That three weeks certainly sped by quickly! Mom's plane for Stockton was leaving at 8:30, so we got up and caught the 5:30 (yes, A.M.!) shuttle to the airport on Wednesday. We got her luggage checked and went through security and had lots of time to spare at the gate. Once she boarded, I shuttled back to Planet Hollywood for a nap, a shower and check-out. I was alone on the shuttle at that hour and had a nice conversation with the driver who informed me that the cold weather we'd had all week was due to the recent eruption of the volcano in Chile.
At 11:45 I was back on the shuttle and an hour later I was at my gate waiting for my flight.
It was the most interesting and fun flight I've had in years! I sit on the aisle and the window seat became occupied by a woman from Japan. When the doors closed and it was obvious we had an empty seat between us, she went and got her friend who was seated farther back. They chattered away in Japanese and I read my book and dozed, after having smiled and said "hi" when they took their seats.
Along came the flight attendant with drinks. My seat-mates pulled out goodies to accompany their apple juice and handed over to me a little sealed paper-ish bag containing a Japanese snack that somewhat resembled a rice cake, but wasn't. It tasted quite good and I told them so. They also shared their (American) gourmet potato chips. I was looking elsewhere when I heard them exclaiming and discovered my can of Diet Pepsi was erupting. They immediately passed me their NWA napkins and no damage (to my book or clothes) was done.
Next, I pulled out my ziploc bag of trail mix and shared it with them, explaining "m&m," "cashew," "raisin," "peanut." Since I'd been carrying the trail mix around for awhile, the m's had worn off the m&m's so my neighbor wasn't sure what it was 'til she bit into it and exclaimed, 'Chocolate!!"
These women could also say "Thank you" and "OK" and "I don't speak English" and "Minneapolis?" and they taught me "thank you" in Japanese, which sounded something like "ai-ka-do." We smiled and nodded a lot and understood each other quite well.
When the plane landed at MSP airport, I showed them what time to reset their watches and the woman next to me pulled out a slip-in glasses case, demonstrated how you put your glasses in it and gave it to me! I tried to give them the rest of my trail mix (I wasn't going to give away my camera!) but they laughed and chattered and indicated that no, I should keep it and eat it myself.
I don't know where they were going from here, but we certainly enjoyed ourselves between Las Vegas and Minneapolis! And I was once again reminded that even if we don't speak the same language, we CAN communicate, and that the language of love and friendship and hospitality is universal!
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