Sunday, July 28, 2013

Childhood #4: Children on the plane

I always wonder if I was ever one of those annoying children during a flight. When I was young, still living outside of the US, my family and I would always take our vacations in California because that's where my grandparents lived. So every summer vacation, we would take the long flight across the Pacific. As children, the flight is a long boring trip and staying in one's seat for 12+ hours is torture. To cure my boredom, I would usually have a small carry-on bag filled with candy, snacks, pencils, papers, and reading materials. Once the seat belt light is off, my sister and I immediately open our bags and do what ever we like. Most of the time, I would be drawing. Other times, my mom would make sure I read (the homework my parents gave me for every summer). And sometimes, I would grab the magazines in the seat pocket and read it. Thinking about it now, I wonder how I manage to stay so still in my seat (besides going to the bathroom). I would like to say it's due to my parents' discipline but both my parents said I was an obedient girl (that they probably took too much pride on). When my sister and I get bored, we would always talk... a lot. About what? Honestly, I don't know and don't remember. The chat is probably about cartoons or toys or movies. So this train of thought led me to this one question: was I ever an annoying child on the plane? I would love to think just as what my parents told me but knowing myself, I probably got a few adults angry during the long flights. If not the passengers, then probably the flight attendants since I get air sick every time.

As an adult now, flights are quite interesting to me. Many times I would go through magazines to read about different cultures. Occasionally I would try to listen to music in other languages. Sadly my air sickness was never cured and at every plane trip, at least 8 hours were occupied by sleep. I hope everyone else has a better flight experience than I do.