#1 The Longest Night

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

It was the longest night of my life. It began just after dark when we left Stockton for San Francisco to catch an early morning (1:25 AM) flight to Ahmedabad, India. My wife and I drove to Brian Henry’s complex to pick them up. Our wives, Gayla and Esther, went with us to Pleasanton where we caught the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to the San Francisco airport. We arrived at the BART station about 8:00 PM, Tuesday, October 17, 2006, purchased our tickets, and walked onto a waiting train for the hour and 15 minute trip to the International terminal of the airport.

We checked in at the Singapore airlines ticket counter, left our two checked bags and headed off to find our gate, G93. Even with a modest line for check-in things went smoothly and we cleared security with two hours to spare before boarding. We roamed the shops, picked up a few snack items then found a deli for a sandwich just before they closed for the evening. I tried connecting to the internet from my laptop, but resisted the temptation to pay the access fee charged at SFO. I rather took advantage of the waiting time to catch “forty winks” as the long days of preparing for an international trip caught up with me.

Singapore Airlines flight SQ1 was a 747, the behemoth Boeing aircraft with two stories of passenger space in the first class area. Of course we were in economy seating – back of the plane, row 63, seats D and E. The 747 has two aisles, 10 seats across through much of the plane. I was impressed with the level of service and the professional presentation of the flight crew. They were dressed very nicely. The women wore long fitted dresses reflecting the oriental ethnicity of most of the crew members and the Asian home of the airlines. The men wore complementary suit jackets. The seats, even in economy, were comfortable having good lumbar support, a fold down foot rest, and a shaped headrest to keep your head from rolling off onto your neighbor’s shoulder while you are sleeping. Built into the back of the seat in front of you is a video monitor featuring a full array of “on demand” movies, television, news, and trip information programming. The food was good and the attendants were … well, attentive! They were constantly coming through the cabin, first offering warm cloths to freshen up with, then headsets to enjoy the media programming, offering juices and drinks, then a wonderful dinner. My choice from their tastefully designed menu was the baked fish with vegetables and potatoes. Real metal flatware was provided giving you a sense of “first-class” treatment.

After our “supper” about 2:30 AM most of us dozed off as we began our arch across the Pacific Ocean toward our first stop, Hong Kong, thirteen hours later. We were racing against the dawn and seemed to be beating it. I kept my watch on California time and at 1:00 PM (Wednesday) it was still pitch black outside. The benefit of the long night was that it encouraged people to sleep and keep the noise down much longer than normally would be experienced. Dawn finally began to catch us about 3:30 in the afternoon as we neared Hong Kong. We landed about 6:00 AM local time in Hong Kong after enjoying a wonderful breakfast of an omelet, hash browns, chicken sausage, blueberry yogurt, fruit, and a roll. The coffee was also tasty … or maybe I was just hungry.

I tried to take advantage of the long night traveling to catch up on some much needed rest. We didn’t know we were going to India until Thursday of last week. My life has been a whirlwind of activity since then, preparing our church schedule for my absence (Sunday and midweek friendship groups), planning tests and class sessions with substitutes while I’m away from classes at Christian Life College, and the other business details of bills, financial arrangements, and my last minute extension filing of income taxes. I won’t bore you with the other details of our recent activities.

Daryl Rash called me about 4:00 Thursday with the leading question, “How would you like to go to India?” I know him well enough—having made another international trip earlier this year to Sweden and Norway—to know that there is some substance to his somewhat rhetorical questioning. So I tentatively asked, while thinking about the prospects, “When?” “Next week,” he replied! I laughed heartily. He didn’t. Five days later, with visas in hand Brian Henry and I are setting off for a great Indian adventure to the Western state of Gujarat, the city of Ahmedabad, boasting a population of six million people.

After a brief stop in Hong Kong (about an hour) our plane was boarded for the next leg of our journey, a mere three hour and 10 minute jaunt to Singapore. As I type the first installment of our adventure breakfast is being served in the narrow aisle at my left elbow … so I’ll shut down my laptop, preserve my precious battery life and have another breakfast!