We’re in the United Airlines lounge in Narita Airport, in Japan. I got my wireless working, but only in Windows — still, not bad considering I only reinstalled both Windows and Ubuntu Linux on this laptop the day before we flew to Canada. I’m about to go for a wander, but first, I thought I’d post this.
Let’s see… we managed to get our upgrade to business class. Everyone we talked to made it sound likely, but uncertain, so we ended up getting up early in the morning, getting to the airport at 8am (for a 12pm flight), and we were almost the first to be upgraded. Business class has ruined me… I shall find economy class painful forever more. I have also resolved to find a travel agent in Korea who will actually do the things that a travel agent is supposed to do, like request the seats I want and upgrade them ahead of time. (Not that it would’ve been possible with this trip, which was very last minute, but in future, I want things done right.)
The food was good, and I saw the movie The Departed, which was interesting. Also in the good entertainment department, I read some of the copy of Sandman #2: A Doll’s House graphic novel which was gifted to me by the lovely Tinatsu. (Yae Rim also received a book, a nonfiction medical type book titled something like How We Die, from Guy’s wife Gayle (at least some bit of my airplane-squashed brain thinks that’s how it’s spelled).
During this trip, I also read the George Hicks book The Comfort Women, which was an eye-opener. I kept thinking about how so many of the women I’ve known in Korea could have been in that situation, had they been born a couple of generations earlier. I’ll have more to say about that later.
Books I’m working on now? Well, when I get home, I’ll be getting back into Nalo Hopkinson’s The Midnight Robber. I’ve also got Vernor Vinge’s Tatja Grimm’s World tucked into the side pocket of my backpack, and enjoyed the first chunk of it, anyway. After that, well, we’ll see. I have, as usual, brought a lot of books back with me… this time, two heavy little duffel bags. (Some of the books are Lime’s, as she’s started reading English-language novels. Robin Cook’s medical thrillers are her poison of choice, right now.)
I’m not really tired, but I think once we get to my place in Bucheon, I’ll be ready to drop and thereafter do absolutely nothing of any constructive value for a few days. Unfortunately, Lime doesn’t quite have that luxury… for her, it’s back to work tomorrow. Then again, in about three weeks, she’ll get a week off, and probably jaunt down to Thailand for a week before starting her residency in March. I won’t be joining her, but I will be envying her from the chilly streets of Bucheon, though I plan to spend that time–and, in fact all of February–doing some very serious full-on reading and revising.