I’m so excited.
After nearly a week in Taipei hanging with the family for Chinese New Year, I’m now sitting at the Hong Kong international airport, minutes from boarding on my flight back to Shanghai. After nearly a week of orderly behavior on the subway, of people staying on the right of the escalator so others can walk up past them on the left, of cab drivers responding with “please” and “thank you,” of only seeing one person hawk a loogey in public (a 4 year old kid, at that), of quiet train rides and nobody cutting in line…I’m now nearly home.
I am reminded of this because I find myself not only sitting at the airport gate, but also surrounded by about 80 Shanghainese folks. And, as is typical of Shanghainese, they’re talking to each other at about 500 decibels. No doubt that once we board, those at the front of the plane will find it necessary to make sure that their comrades at the very back of the plane are awake, and will scream and shout greetings down the aisle. And all of this makes me frustrated that I wasn’t able to find those noise-cancellation headphones in Taipei that I expressly wanted for this flight back.
I’m so excited.
Oh wait, I’m about to be back in Shanghai. Guess I need to say that a little louder.
I’M SO EXCITED!!!
