I'm back! part V: The Flight Home

The flight home was a little more brutal than the trip there, mainly because it was the red eye. I had mom and dad with me so I couldn't quite be myself at the check-in desk, although I did have a little chat and asked for my usual aisle seat on the flight. It might just be me, but the check-in ladies seem to be a lot less surly nowadays, and have been extremely pleasant so far!

Don't kick me, but I was a little disappointed checking out the flight attendants filing through as I found out that the flight was delayed by an hour while waiting at the gate. There were a few backpacker-types on the flight who were very attractive, although all but one that I noticed were accompanied by a boyfriend. Again, the flight was very full, but yours truly lucked out (or was it really luck?)and got an aisle seat on the right side of the plane, a couple of rows from the front and an empty seat between me and a middle-aged Chinese woman who sat by the window. The lady slept through most of the flight and was very pelasant to talk to during mealtimes, and I always enjoy some good conversation over food.

Now, most people slept through the beginning of the flight, and I'd noticed an attractive brunette backpacker-type sitting across the aisle and one row in front of me when she'd gotten up to get something from the overhead compartment while they were serving breakfast (no open inverted commas this time). I still had my sunglasses on from when I was sleeping, and I noticed that when she'd settled back into her seat, she turned around to look at me. I busied myself putting the sunglasses away pretending not to notice, and she turned back to face the front shortly. Several times while I was reading or having a swig of water (I always carry a bottle with me on the plane as it's really dry) or getting something or other from my backpack (which I'd gotten down and placed on the empty seat next to me), I noticed her turn around to look at me for a while.

About the fourth or fifth time, she'd turned around while I was looking up, and having caught my eye, smiled warmly. I smiled back, and went back to my article (mr. too-cool-for-school). I got up shortly after to go to the toilet up front, and I felt her gaze follow me; when I got there and found both toilets occupied, I stood there stretching out my limbs and noticed that she was still gazing my way, so I looked up and grinned a cheeky grin, which again drew a big smile from her.

When I got back to my seat, I reached for my pack of chewing gum and found 1 stick left which I needed. So I got the gummy drops out and offered it to her (I'd offered one earlier to the lady beside me and she'd declined). She took the pack, looked in and looked back up, saying there's only one left. I shrugged, saying that she could have it then, and she said thanks and took it. We had a short conversation after, with her saying that it was pretty cold (she was wrapped in 2 blankets) and me offering her my unused one (or should I have offered something else?).

The guy sitting in front of me interrupted our conversation (I'd suspected that they and a third girl were travelling together) and I went back to my book, so that was that for me. Although I understood the announcements in German, I felt a little tongue-tied after not having used it for so long that I really didn't want to start up the conversation again only to run out of things to say very quickly. It was rather cool though that this male flight attendant thought me Austrian and kept addressing me in German.

Other than halping out the Chinese lady with her hand luggage, the airport was uneventful and I got a taxi very quickly. The taxi driver was something else though, and had lots of tales of the various proposals he's had in his years driving taxis. He was more helpful than most when it came to helping with the luggage though, so I humoured him although I was really looking forward to just getting home. Got home in 20 minutes, off to Bowral to pick up my little ones (they'd had an absolute ball on the 2-acre farm) and got fed lamb cutlets by the old lady who'd looked after them, then finally home for real at 2am that night. Thank God I didn't have to get up early the next day!

All in all, I'm glad I took this trip. I'm in a very good place right now, and my life is heading in a good direction from the best possible starting point. Maybe this trip was more than a trip home; maybe it's the event that marks the end of one volume and the start of another, one where I'm in full control and can finally think "want" instead of "should".

Posted in oats, the-tribe, new-id