Terminal Adventures

Since I have been "wandering" for the past decade, I have accumulated quite a number of interesting airplane and airport stories.

I remember that time I was first in line at the check in counter in a China city and they gave me my boarding pass which told me I was to board at a certain gate. After waiting at the gate for quite some time, I began to get uneasy when it was past boarding time and it seemed like a lot of people have come and gone and they still haven't put up the name of my destination city and flight number. I began to compare my boarding pass with those around me and there wasn't a single person going to the same city as I was. My heart began to pound. Just when I decided to get help, I saw one of the airport personnel running towards the gate. By the look on her face, I know she was looking for me. Amazingly, when she laid eyes on me, she immediately knew I was the "dumb foreigner" she was looking for. I didn't speak much Chinese at that time but she kept saying, "Fei ji zou le!" which means "the airplane has left!" I totally understood that! In my mind, I was screaming, "They couldn't have left me! I was first in line and I went to the right gate!" Anyway, she was running towards another gate and I was chasing her through the airport and finally down towards the tarmac. She was screaming into a walkie talkie and I didn't know what was going on. Finally, an airport van came to pick us up and it raced like mad towards the runway. Just when I thought we were going to actually go chase an airplane, the van screeched to a stop beside a small plane right in the middle of the runway. A stewardess was waiting at the foot of the stairs to welcome me, the last passenger to board! I ran up the stairs and was met by the not very friendly stares of around 50 people on board that small plane. I sheepishly walked down the aisle and found the only empty seat on the plane. Then the plane finally took off. Later, I found out that they changed the gate number and made an announcement in Chinese at the airport but of course I couldn't understand! Anyway, at least I now know how it feels to be a VIP!

Another time was when I first went to Lhasa, Tibet by plane. Lhasa has the highest airport in the world (15,000+ feet) and I took a plane from Beijing with a short stopover at another Chinese city and on to Lhasa. All together, the plane ride took 5 hours. It was fine and dandy on the plane as I was looking down upon a magnificent view of the Himalayas. I was on cloud 9! But my happiness was short lived as going through a rapid change of altitude is actually a bad idea and I learned it the hard way! When I got off in Lhasa, I had a MAJOR headache. I was traveling with a group of Americans at that time and they gave me some medicine to take and lots of water to drink. None of it helped and that night as I lay in bed alone in my hotel room, the pain in my head became almost unbearable. Though it was cold inside the room, I was sweating profusely. I remember praying, "O Lord, please don't let me die here!" Finally, around 1 a.m., I felt so bad that I decided to go get help. I got out of bed but before I could make it to the door, I buckled to my knees and threw up all over the carpet! Tears were streaming down my eyes and I just sat there for a few minutes horrified at the big mess I made. However, suddenly, I just knew that the worst was over and I felt so much better. I crawled back in bed and slept like a baby for the rest of the night. In the morning, I went to find housekeeping and explained my situation to one of the Tibetan girls. She was so gracious to me and told me not to worry about the mess I made. The lesson I learned from that experience is that it's better to take a bus or train to the top of the world. It is slow and takes days but the change of altitude is gradual and you are less likely to get killed!

This next one is the one that will probably make you the most breathless! I was at the old airport in Guangzhou, China and I was with Dobz and we had a bit too much stuff with us and we made friends with the Chinese guy who was queing in front of us at the check in counter. We decided to befriend him as he had nothing to check in and we wanted to ask him the favor of taking one of our bags (don't worry, guys, this is the only time we did this!). He gladly agreed and after checking in, we went together to the waiting gate and when we got to the place where our carry on bags were to be inspected, the guy at the scan machine told me to open my bag. He searched it and found the red swiss knife that a friend gave me. It was there the whole time when I was taking this particular backpack everywhere and I have forgotten all about it. Here I was in Guangzhou and they found it and they told me I had to leave it behind. They were quite strict and wouldn't budge even when our new friend, the Chinese guy vouched for my not being a terrorist. Then, the scan guy suggested that if the swiss knife was really valuable to me, I can run back to the check in counter and ask the lady there to take me to find my bag! I know it's crazy and I probably will never do it again given the same situation but Dobz and our new Chinese guy friend believed that I could pull it off. Though there still was a bit of time, the check in counter was not somewhere near so I made a mad dash from the second floor to the first floor and went right to the lady at the check in counter, showed her my swiss knife and told her, "Please, can you show me where to find my bag?" She looked at me like I was crazy but asked someone to accompany me to the place where they had all the bags already packed in carts to take to the plane. With all those bags, how in the world am I gonna find a medium size, black roller bag? I just had to pause and say a prayer for the Lord to guide me. I say now that it was a miracle because it didn't take me 5 minutes to find my bag. The guy with me thought it was amazing! I pushed the swiss knife safely into an outside pocket and ran back to the second floor. When I saw the guy at the scan machine, I gave him a big smile and a thumbs up sign. He laughed and I proceeded to find Dobz and our Chinese friend so we could together proceed to the waiting gate.

One more memorable airport experience was in the new Guangzhou airport. I went to the ticket booth to buy an air ticket to Xn but the lady at the booth said all the tickets were sold out and the next available plane was on the next day yet. It would mean that I would have to wait more than 24 hours for the next plane and I really didn't want to do that as I was just by myself. I kept asking the lady if there was some other way and she told me that she really couldn't help me this time. She also told me that I should buy the ticket for the next day because there are only a few more seats left and they are selling like hot cakes. I stood there and reason told me that she was right. However, I also felt that I should pray and wait it out for a few more minutes. Just about a couple of minutes passed and suddenly the lady uttered an exclamation of utter surprise in Chinese. She pointed to the computer in front of her and said, "I can't believe it! Two seats have suddenly become available for today's flight! You're in!" Well, will you look at that! I haven't even started praying yet but the Lord already answered the desire of my heart! When I got onto that plane, I sat beside an empty seat. There was still one extra as if the Lord was telling me that He is more than enough for me!

After a decade of traveling, I am used to sleeping in airports now. I have stayed overnight several times at the HK airport. In Guangzhou, I spent a sleepless winter's night shivering at the new airport which at that time had no heating at all! Tonight, I am leaving yet again for Nepal and I have a stopover in Bangkok and so I will have to spend the night there!

Not All Who Wander are Lost

"Not all who wander are lost." I read this quote from J.R.R Tolkien from last month's Reader's Digest magazine and it made me think, "How true!" Of course, there was a time when I was indeed a poor wandering soul but those days are over and now I can truly sing, "I once was lost but now am found..." with the great hymn writer, John Newton! Now my wanderings are of a different nature and for a different purpose.

I am wandering over hill and over dale, more often hitting the dusty trails rather than cruising down the highway because I want to follow Jesus, my Savior wherever He leads me. And as it says in Psalm 23, sometimes he may lead beside still waters and sometimes he may lead through the valley of the shadow of death. But wherever He leads, He has promised to always be with me. Together, we will fight and win battles! We will do great exploits! We will find treasures hidden in the darkness! He will make my feet like the feet of a deer and together we will tread on the heights!

Discovering beautiful hidden places and meeting beautiful people from different cultures is just a bonus for me in this wandering life. The most exciting thing is getting to know my Traveling Companion more and more as we walk and talk together and as we share our lives together. As long as He is with me, I can never be and will never be lost!