my time in seattle has been treating me well. oh, quick funny story that i neglected to mention: so, people might or might not be aware that chinese people tend to be incredibly rude. for example, they don't believe in waiting in lines. they also have no concept of personal space. it's pretty cut-throat, and there are theories that this sort of lack of general courtesy and civility stems from the fact that the populace is largely uneducated (i mean, if you think about it, we were taught in like, grade school to start waiting in line. makes sense.). unfortunately, if you want to survive, you gotta bring yourself down to their level.

anyways, so on my flight from Dayton to Chicago, this very obviously FOBby couple boards the plane, and the woman--coincidentally enough--is seated right next to me. the entire time, she's totally berating her poor husband, who is trying to stuff their enormous carryon into the much-too-small overhead compartment. she's got a ton of stuff herself (a huge plastic bag, a big puffy coat, a purse, and one of those neck pillows), so that every time she readjusts herself, something of hers usually falls into my lap. at this point, i'm like "no big deal." anyways, i'm tired and wanna nap, but i'm gettin kinda hot so i adjust my lil air vent thingie above me to comfortably cool my face and close my eyes to nap. at some point, it began to get unusually warm again. i look up, and lo and behold, her vent and MY VENT are both happily pointed and blowing on her. "ok, lil shitty, but still no big deal. i'm not THAT hot yet. plus, she's my elder and needs it more." after about 15 minutes of further deliberation, i'm beginning to sweat and now i'm like "ok, bump this, i needs my air back," so i readjust MY vent back to my direction. no big deal, and i put my head back against the window to nap.

since this was an early morning flight, the cabin lights had been dimmed and most if not all of the blinds had been pulled shut, including my own. we're beginning to descend, and i'm still contentedly napping away. all of the sudden, i get this blinding light in my face, and i jerk in my seat all "WTF?!" and my window blind has been pulled WIDE OPEN. i turn to the left, and the culprit gives me this, like "oh, it's okay" look. i give her this incredulous stare which soon turns into a scathing glare, and i slam my blind shut back down. end of story. the good news is, i look at this experience as tentative preparation for the throngs and crowds that i'm certain to encounter in shanghai. that, and the lack of any sort of conceptual or actual personal space.