Backwards and Forwards...

Wouldn't you know it, but by taking the first flight out of Melbourne's smaller, regional airport (Avalon) I made a very BIG mistake! The flight was delayed coming in from Sydney and therefore delayed 45 minutes to get out of Melbourne. I only had originally about an hour and a half in Sydney to gather my bags, transfer to the International airport and get checked in, through immigration and on through security. This was drastically cut in half by the 'small' delay getting out of Melbourne. Little did I realize, how being the second to last person to check in for an international flight on a 'new to me' airline would be sooo stinking complicated. I had spent the previous weekend trying to desperately recover from a head cold so that traveling wouldn't be too painful and then had to run through airports, catch a train and find a check in counter for China Airlines. Luckily for me, the counter was still open and I got my bag checked and off to immigration I go. Once I got there, however, another kink occurred. The agent simply said that my boarding pass-or at least what I THOUGHT was my boarding pass-wouldn't work. Pointing at the ticket he said I had to go back. I couldn't work out why because it clearly said my flight number and Sydney to Taipei (which was right as far as I knew) looking at the other things the ticket agent had provided me, I saw that I had a boarding pass for Taipei to Seattle (phew-that was a relief) and my baggage claim. That was all he handed me. The immigration agent, still pointing at the flight information said "This isn't your boarding pass." here I am thinking, what the hell could it be if it wasn't my boarding pass when he said, "The names don't match!" Crap. What do I do? He said, "You have to go back, love. Just head through those doors there and come back with a new boarding pass." So off I go, running back to the check in counter, where the last person must have checked in because they were quickly closing up the counter and shutting down the computers. As I cam running up, the ticket agent recognized me and I yelled "You gave me the wrong boarding pass!" He gave me a look of confusion and I began waving my boarding pass frantically as I starting coughing and wheezing from my running down the corridors. He had a closer look and said, "Oh, let me call the gate, I've already given the all clear." I ask, "What about my bags? Are the checked through under the wrong name?" He says, "No, they should be fine." "Are you sure?" I really need that bag to go with me to America!" "Yes, I will double check but I think we just picked up the wrong boarding pass when you were here before." Sure enough, my bag was checked in fine and in the mean time the agent gave me an exit row seat and escorted me all the way through Immigration to Security and then all the way to the gate! Luckily, they were still boarding as I approached the gate and I wasn't even the last one on the plane! Thank goodness for that! After all the excitement it took a moment for me to realize that the flight wasn't full and I had the whole exit row to myself! Woohoooo!!

Now, I can go into a detailed account of the rest of my 21 hour journey... but I think the exciting part is over, but I will give you a few fast facts regarding the journey...

• 7 Movies were watched
• Charlie Wilson's War, Dan in Real Life, How She Moves, I Could Never Be Your Woman, I'm Not There, Bucket List and Enchanted.
• Food from Sydney to Taipei was okay, food from Taipei to Seattle... I little too authentic for my westernized tastes.
• No sleep-too excited about the impending visit

Oh... and by the way... I have Small World Syndrome (SWS). If you haven't heard of this amazing disease... you clearly haven't tried to move to another country and/or have not travelled enough. I never thought I would be one to come down with this particular disease... I mean, I am a bit of a home-body when it comes to certain things and I also didn't really start to travel until my late 20's... but here is why I officially declare I have SWS.

• Moved to another country to find that I now live in the same city as someone I knew through Junior High and High School... who by the way, I also ran into in Canada on an annual ski trip with my girls.
• Fly through Taipei to save a few hundred bucks and lo and behold, there is an ex-coworker taking the same flight to Seattle...

I know, there is only two bullet points, but seriously...I think they are very significant points. Anyway, it was enough to make it official in my mind.

How many of you have SWS? I'd love to hear your story on when you discovered it or how you contracted it!

That's all for now!
Ciao! or shall I say...zàijiàn