An unexpected dinner companion

A few nights ago J and I met our friend YK for dinner. YK is a fellow scuba diver and travel enthusiast as well as former Seattleite who is currently living as an ex-pat in Beijing. Over dinner we told YK some stories from our trip while he gave us inside tips on living in Beijing. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see something moving on the ground.

YK rather calmly calls out, "Fu wu yuan, ma fan ba lao shu gan zhou." which translates to "Service person, please chase away the mouse."

Honestly, I found this little guy rather cute.

Two lefts don't make a right

I was so sure I was going snowboarding in the Alps. So sure. To that end, I packed and lugged snowpants, a ski jacket, ski googles, ski socks and gloves across the Atlantic Ocean and halfway across Europe. Big surprise - I didn't go.

Now, just imagine how excited I was when my brother asked me if I wanted to go snowboarding at Wachusetts Mountain. All that effort would not have been in vain! So, I put on my wearable gear, throw the rest in the trunk of his car and off we go. After parking his car in the resort lot, I get out of the car and excitedly go to retrieve my gloves and googles from the trunk. I put on my googles and started to slip my hand into the gloves when suddenly a confused look spreads across my face.

What is wrong with this picture?

Christmas came early this year

You're at the departure gate and it's Sunday at 8:20 PM, just about 5 minutes before they start boarding your plane. Suddenly, a woman's voice booms over the airport broadcasting system, "Ladies and gentleman, boarding for KLM flight #2441 to Paris will begin shortly. We are currently looking for passengers to give up their seats. Volunteers will be provided with hotel accommodations overnight, be given seats on tomorrow's flight to Paris and be compensated 250 EUR in cash or 300 EUR in vouchers. If you would like to give up your seat, please approach a KLM agent at the gate."

What do you do? Well, it's something I've always wanted to do, but never have. I'm always in a rush to get back to school/lab/work the next day, eager to start my vacation or on my way home for the holidays. I think the most heartbreaking opportunity I had to turn down was during Spring of 2003. I was on my way to Seattle from Denver for my graduate school interview with UW and coming in early to be able to spend two extra days with J. What did I turn down? Hotel accommodations, 1st class seat to Seattle the next morning, two 1st class domestic tickets, plus $500. After I got into Seattle and told J the story, he said I should've taken it. Blah!

This time we had nothing to lose. First, we were already assigned disjointed seats. Second, the reason we picked a Sunday departure is because all the other days were more expensive. Third, I have no schedule or commitments to honor. Fourth, J is more or less on flex time. Fifth, we were not looking forward to showering in our Paris apartment again. And above all else, 500 EUR would cover our hotel and plane ticket expense for this trip! Needless to say, we jumped at the chance.

Here's a list of what we each received:

- KLM compensation packet: 10 EUR voucher for food inside the airport (or, 2000 mileage credit, or 15 EUR towards on-board duty free purchase), 5 minutes international call (or, 15 minutes on the internet), 50 EUR off your next KLM flight.
- Overnight accommodations at the Crowne Plaza
- Overnight kit including an XXL t-shirt, socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, shaving cream, deodorant, make-up remover and comb.
- Shuttle transfer to and from the hotel
- 3-course dinner meal
- Breakfast
- A seat on the 7:30 AM flight to Paris
- 250 EUR cash (we did not opt for the 300 EUR voucher)

Some things were expected while other things I felt were very thoughtful of them. Above all, I was impressed with the service. I half expected to be arguing with someone about us not being "in the system" but everything was taken care of from beginning to end. That night James had three dinners - the first one at the airport which he paid with his own money, the second one with the two 10 EUR voucher we received and the last one at the hotel which consisted of soup, entree and dessert.

The next morning we got on the 7:30 AM flight to Paris and was home by 10:30 AM. Thank you, KLM, for a free trip to Amsterdam!

Spenchglish

We've been living in Paris for just over a week now. Yet, we're still struggling with the most basic French phrases, such as "merci" (thank you), "bonjour" (good day), "s'il vou plait" (please) and "oui" (yes). This is not because we can't remember the French phrases, but because we keep tangling the English, Spanish and French languages together.

For example:

In Paris, after I ask for an item while shopping, the salesperson usually repeats what I say back to me for confirmation. In that instance my head knows to say "oui", but my mouth instinctively tries to say "si" (Spanish for "yes"). Luckily, I'd stop myself just in time and jump at the next instinct to say "yes" in plain English. Again, I'd stop myself just before the word comes out. I'd then pause with a very constipated look on my face as my mind races to recall the French equivalent. In the meanwhile the person I'm speaking to is staring at me with a quizzical look. By the time I'm able to mumble out a "oui" the appropriate moment has long passed and the Frenchman thinks I'm a dumb-ass, or, more specifically, a dumb-ass American.

*sigh*

C'est la vie.

The Mister almost forgot his underpants... and his luggage broke

For those of you who know J, all know he's a very meticulous man. The example I always like to use is the 6 months of research it took him to find his perfect TV. For this trip, he spent hours and hours on the internet looking for the most compact power adapter, the best reviewed point-and-shoot camera and the most practical/economical luggage piece. I must admit his power solution is working quite well right now and his camera is also very nice. However, despite all that planning and researching on luggage, he got a little green-eyed as he watched me pack my Eagle Creek ORV SuperTrunk (a graduation gift from J's mom) and decided to get himself a SuperTrunk from REI  the next morning - 6 hours before we left for the airport.

At REI, meticulous J showed his face again as he compared the two floor models of the SuperTrunks side-by-side:  trying all the zippers and looking over every square inch for defects, etc. Unhappy with the floor models, he asks REI for an unopened one from the backroom. After careful inspection of the unopened product, he paid for it and left the store.

4:30 PM - IL comes home to take us to the airport. We gather all of our luggage and take a picture together to post on this blog.

4:40 PM - J goes to put on his socks and realizes he packed the ones he originally set aside for today so he goes to the dresser to find himself another pair. This conversation occurs:

J: uhh….. I forgot to pack my underwear
Me: Huh? Some of it or all of it?
J: ummmm… all of it..
Me: Are you serious?!  You're not serious are you??

4:41 PM - J rips open his meticulously packed luggage (weighed multiple times to be certain it's under 23 kgs) and stuffs all of his boxers into the bag  in under 20 seconds. He refused to pose for a picture of shame so this is all I got (Picture 1).

At the airport, he weighs his luggage - 25 kgs.  Some re-packing occurs and we're off.

When we collected our luggage at London, I noticed that  one of the corner bumpers on J's SuperTrunk was dangling by a thread. That night and the next morning we searched wherever we could for duct tape so that we can secure the bumper before our next flight to Barcelona, but to no avail. Finally, we found an alterative solution at London-Heathrow: saran wrap (Picture 2)

What a way to start the trip! You can't make this stuff up.