The journey across the other pond.

As I write this, I am sitting on my very first flight outside of the US. The plane is enormous- the biggest I have ever been on. I met my boss, Chris, at LAX after our flights from our home cities had taken us to Los Angeles. I made it over to the International Terminal with relative ease and waited by the gate for two-plus hours catching up on work.

When I first arrived at the gate, I was the only person there. By the time Chris arrived, as boarding was beginning, the gate was bustling with dozens of people.

We boarded the plane- I got an aisle- thank goodness! Once the plane doors closed, we realized the flight was not quite full and after take off, I moved up several rows to another aisle seat to allow my new friend, Rudy from Manila, an aisle seat of his own.

After take off, we were served a drink of choice- red wine for me, of course and a bag of peanuts. I began to fear this was the only food item i was going to receive for a few hours, so I busted out my stashed bag of pretzels, because I was starving. Luckily, they began serving lunch not too long after the peanut/wine appetizer.

Lunch was sweet and sour pork, salad, roll, cheesecake, and a drink. In traditional plane food fashion, it was semi-hot, sort of tasteless, and not too filling. Nonetheless, I was happy for the meal. Now I am sitting here watching the mini TV in the seat back ahead of me and about to read a bit and possibly take a nap.

After talking to Chris, he seems fairly confident that we won't be too busy. Even suggested we may be able to leave on Friday vs. Saturday. Though, if that is the case, I may consider staying on for the extra day by myself because, I mean, how often do you get the opportunity to be in China??