Sitting in the boarding lounge of the Vancouver airport still did not provide the sense of excitement and anticipation I would have expected leading up to my second trip to Taiwan. What made this trip particularly special was that I would not have to bear the supervision of my parents. I expect that the freedom that this would allow for a much more entertaining vacation than otherwise.
I sat waiting for the boarding call for almost two hours; two hours that passed relatively quickly between people watching, dozing off and reading. The excitement that I was expecting finally started hitting me as I stood in the line to have my pass checked. Once I got to the front and handed my boarding pass to the lady, I felt the butterfly sensation in my gut and the mixture of excitement and hint of apprehension. I didn’t quite realize it at the time, but the next thirteen hours in the air would be more than sufficient to eliminate any excitement.
The first several hours of the flight were relatively uneventful, I had a horrible meal, and tried to sleep. Even with the plane blanket on I still found the temperature of the plane to be too cold. From the amount of blankets that were being handed out (they actually ran out) most others agreed. Aside from the awful food and frigid temperatures, the flight would’ve been fairly bearable... save for the fact that my seat neighbour was an elderly Indian woman... which made conversation brief and gesture-filled. Suffice it to say, the conversation was neither deep, nor was it particularly satisfying. I spent the rest of the trip in silence.
Sleep on the plane was fitful and uncomfortable, not due to a lack of space, but rather the seats that seemed to accommodate only people without necks, or maybe necks that bent the wrong way. By the end of the flight, I had an incredibly stiff neck. You can tell this was a bitter point of contention.
Thirteen hours from my departure, we made our final descent to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. The flight thus far had experienced very little turbulence, with a couple of bouts as we travelled over Japan, but until then it had been remarkably smooth. The descent more than made up for it as the last ten minutes of the descent were harrowing. The turbulence culminated with a terrifying landing approach that felt more like a (broken) rollercoaster ride rather than an aircraft making a scheduled landing.
The rest of the landing process and baggage claim was uneventful, as was the drive back to my grandparents' place. Well... except for the outrageous way in which people drive here, but I'll save that story for another day.
Al
