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Home Sweet Home

Home feels good. Really good. And I slept in my own bed for the first time in three weeks. Nice. Here's a recap of my flight from Hong Kong.

Despite asking four different people about getting an upgrade, it didn't happen. I did get to board early. That was nice. So I settled into seat 39H. No problem. I've been there before.

And then the people started boarding. There was a lot more pushing and shoving than normal. And then I noticed a bunch of kids. Parents and grandparents. Yelling. More pushing and shoving. Confusion. Fussing. When I saw the red plastic bag sail across my head, I knew something was different.

I thought maybe I had managed to get a seat on a chartered plane - is this a family reunion? Or is this a school trip? What is going on?

The first meal was served and the dad switched seats with the kid sitting next to me. He handed me a piece of paper with a phone number and a street address on it. He didn't speak English, and he pulled out a translation book. For the next half hour, we attempted to use the book to have a conversation. It wasn't easy, but here's what I learned:

He and his son were from Guangzhou and were flying to NYC for the first time to meet his wife. She came ahead of them and works in NYC as a waitress. He said they were going to get to stay for a long time.

And then he showed me official documents from U.S. Immigration - he and his son got a visa to come to the United States. You should've seen the smile on his face when he showed me the documents. If there was ever a Kodak moment, it was then. He was so proud.So when he spilled his glass of red wine down my left leg, I couldn't get upset.

Then I realized that most of the people on the plane were likely immigrating to the U.S. That's what all of the confusion was about - it was really excitement and anticipation.

**

A notice to my seat mates:

38G: Lady, you deserve a medal for holding that crying toddler in your lap for 15 hours. I don't know how you did it. But here's what I noticed: Your cute baby only cried when you screamed at her first. When you finally shut up, so did she. Think about it.

39H: You're kinda scary for a 10 year old girl. Especially the way you stared at me for about 3 hours. I said hi. I smiled at you. And no, I wasn't trying to steal your blanket. You dropped it, and I was simply handing it to you.

39J: Little guy, you're even scarier than your big sister. But I liked your buzzed hair cut and your tail that was about 2 ft. long. I'm pretty sure you're going to end up on Ritalin.

40H: Sir, you need to get that cough checked out. Immediately. And it's not polite to spit. Ever. Especially on a plane.

**

But you know what, we all are waking up in New York City this morning. What will their first day will be like? I gave my card to the guy sitting next to me. I wonder what will happen to him.

I'm about to pour my second cup of coffee. Diane's about 6 minutes away.

Home Sweet Home.

I SMELL

Same Same.