Free WiFi at Hong Kong International Airport

It's about 8pm over here, and only 6am over in Chicago. I'm writing this from Hong Kong International Airport. Yay FREE WiFi! Our flight from Chicago was delayed a good hour. So we arrived about an hour and some 15 minutes late to Hong Kong. The flight got moved to 10pm! I was supposed to get in at 10:20, now we won't get in until 11 something. My poor aunt will have to wait for me! oh no! It's so late for her; and there are so many businesses to take care of. Rargh.

The flight consisted of lots of sleeping and eating. Everything was very regulated, uneventful. I did get to pee a couple of times, but the air was so dry that all the water I drank, which was minimal compared to what I usually drink, was used over and over again by my body.

I wrote some on my journal, I read some. I can't believe I went through the whole SIT handbook, and I also read the article I was supposed to read on Viet Nam.

I've never seen so many Vietnamese American people!!!!! Everyone is so....Vietnamese. It's strange for me. New feelings, all new feelings I haven't felt in such a long time. I don't know what exactly they are. Something akin to a feeling of home, yet a confusion, a strangeness, a guilt that I don't quite fit in? But everyone I've met so far has been really nice. I got the window seat and the couple to the left of me are interesting. The husband drank beer at every meal. Beer! We had some really non-palatable food. The meatloaf and mashed potatoes are okay but the pasta was a drag...tasteless and quite uncooked. :O( But....something made me happy....Instant "Chinese Noodles!" with a SPORK!!!! I haven't seen a spork since, well, elementary school! It's so awesome! I'm amaze at how the spork can make me happy! :O)

Goddamn. Strange traveling by myself. I need to get used to this. It feels odd yet freeing and liberating.

The older women sitting around me as we wait for our delayed flight discussed babies, raising them, and dau xanh (green oil, literally) The green oil is literally a green looking oil ointment, usually smells like mint and eucalyptus. It's like the cure-all used by pretty much all women. When I have a cold, my mom would use that oil and rub my back with a coin, in these lines that resemble a ribcage. It hurts as my skin gets scratched by scratching the skin opens up the pores, let the oil sink in, and the oil warms my back. I usually feel a lot better from the coining treatment. Knowing me and my liking for some pain, it's sorta understandable that I sometimes think it addicting, and would want it. Part of it is the pain and the tingles and the warm feeling, a lot of it is because I DO feel better after it.

Oh, man, this feeling. I feel all self-conscious. I don't want to offend anyone. I do want to talk to people, but I feel all awkward. I guess that awkward feeling is natural, it's part of being young and unmarried. Everyone else that is comfortable talking to everyone else is married somehow, old or young. The connecting line is family.

Everyone talks to everyone else, complete strangers but connected through the flight to Viet Nam. Everyone may have their own reasons for going to Viet Nam, but mainly it is for family, for the self, for cultural identity and connections. Topics I hear people talking about:
-Babies: raising babies, boy or girl, comments on babies' personalities, if they are easy or troublesome
-Livelihood: what sort of jobs they do to live on
-Home: where they live in the States (Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, New York, Chicago) where their families are in Viet Nam, where
they are going after landing in Tan Son Nhat, the airport in Sai Gon
-Luggages: what to pack, how to pack, how much to pack, carry-on or checked bags
-Dau Xanh: the woman who sat next to me on the plane, I decided to sit by her in the Hong Kong waiting area. She bought a boxful of
dau xanh to gift to family, because it is a wanted commodity. Other, older women around us heard of the purchase, said it was
expensive. "In America, it was only $37. You bought it for $43? That's expensive!"
-Health: what hurts the head, sitting makes the legs cramped, too much sitting
-Prices of Gifts: many people buy alcohol and cigarettes as gifts, often cause they're tax-free at the airports. But since they
rechecked our luggages after getting off the plane in Hong Kong to enter the Hong Kong airport, many people who bought alcohol
before lost their bottles. And since the prices here in Hong Kong are so extravagant (sampled by a woman who said that she bought
a bottle of lotion for a few dollars in the states and it is $11 USD in Hong Kong), and that large quantities of liquid are not allowed on
the plane, many decided to put off buying wine until Viet Nam.

Overall perceived atmosphere: anxious and excited to get home and see family; tired from the long travels and irritated that we've been delayed. Overall, I think everyone is in a generally good mood, patient, understanding. Even in crowds, I've seen people being very warm and patient, even with the delays. I guess it's because the airport people have power over us, deciding if we can pass or not, and that going home, getting to Viet Nam is the most important thing, there has been no outcry or outburst of frustration. I guess everyone has a sort of "eh, it happens" sorta attitude. I see where I've learned it from. I enjoy sitting here and hearing snippets of conversations.

I have to say, so many of the young women are so pretty. I'm jealous! They're so pretty and petite. I wonder what I must look like to them, a mess, I'm sure! :O) me and my red hair and red dress, my funny flowery tights, my ridiculously loud jacket.

Oooh, new update: the woman to the left of me knows someone who is a flight attendant, a very well dressed man with a fancy watch. He's gonna bump her to business class if there are seats available. Nice! I'm glad for them! I share in the moment too, cause they're the only people I'm semi-familiar with. He's her nephew. Yay for her!

Maybe I should stop being so scared, maybe people aren't so critical afterall. Yeah, some aren't, and some still are. I'm afraid of the older, older women, the ones that can be my great-aunt. Yeah, they're scary cause they got a lot of woman-power over me. They demand my respect, and they have it, they also my fear that I would be disrespecting them if I say the wrong thing. I guess I'm mainly afraid of offending people, that's why I am reluctant to say anything or do anything. But I shouldn't be afraid. I should just talk and smile, and be humble, and things will be okay. :O) Be comfortable with yourself, Hai Minh. It's all good in the hood! ;O) hahhaha.

I should end this now. I think we are boarding soon, and I have to use the bathroom. It's gonna be a full flight.

Ooooh! I'm excited and nervous. My stomach is a wreck!