Jet Lag Sucks

I'm awake at 6:17 am. Those of you who know me know that there must be something wrong. It's jet lag! (hurrah!) My sleep schedule is completely messed up. Yesterday I went to bed at 11, got up at 4:30 to watch Chinatown and check my email (nobody emails you at 6:30 in the morning), and went back to bed at 9:30, to sleep until 1:30. Not good if you're trying to get back on a normal schedule. Plus I have this stomach ache, which I think I had last year when I came back to the states as well. Yuck.

The trip home was nearly unbearable. We had to get up at 5:30 in the morning, catch a cab to the airport for a 6:30 check-in, and get on the plane at 8:30. While sitting in the airport waiting to board, we were treated to a really obnoxious family which was sitting behind us. The kids were loudly upset that they weren't allowed to sit in first class (god save me from kids who feel entitled to first class). The mother was giving a long, loud lecture about an assistant of hers who is obviously suffering from depression; the self-important woman doing all the talking was unable to conceive that it might not have anything to do with her. We prayed that they wouldn't be on the flight between Tokyo and Chicago.

The Japan Airlines plane was among the most uncomfortable rides I've ever had. It was physically impossible for me to sit normally; I had to either have my knees pulled up to my chest, or have my legs stretched out under the seat in front of me. I think I slept a little, but I can't remember.

At the Tokyo airport, Tim and Peggy had to go catch a different flight, and there was an emotional parting scene. Peggy's the best grandma ever, and I hope I have the opportunity of traveling with her again. We staggered into the concourse at Tokyo in search of food, but all we could find was bad rice dishes (but isn't all airport food bad?) and nothing vegetarian for Rebecca. In the biggest airport in a country where just about everybody eats fish all the time, there wasn't even any fish. Just meat, meat, meat. Huh.

The flight from Tokyo to Chicago wasn't as bad, except it was longer, and there was the shrieking baby, and the obnoxious Americans (different ones this time) who sat behind us, kept their overhead lights on, talked in really loud voices, and watched the "Everybody Loves Raymond" channel, laughing like buffoons the entire trip home. The flight attendants close all the blinds and turn off the lights to provide a better environment for sleeping; this is supposed to help you cope with jet lag, I guess. Or it's just in recognition that most of the people on the plane have already been awake for something like fifteen hours. But there was no stopping the Ugly Americans.

We didn't hear about the earthquake or the tsunamis until we got home, which I think was a good thing. And I guess that's about it: our trip is over. I can't wait until the next one.