The Chronicles of Whole Dried Blueberries

2/15/12 9:52 AM (San Jose)

Well, I suppose there isn’t much to do on a thirteen-hour flight. This is my first entry in what is going to be a terrible, boring, small, self-entertaining series of uninteresting times of my life.

The movies on every flight are unusually boring with the mercilessly loud droning of the jet engines and usually someone terribly annoying sits next to me. Right now, however, I’m sitting at gate A7 with a couple of other strangers around me. No cute single girl yet. I managed to get an aisle seat next to the emergency exit so I get all the legroom and exit-door responsibility. Let’s just pray that nothing bad happens. And the flight attendants just arrived… *cue James May’s awkward flirting* Hello.

I suppose I should take this time to thank my best friend Secret Asian for keeping me company via text message. She will be dearly missed. :[

And why is it that some of the flight attendants are taller than some of the pilots… strange.

Now go watch the music video for Brandon Heath’s “Give Me Your Eyes.”

6:04 PM (San Jose)

Not much has changed since half a day ago. And I’m still sitting in the exact same spot and position I was in… hours ago. I’ve gone to the bathroom three times, had one meal, two snacks, three drinks, and a few movies. The guy next to me pulled a small lever he thought was a cup holder. And it wasn’t a cup holder, especially since the lever is on the emergency door. *gasp*

Sitting next to where all the food is has its perks. Instant snack requests and unbelievable leg room are just two of them. Although now that I think about it, it is a bit strange having a flight attendant sit in front of me and waiting.

8:30 PM (San Jose)

I’ve gone to the bathroom four times, had two meals, two snacks, five drinks, and another movie. “Moneyball” is pretty good. Hooray for Brad Pitt.

Movies are so unappreciated. I only just realized a few minutes ago that I only have about another three to four hours left of the flight. And all that time has passed without any sleep, just movie after movie after movie. And there is a sudden urge to shoot a Nerf rocket over the cubicle walls at work.

Did you know that Korean Air gives out disposable slippers to the passengers? At first, I thought these were those sleeping-eye-covering-thingy things, but I see everyone with their shoes off and wearing white slippers. How cool is that. I’m keeping my unopened ones as a souvenir.

And another realization. If I don’t sleep until the actual sleeping time in Korea, then I’ll feel properly sleepy enough to sleep properly in the proper time zone. That’s proper.

We’re about to fly over Japan now… I’ve gone to the bathroom while traveling at 453 miles per hour.

3:15 AM (San Jose)

I arrived here at Incheon International Airport at around 12:30 PM local time. My back is stiff, my legs are sticks, and yet I’m not sleepy at all.

And I turned into a popsicle.

The end. (More updates coming soon!)

2/17/12 10:01 AM (local time)

So it’s the first morning since I’ve gotten here. I spent the morning packing (again) and now I’m waiting at another airport terminal for my 11:25 flight to Jeju Island. Living without Facebook is… well, torturous. But thankfully the free WiFi at the airport saved the day!

There is something strangely calming about seeing airplanes parking and leaving the airfield. Sort of like watching big blue whales being pulled around by little fish… Okay, maybe that’s a bad analogy. But hopefully you get my point.

I never appreciated walking as much as I should have. In San Jose, there really isn’t anywhere you can go or anything you can do without a car. Public transportation is the way to go, and walking around lets you do people-watching and explore everything around you. I want food.

And my bed at home is pink. Real men sleep on pink sheets, pink pillows, and pink blankets.

And I apologize for my decreasing attention span. I feel so distracted by everything around me that I float around from topic to topic in my own head. And I want food. And I should take better care of my GoPro camera’s casing… The pictures are starting to come out with small spots of blurs because of smudges.

3:37 PM (local time)

Chilling on top of my grandparents’ building is pretty fun. It was snowing about an hour ago here and the wind is pretty beastly. San Jose weather is officially weak sauce. Really, really weak.

I don’t think the fact that I’m going to be here for almost a year has really hit me. I feel like I’m still on vacation, and I suppose I am until classes start. Although the transition might not be much for other people, this really is a big step for me since I’ve spent most of my life in the same place.

Can seagulls fly upside down?

2/19/12 9:03 AM (local time)

Thank goodness for quick time-zone adjustment in my internal clock. I’ve had a pretty good day yesterday, but we’ve been sort of snowed in today, which gives me a good amount of time to adjust to my new glasses. Thanks to my aunt for being my fashion guru.

Unfortunately, because of the snow and frozen ground, I’m stuck in the house today. Only a television, push-ups, new iPhone, and glasses to entertain me. Hopefully the weather clears up and the snow melts later in the morning or early afternoon!

2/20/12 11:13 PM (local time)

I suppose I’ve fully adjusted to being in Korea, although using public transport and not being able to defend myself with the right words is going to be hard to get used to.

Check back soon for another random and interestingly uninteresting interesting argument with Secret Asian!

Chuck Finley is real.

Nine days until the inevitable happens... Oh dear. And a more serious blog topic (unlike the usual sensible nonsense) was supposed to come next, but that will come later on!

Anyway, I was passing another lovely Sunday afternoon when suddenly the random inspiration lobe of my brain had a fart. If a big blue genie came up to me and told me he could grant me three wishes (in accordance with the terms set in Aladdin), what would those three wishes be?

1. The ability to read, speak, and write any language fluently
   Imagine the possibilities. I could confuse people to the ragged edge of sanity, communicate in Japanese with my best friend/blogging nemesis, ace any language courses, flirt with Korean chicks... I mean, study with fellow students in the motherland while abroad.
2. Telepathy
   Some things in life just cannot and should not be put into words. Sometimes feelings are incapable of being translated into words. Unfortunately, the human body is incapable of having a WiFi card installed.
3. Teleportation
   Oh how convenient life would be if I could do that. But being able to teleport sort of takes out the significance and meaning of setting apart time for friends and family, because it means a lot that one would take time to get to and from the people they want to be with. 

I did almost make a wish for the ability to read minds (which differs from telepathy because telepathy does not allow me to intrude on another person's mind without permission, it is the transfer of feelings/knowledge/poop. Mind-reading is mind-blastingly mind-hacking.). Thinking over it, however, the ability to read minds is both a gain and loss. It is a gain in the sense that, well, I can read minds. But it is a loss in that there is no longer the barrier of speech that blocks unfriendly feelings and comments, and whatever is thought of me is thrown at me mercilessly thanks to my inability to not use a mind-reading ability.

My three wishes are obviously not the most creative. *Insert sad face* On a brighter note, Chuck Finley is someone not to be messed with. Neither is Chuck Testa. And Chuck Norris. *Insert very happy face* CHUCK FINLEY FOR LIFE.

For another wishful list of wishes, wishfully visit Secret Asian's blog and see what she would like from the genie!
http://asianslikerice.blogspot.com/