using the keyboard but oh well live and learn. No but being seriously now, Japan, I apologise whole-heartedly on behalf of my country for what we are about to export to your land. From the Backward hillbilly couple sitting to my back left; who drank can after can of Asahi in an attempt to smash David Boon’s Guinness book world record for most can’s of beer consumed on a flight. To the two overly posh young girls, who sat to my immediate right, who were clearly taking this trip as their cutting loose period, periodically breaking out in to a poorly harmonised rendition of the “We goin’ Sizzler dance” made popular by the film “White Men Can’t Jump”. Changing the lyrics to suit whatever subject they became excited about at that particular moment. To the roid abusing, but non exercise partaking, Gold Coast local. Decked out in his highly decorated Henley’s shirt resembling a Tapout sponsored fighter’s walk out t-shirt (You know the guy, if you live on the Gold Coast…You know the guy).

Soon after take off I thought the best thing to do to kill time on the trip was to get stuck into my university studies. After going through two weeks worth of material I checked the time and noticed five hours had passed, Brilliant! Right that’s enough study for this cat. Time to watch some One piece (a popular Japanese animation). As I was watching an episode I felt something grabbing at my right arm as it lay on the armrest. I look over and it is a small Japanese child who, on it’s pilgrimage down the isles of the plane, had noticed the One Piece animation on my laptop screen and decided to watch. I was cool with it. The kid was funny. I don’t care what anyone says, I’m making the call. Japanese kids are the most adorable kids in the world. As we watched the shows we laughed and high fived on many occasions. We became mates. Then it all turned pear shaped when the battery died on my laptop causing it to turn off. I looked to the child and said “Oh no, no more.” He looked at me in silence. Then his bottom lip started to head toward his nose and began to quiver. “Oh no” I thought. But it was too late, he started to cry so loudly. I began to panic. What were people, what were his parents going to think? Some stranger on a plane just caused this adorable little child to start crying for his life. I did what anyone else would have done. I pretended to have been sleeping and woken up by some screaming stranger child when his parents came to see what the commotion was about. It worked, no harm no foul. Score 1 to me.

The rest of the flight went nicely. Smooth sailing and no dramas at all. When we landed I unfastened my seat belt and grabbed my bag ready to head to the baggage claim. As I stood up the song “Someone that I used to know”,by Gotye, played over the speakers in the plane. The two young posh girls I had mentioned earlier were loudly singing along and dancing along with no inhibitions (By dancing I mean closed eyes, swiveling head, index fingers on both hands pointed to the sky like guns kind of I have no rhythm or coordination kind of dancing). One of them turned to the other and stated. “Isn’t it ironic that this song is playing as we land in Japan?..”

…No, well it’s not. It’s not ironic at all.

Man, I wish I had guts to say that.

Article by: Cristiano Del Giacco