On the Way - Beijing 2008

posted by Tyler Duckworth on Wednesday, August 06, 2008

The Journey Begins

I figured that my twenties would turn out slightly different than my present situation. Don't get me wrong, after spending thirteen hours dismantling wheat thins slowly in my mouth, in an attempt to feed the boredom of the plane ride, I could definitely think of a worse situation. I could be spending the summer selling boxes of Wheat Thins at the local cornerstore, or even worse, working at the local factory that actually bakes and distributes the Wheat Thins. On second thought, this is a pretty sweet gig.


This whole mess started about twenty-one hours ago. Having slept nary a wink the night before, due mainly to indigestion, my nervousness about my trip began to settle in and ultimately, enough was enough. Gas is one problem, flying across the world is QUITE another. I threw my covers off my bed with a dramatic, and surprisingly high-pitched grunt.

I mistakenly thought that a good education would afford me certain luxuries in life, mainly the ability to go to movies and chic bars with other professional ivy educated friends, maybe a weekend at the Vineyard from time to time each summer and my god, at least "Business Class" accommodations on all domestic and international flights.

My reluctance to go into finance or any other profession after college, suitable to support such a pipe dream, had reared its ugly head as I approached the ticket counter at Boston's Logan Airport. At 5:00 am in the morning. The ticket agent seemed chipper as I told her proudly,

"Yes, I'll be flying from Boston to Beijing today... I mean tomorrow, well, I mean, today AND tomorrow... you know what... you get it don't you...?!"

She wryly smiled at me. Embarrassed and clearly under caffeinated, I headed towards the closest eatery to grab a diet coke to wake up the senses. After making it through security, I burned a good hour thumbing through the essentials, as I like to call 'em, you know, PEOPLE, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY and of course, HELLO!.

The trip to O'Hare from Boston was actually painless, if one was able to ignore the orphanage of screaming children three rows ahead of me. Failed Planned Parenthood policies aside, I was preparing for BEIJING 20008 and no amount of crying or crackers were going to ruin my trip.

As the mass of people began to cluster around the gate in Chicago, preparing for the non-stop flight across the world to Beijing, I noticed something very odd. People were lining up in order without being pushy or crass. People were even making eye-contact with each other and, gasp, SMILING!

Within five minutes of walking into the gate, I had made friends with the Mother of one of the U.S. Springboard divers, a sprinter from Barbados and caught the eye of a hunky German weightlifter. All bound for Beijing, there was a palpable energy at that gate, which was quite different than at C22 across the corridor where blurry-eyed passengers were lining up to fly to Sarasota with the lifelessness of a Soviet gulag prisoner. Ahhhh, things were QUITE different on this end of the isle.

Were were all going to Beijing, we were all going to THE OLYMPICS.....


I've taken long flights before, all filled with their own set of anxieties. When I flew to Sao Paolo, I sat white-knuckled the entire time over the Andes, replaying images from that TERRIBLE cannibal movie, "ALIVE" about the Chilean rugby team. Once we had finally passed over the Amazon, and my bottle of Xanax empty, I was able to relax and enjoy the colorful farmland of Brazil. Even the flight from Heathrow to LAX wasn't that bad. Though, on that flight, the movie projector was broken, giving us two options each more grisly than that other... Syndicated episodes of "Everyone Loves Raymond" or "BRATZ: The Movie!"


No, see, this was MY Olympic flight, and I just knew it would be amazing. The funny thing about traveling abroad is the sense of community and closeness you inevitably feel when you come across someone that knows someone you know. The proverbial game of "seven-degrees" is basically a way for nervous travelers to ignore the fact that they are currently suspended 10,000 feet above the Arctic in a steal megalith flying at the speed of sound. Not scary at all!

I sat next to a kindly couple from Chicago, who, it turns out, have a son who swam for Williams College, a rival of my alma mater, Tufts University. We talked race strategy, advantages of Division III vs. Division I, and whether or not it is a requirement for liberal arts students to chronically wear ugly "CROC" shoes around New England.

Synchronicity truly became evident when we realized that we were both friends, once removed, from former Entertainment Tonight anchor, Leeza Gibbons. This, my friends, is what we call and the Chinese both call.... DESTINY

Approaching Beijing on the flight plan map seen on the projector, I suddenly realized just how damn BIG Siberia truly is; not just on a map either. I liken it to driving the Florida panhandle. Once you pass from Georgia into Florida, eager road tripping "Spring Breakers" usually break into song upon realizing they've FINALLY reached Florida. Around nine hours later, and sill no closer to Ft. Lauderdale, they slowly realize how beguiling that popular Mercator Projection map from elementary school can be. Siberia is the same way, only colder and less interesting to look at out the window.

Besides some icy mountains in the distance and the expansive taiga forests, there seems to be little else out there other than a couple communist ghosts and some run down Soviet irrigation systems...


Tomorrow the adventure continues with more stories from the road!!!

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December 2006
February 2007
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July 2007
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January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
August 2008
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December 2008