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flights of thought 10:55 AM

This post is long overdue too, shabbily jotted down on a scrap piece of paper while I was in a 9-hour transit at Minneapolis, St Paul; and it was after 25 hours of travel, layover and yet another travel and layover, that I decided I should start consolidating all that thinking on the past 2 flights I had done, lest I forget anything. Well, I have a feeling I have lost track of some of these thoughts already, but let me try to piece everything together while I revisit these handwritten notes in my current jetlagged state.

Perhaps all of what you’ll read in the following had really built up upon one another as I went through each flight with a different environment and experience, and what I felt strongly for myself just became increasingly intense with every mile I travelled away from home, every hour behind Singapore, and every person I talked to.

Flight 1 – Singapore to Tokyo Narita, 7h 25min + 1h in transit

I was seated with my friends along the aisle and beside Hui Lin on this flight. Along the way, we spoke and I talked about how I’d miss all the people back home. She casually mentioned that she always thought I was the independent sort of person who didn’t really care about the sentiments and emotions of leaving home, judging from the way I was resourceful in looking up stuff and perhaps proactive in planning the trip to every detail. It was as if I couldn’t wait to get away from home – yet when she saw me carefully unwrapping and reading each card and letter that Vicki, Chris and Tian wrote to me, she was really taken aback at how emotional I could be.

But yes, that’s me, and nothing can express how blessed and sweet I’d felt while reading my thoughtfully written letters filled with utmost care and concern. I knew what my family and friends wished for me, and it all meant so much. Tears welled up uncontrollably as I smiled from ear to ear; imagining in real life what they would say to me amidst the wittiness and humour in writing.

But this was a rather short flight to begin with, we were still entranced in a whole lot of feelings – slight nostalgia, intermittent euphoria and excitement; we couldn’t decide. Being sleep-deprived on such an early Monday 6am flight, we mostly slept or treated ourselves to the many comedies on the in-flight entertainment system.

Flight 2 – Tokyo Narita to Minneapolis, 10h 45min

We proceeded to our next connecting flight after an hour of transit in Japan, where it was all our first time visiting that place (hence lots of pictures taken and excitement over the cutesie little things that the Japanese shops could offer). This time round, there was no in-flight entertainment on the almost 11-hour ride, and we all had to sit with strangers as seats were almost full by the time we checked in – I couldn’t decide if that was good or bad, but I knew for sure that it triggered off a lot of reflection, thinking and talking to myself, since I could not read my book somehow as my eyes were far too tired to stay open for a prolonged period of time (and really, there was nothing better to do than the occasional dozing).

It started when I assisted the elderly lady beside me by the window, whenever she had to reach out and request something from the flight attendants. We spoke, she used to be a native Hong Konger but now is a US citizen in Madison and she kept saying I was a really nice person to help her out, that one does not usually meet helpful people on flights.

That set me thinking about what kind of a person I am; not that I never received feedback similar to this before, but I suddenly thought of what Chris wrote to me, about who I always am and have always been. Yes, I am a head TA, a best friend, a confidante, a listening ear.. and have always been doing things for the people around me. Now that I am on exchange, it is hoped that I would start to learn to be genuinely good to myself instead. Not that I wouldn’t carry with me the positive attitude of being there for people here and even back home far away, but also that I will be able to seek new space and peace of mind to further enhance this journey of self-discovery.

And yes, this made me revisit my goals for exchange. I have always been a rather sociable person, always meeting and interacting with new people, thus making international friends would be what I’d definitely set out to do. Yet, more importantly, I wish to be able to perhaps step out of my comfort zone, try out things I’ve never done/could never have done in Singapore (no, I do not mean just skiing nor snowboarding), and make things better for myself as I recreate my own personal space away from home.

A suddenly revelation about this trip though, which is a stark contrast to the previous US trip 2 years ago: Back then, I was really a mere 19-year old who felt excited about going to the US (I never thought I’ll step onto American soil before I hit 20 years of age), and all I wanted to do was to naively “see a different part of the world” then. 2 years later, here I am again, with a slightly different mindset of myself and the things around me. I know that I am now a more matured and self-aware person following all the things I’ve embarked on in the past 2 years, and now, I have set on this trip to do something that will truly be enriching and good for myself.

Some shots of our first time in Tokyo:

Transit in Minneapolis, 8h 15min

Minneapolis, St Paul is a rather nice and warm place, even the airport was filled with friendly customs officers (save for the one who kinda snapped at me, and I still don’t know if he was ever just joking). Well, we had 8 hours of bumming around, and although we were tired, we decided that we’d want to walk on real ground outside of the airport, and decided to hit the infamous Mall of America 4 LRT stops down.

All of a sudden, the American wave hit me again, the incessant “How ya doin’ today” and “Thank ya’s” I’ve always heard back then on the Jersey shore, the shops (Best Buy, Marshalls) that I see around me, and I thought about how I needed to get used to this influence again, speaking in a more coherent non-Singlish English, shopping at outlet stores and many more.

And of course, unlike the past, the sights and sounds did not excite me that much anymore as compared to my friends – for a moment I thought about how silly I must have been swooning over all the little things I had thought were interesting but actually were common sights, haha. I guessed I must have been hilarious then. But at the end of it all, yes, it felt strangely weird and familiar, and It hit me suddenly that I am back here exploring a different part of North America, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Canada further up north would be the same.

xx

Well, the sun in Minneapolis is warm now and it’s a beautiful place, as I await my next flight which is 3 hours 45 minutes long, where I’ll be entraced in deep thought again. For now, it’s almost 9am and it’s time to call home and say hi and good morning to the people who matter a lot..

P/S: The Mall of America at MSP is a rather family-oriented and exciting shopping mall. There was something for anyone of any age with the indoor amusement park and various large departmental stores combined. To quote something I read on the plane, the Mall of America has 42 miles of store front and 43 million square feet of shop space, making it one of the largest and most famous shopping havens in the nation.

Here are some shots in Minneapolis:

Mall of America interior

Deal or No Deal machine at the arcade - "No Deal" for me, and the pretty briefcase ladies, haha.

Walk on Left and Stand on Right - kinda couldn't get used to this.

 

Some SMU jumps we tried at MSP Airport, till we finally took off!

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Winifred Lim
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About me
You are an enthusiastic innovator, always seeing new possibilities and new ways of doing things. You have a lot of imagination and initiative for starting projects, and a lot of impulsive energy for carrying them out. You are stimulated by difficulties and are most ingenious in solving them. You can get so interested in your newest project that you have time for little else. Your energy comes from a succession of new enthusiasms and your world is full of possible projects. Your enthusiasm gets other people interested too.

Your feeling preference shows in a concern for people. You are skillful in handling people and often have remarkable insight into the possibilities and development of others. You are extremely perceptive about the attitudes of others, aiming to understand rather than judge people. You are much drawn to counseling and can be inspired and inspiring teacher, particularly where you have freedom to innovate. With talent, you can succeed in almost any field that captures your interest.

A difficulty for you is that you hate uninspired routine and find it remarkably hard to apply yourself to sometimes necessary detail unconnected with any major interest. Worse yet, you may get bored with your own projects as soon as the major problems have been solved or the initial challenge has been met. You may need to learn to follow through and finish what you have begun, but are happiest and most effective in jobs that permit one project after another, with somebody else taking over as soon as the situation is well in hand.

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