In the last few years I have been privileged enough to travel; travel a lot. International flights aren't a problem.
After my exam I jumped on the MRT to Taipei Main Station, and had some lunch. Knowing that the meals on the plan are built for "average" people, I should eat more. Lunch was mediocre, but filling, and I went upstairs to the bus terminal. The bus was already there (it leaves every 20 minutes or so, and I had plenty of time), so I purchased my ticket and ran for the bus.
The ride to the airport was filled with happiness, for seeing my family, but sadness, for missing Yan-Shih. We exchanged several text messages on the way to the airport, and soon I arrived.
A long line formed at check-in, although I was three hours early (which is a record for me, as you can read from previous posts). I checked-in, mostly without hassle (I actually didn't have an e-ticket, but the ticket was in the office, apparently). I moved to my gate, and walked in.
An hour later some of the flight people requested we leave, very informally, so we departed the gate, and walked outside for additional screening. I've always found the idiocy of the system interesting, and this screen provided a prime example. Immediately I realized that "if" I wanted to bring something aboard and avoid screening, I would have had to simply leave it under the seat I was sitting (or in the bathroom at the gate)(or a variety of places). Oh well, always flaws with the "system."
Everybody boarded the plane, and as usual, I tried to be one of the last people. Since I hadn't picked my seat, which I usually do, I was stuck in the very last row. Luckily, there were only two of us using four seats, so we could somewhat spread out. The problem with my flight out east is how to plan to prevent jet lag. Normally, as many know, you try to sleep on the plane the same hours as your destination (or as many overlapping hours as possible). My problem was that I wasn't going just to LAX, but after landing (in the afternoon), had a SECOND red-eye to Atlanta. When I boarded the plane in Taipei it was 4am Atlanta time. I slept for the first few hours of the flight, however since I usually go to bed at 1am (or later), sleeping was difficult. Eventually I succumbed and watched movies. Like, five.
LAX is a pretty crappy airport, especially since my connection was through the old part (which used to be top-notch when TWA owned it, back in the day). Now it is a construction nightmare, with random elevators uplifting you to random floors. But, since I had ten hours to kill, I wasn't in a hurry.
Somehow I spent my 10 hours in LAX, mostly writing my Thailand journal, some reading, some just goofing off on my laptop. I met a guy who was going to Atlanta in an emergency since his father-in-law died (or some relation like that). Shortly I boarded my flight at around 9:15, and took my second red eye to Atlanta.
The flying time was only four hours, which I was surprised by. My flight touched down around 5:15am, and I collected my bags, and jumped on MARTA (the transportation system in Atlanta). I rode the light rail for maybe an hour before leaving (at the last stop) and I tried to call my sister. Unfortunately, the first phone I used didn't fully work, she couldn't hear me. Even after calling me back, the phone would transmit my voice. The second phone simply ate my quarter, thus leaving me with only a single quarter, not enough to make a phone call. Somehow I talked the ticketing lady to allow me to make a phone call, and learned that my sister was on her way.
Twenty minutes later (a long twenty minutes, after that flight) my sister and her fiancee picked me up in the bottom floor of the parking garage.
Overall the flight was decent, nothing drastic happened. Security wasn't a particular problem with me (I've been thoroughly hastled before by security, so much so that I have missed a flight, almost twice). My one conclusion from this journey is that I hate check-in luggage, and am never going to do it again. For the most part, I never take check in. I have a perfect size backpack that, with sleeping back, I can bring on the plane. I can bring the backpack without sleeping back and can bring my laptop. Since I was bringing a suit on this trip I decided to check it all in. Never again. I had to wait an hour in LAX for my luggage to enter the baggage claim (the baggage from Taipei came last, after the people from KL, and I was one of the last people to get their bags).