I give Taiwanese Int'l airports an A+...any airport is good in my books if it offers free internet access on nice computer terminals in an airconditioned room with decently comfy office chairs...US airports should learn from this...yes...it's nice to have free wireless, but what about people who dun have laptops yet...i dun think i can mention enuff how i love this free internet access...
I realize I am addicted to the Internet...i dunnos wat i would do if i couldn't check my gmail and my calmail and log on to aim at least once a week...i would feel so disconnected from the world...amazing how technology changes and greatly impacts one's lifestyle...'cuz if you think about it...we lived perfectly fine w/o any internet access at all before 1996...
Oh...i almost forgot to mention...i jus' had the most so-freaked-out-that-it-makes-you-want-to-piss-in-your-pants type experience with an airline company ever...
So my plane's about to leave from Kaohsiung to Taipei in like 15 minutes...and one of the counter ladies comes onto the plane and approaches my seat and goes..."Are you the passenger in D3 (my seat)?"
And I'm like..."Yea..."
And then she's like..."Umm...can i see your ticket?"
And so i pull out my boarding pass and she's like..."No...that's not it...i want to see your ticket..."
And I'm like..."Umm...this is my ticket..."
And she's like..."No...that's your boarding pass...can I see your ticket..."
So that goes back and forth for awhile...And i'm all confused and stuff (and super-freaked out...b/c i have no way of contacting my parents is all this goes to crud...so i would be stuck in the Kaohsiung airport...delayed and w/o any way to contact anybody)...and she's like..."Did you buy your ticket or was it an e-ticket?"
And i'm like..."I think it's a e-ticket...here's my registration number..."
And she was like..."Umm...actually we don't see any e-ticket for you...did you actually pay for it?...you prolly need to take another flight tomorrow once we get this all figured (this was the part i was almost pissing in my pants about...i cannot be delayed...heck no...i wasn't gonna be detained in Taiwan b/c of some mess up)...
So was like..."No...i dun think so...i need to be on this flight...i got these boarding passes...why the frick is there a problem?"
And she was like..."You must have the physical tickets on you then..."
And im like..."Umm...no...i only have these boarding passes..."
And she's like...You must have it on you...look through your stuff (i'm sitting there with like only one jacket)...
And i go..."Lady...i know what im carryin' on me...and i have no idea what you're talking about...my dad arranged everything...we purchased a round-trip ticket...this is my return flight...I have no way to deal with any of this right now...i can't contact my father cuz i dun kno the friggin' taiwan numbers...can you jus' let me fly and i'll make sure to take care of this later?...
And she was like..."No we need your ticket right now...we can't let you fly..."
I'm like..."But i have the boarding passes!!!..."
And she was like..."I think you need to pay for your ticket right now."
And I was like thinking (wtf?)..."All I have is $140 in US dollars on me...how much is it (i knew 140 wouldn't foot it)...can you take a credit card?"
And she was like..."Yea...we take credit (i was relieved...i figured if i had to pay...i'll pay first and sort it out later and get a reimbursement...i jus' need to be on the flight)...and it'll be $XXXX (some ridiculous figure cuz it is an international flight)..."
So im like..."ok...i'll pay...jus' make the plane wait until i get back"...
So i go with her to pay...and then she gets a call on her walkie-talkie that actually i do have an e-ticket and i can fly...and im thinkin'..."man...this whole thing was soooo messed up..."
Ah Taiwan...the night breeze smells heavily of manure from the surrounding crop fields. I don't know...the very noticeable juxtaposition of a modern society and its still-existing agricultural roots continues to feel foreign to me, despite my having spent many summer and winter weeks languishing away in Taiwan when growing up. Seeing Taiwan's haphazard mix of modern marbled & tiled buildings and not-so-modern corrugated iron structures rising from the rice paddies and rows of pineapples always feels surreal...sometimes it seems like the buildings are partially being engulfed by the encroaching jungle that surrounds everything...
I'm glad I'm returning to San Francisco today...i really like California...altho...it'll be a different Berkeley I'll be returning to what with most people having already left...
*Sigh* Changes...only thing to do is roll with the punches...