Do they serve drinks on this flight? (2)

After driving a very long distance we arrived exhausted. BNBH checked us into our room and we settled in for some rest. Early the next morning we drove what seemed like a very short distance to the airport. The time to leave was rapidly approaching and cold feet seemed to be the very least of my worries. Pulled up to the curb to unload my bags and check in for my flight. After dragging the heavy articles of luggage through the queue a man dressed in an uncomfortable suit like uniform tells me that I can’t check in for my flight at the curbside. Excuse me? Guy dressed in the funny suit says, what? But the airport doesn't allow International travelers to check in for their flights at the curbside. Uh why not?? Is it because International travelers are all terrorists and need to check in at a desk for safety’s sake? Nah… Couldn’t be, I’m not that scary looking. Thankfully a young man, who seemed to really love and enjoy his job (NOT), loaded my four ridiculously heavy bags onto a hand trolley and wheeled them into the airport lobby. He grunted and pointed in the direction I was to take and unloaded the bags. Standing in the line for all flights to Asia I couldn't help but to watch the Hawaii line with envy. Hawaii would be amazing this time of year I told myself soothingly. I mean they don't call it paradise for nothing, right? It had to be better than the place I was heading. Impatient stares and sighs drew me out of my Hawaiian interlude and back to the reality that I was leaving my home and going across several oceans. It was with great effort I moved my bags towards what felt like was impending doom. After being robbed of 150$ for an extra bag (that the internet said I could bring, darn internet) and being forced to throw out 20$ body wash by a grumpy and deadly serious TSA agent, I was passed security and on my way. I had a hard time looking back at my Nana standing waving me off with the look of "honey, you can do this" firmly on her face. I am sure she was having the same issues I was and somehow that seemed to comfort me.

The flight to Vancouver B.C. was short and I was seated by a blond hair blue eyed cutie pie. The Viking looking man was married and Mormon as luck or fate would have it. We talked off and on through my waves of tears and emotions. He most likely was thinking what absolute nutter he was seated next to and when was this flight going to land? However, he was very nice and on his way to Vancouver for business. He assured me no amount of baby oil was used in his wedding ceremony and was the only man to have his wife. You mean to tell me that everything put on the Internet might not be the God's honest truth. No.... I know for a fact that Britney Spears is pregnant with Michael Jackson's love child, he faked his own death don't ya know.

 After arriving in Vancouver I hurried to send texts and make calls. In 14 short hours I would be far outside my coverage area and with no hope of sending or receiving messages. This is when the world flipped upside down and I felt as if I was plummeting towards the Earth in a tailspin. After talking to the captain of team paranoid I started to have doubts. After all, the points she was making were very valid. I hadn't ever talked to my recruiter. I hadn't ever talked to any person in the administration department of the school. Suddenly, I had more questions than answers and leaks with no putty to plug the holes. All I could think was what in the hell was I doing. Then someone shook my snow globe again. This time a message came in from another friend, captain of the do-gooders team, telling me that the school who hired me was on a black list and the job was a scam. Are you kidding me?? Really? Holy crap and the freak out started in earnest, which quickly moved past upset, and into a full blown tizzy in mere seconds.

 Jing-Xi’s Lesson of the Day: One shouldn’t blame those who are not technically responsible for making life more difficult. After all they are only doing their jobs. One begins to believe, after enough first hand experience, that a little power over people really does go to a lesser person’s head. The control seems to make them almost happy to make things more difficult for others.