金曜日, 5月 27, 2005
I met Abby Lockhart! (Memoirs of US Trip)
I missed my flight from LA to San Francisco. I got pretty nervous 'coz I need to be back in the office by Monday night and if I miss my San Francisco flight to Tokyo, then I'll be really damned. I was praying 'Dear God, please don't make me miss my flight.' The Am Air attendant was kind enough to book me on to the next flight but the problem is with my luggage. If I check it in, then I would surely miss my flight. Then she said'can you promise me to stuff all your stuffs into 2 bags? So I can let you in and we don't need to worry about the connecting flight.' I said, 'Yes' (of course!)
Everything happened so fast and the moment I got into the JAL checkin counter, I just looked for the status 'OPEN'. Whew~ I'm 50% safe, I thought. As usual US security was so tight, but I managed to make it just in time for boarding. I was praying again to God, 'Lord, please make the next seat available so I can fully rest'. But unfortunately, before I could even finish my sentence, a caucasian girl sat beside me. She's all smiles which of course, any Asisan girl would probably think it's strange. I noticed she's vegetarian. And she kept on moving and trying to figure out how the remote control works. I wasn't in any mood for conversations so I took the earphones, covered myself with the blanket and try not to hear the other guys next to me who happen to be flirting with each other...Ugghh~
Most of the flight went on generally smoothly for all it's 9 1/2 hours. 1/2 before take off, this strange caucasian girl who always smiles at me and looks at my direction suddenly started a conversation. She talked about how she loves Japan and she stayed in Hokkaido for 2 months, and went to Niigata. She's been traveling around the world for 4 years now and she's 22 years old, and tomorrow's her birthday. She has a boyfriend who went home in New Zealand ahead of her but will pick her at the airport. She said she doesn't really feel at ease with US. She feels more relaxed and guininely safe in Japan and in other Asian countries. What interested me was her comment 'it seems here in the US, they give more importance to boobs, rather than brain.' What that was heavy stuff, which I kind of like agree (pardon me ~) . And then finally she asked me 'so do you study? are you having your semester break?'
'I said, whoa~ I'm not a student, I'm too old to be a student. I'm turning 29 soon. '
'So what do you do?'
I said, 'I have a boring desk job'.
'Boring but the pay's good?', she smiled. And I nod in agreement. Then she went on 'but don't you think it's great 'coz with your job that's paying you good, you can spend time and vacation anywhere you like'.
'Yeah, I guess you're right.' I replied back. 'So what did you do in US?'
'Oh, I snowboarded. I've been trying different places to snowboard. That's my work, I coach in New Zealand.'
'I snowboard too! I learned to love it.' It got me pretty excited here.
'Cool!' she said. Before we went on further to our conversation, the paging system sounded and we were about to land. It was a very smooth landing and we started to pack our stuffs and go. She went a step ahead of me and as soon as the got off the plane, there was a plackard that says 'Abby Lockhart'. Hmm..she seems a special person.
The secret stalker in me searched her name in the internet. What I found out amazed me. This bright-eyed, friendly, sensible girl is Abby Lockhart, one of the world's best lady professional snowboarders!!!! Wow. That's the only thing I could say.
# posted by Unknown : 9:16 午後
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