Detroit Airport


I’ve been at the airport now for more than 3 hours. The plane is parked in front of me, getting prepped for the trek ahead. I am preparing myself as well. I am starting to see some Japanese faces wonder around the gate (A56, McNamera terminal, DTW) but no one is sitting down, just me. I’m the only one in the waiting area at this moment, 10:47am. In less than an hour we’ll start boarding the plane. It’s a 747-400, capable of carrying over 300 passengers, but one hour before boarding only I’m at the waiting area.

Zeni called me last night to wish me a good trip, and to tell me she’ll miss me. I didn’t call anyone to say goodbye, cuz well, I don’t like to say good-bye. However, leaving home this morning, leaving my mother and my brothers behind was very hard to do. Over the last two years my family has supported me in every way, they have been there for me without hesitation and without question. And now I leave them behind for at least one year. It is something very hard to do.

Two more people have joined me in the wait, and elderly lady and her son? Another two people approach the monitors and walk about. The whoosh of the shuttle train inside the terminal punctuates and commands my attention over few minutes. From here, next to the window, I can see the ground crew going about their business, connecting huge yellow hoses to the underbelly of this winged whale. It is now almost 11:00am. 2 hours before departure, and still about an hour from boarding. Another Asian face approaches the monitor, and over the speakers a woman’s voice reminds me how smoking is prohibited in the terminals.

The sun peaks through the clouds now, burning away the fog and haze of this morning. I can see the sky now, deep blue the higher up you look.

So I am really doing this. At the ticket counter, with Edgar, it seemed so routine getting my boarding pass, checking my luggage, and going thru security. Edgar wanted to stick around for a few hours, until my plane left, but I told him that he should go home and be with Mom and Aldo. I didn’t wan to make the good-bye any more painful.

The sun breaks through the clouds again and bathes the outside with gleaming radiance. The heat from my laptop helps me imagine I am outside on the tarmac basking in the sunrays.

More Japanese people make their way to wait with me. I just begin to realize that perhaps the bulk of the flyers to Osaka are connecting from other flights. And that’s why they’re not around here yet, their planes haven’t landed in Detroit yet. Though I think I’m generally not stupid, sometimes I can’t put two and two together. The obvious escapes me sometimes.

Have I written enough for now? Perhaps. But what else could I do when my mind wants to record its thoughts, and I have to recharge the battery for this machine??

A boy and a girl just walked by. They seem scarcely 19, and they wear desert camouflage fatigues. I wonder where they are coming from, and where they are going. Very young soldiers, indeed serving their country.

The plane’s crew has arrived, and now they are also waiting with me, along with a guy on his cell phone talking about who knows what. The important thing is that he’s talking to someone on the other side. The medium is the message. I left my cell with Edgar.

I have seen all of Canada, crossed over the Bering Straight, seen, Siberia, I have never seen so much snow and ice. You don’t know where the clouds end and the snowy landscape begins. I have been flying now for about 9 and a half hours. Sleeping most of the way, periodically waking up to look out the window and take some coordinates on the GPS. Its been nearly 12 hours since I last pulled the laptop out of its case. I’ve kept it simple so far. Take some readings, take some pictures, take off shoes, sleep. I have been extrememly lucky, I have the whole row of seats all to myself, so I have improvised a bed of sorts. I have three pillows and three blankets, and the people around me are quiet. No children around here to make things noisy.

The food was ok, I’m starving again though. The most interesting thing is that outside the plane it has not stopped being daylight. Its almost 11pm back in Windsor, and its really bright out. I will arrive in Osaka at 5pm local time. This is indeed the longest day of my life, considering too that while its 11pm November 12th in Windsor, it is November 13th here, so two days for the price of one. I left at noon on the 12, get there at 5pm on the 13th. Fucked up I tell you. I’m hungry.

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