Amiram Hayardeny's My China Experience

Back to Beijing

On July 13, 1979 I flew for the first time.  It was a charter flight from Tel Aviv to New York, with a short refueling stopover at Shannon Ireland.  The aircraft was a Lockheed 1011 TriStar, better known as L1011.  It was capable of carrying about 400 passengers at about 900 Kilometers per hour to distances of about 8000 kilometers (Lockheed 1011).  Can you guess why I went into the trouble of looking it up?  It is 28 years later, and when I was boarding the plane yesterday to come home to Beijing, I was thinking to myself: "this plane is not very different than the one I flew 28 years ago". 

On a very strange side note, I caught myself thinking, "why do I remember the actual date of my first flight?"  And then I remembered something I guess I was blocking for many years.  My first flight to New York was on the very day that the disintegrating SkyLab crashed into the earth.  (SkyLab).  Skylab was a satellite which was flying in orbit for six years until it crashed.  Don't get me wrong, I was not in danger, yet when the Captain said that we were the last flight to take off from Ben Gurion airport before commercial flights stopped for a few hours to allow SkyLab to crash safely, I took at least one deep breath...

The plane I boarded yesterday was a Boeing 767.  It is capable of carrying less passengers (between 180 and 250) at about 850 kilometers per hour to distances of between 9400 and 12000 kilometers (Boeing 767).  I am positive that El Al, Israel Airlines, stuffs twice as many passengers into the 767...  I really don't to bore you with the "if air travel was making progress like the computer industry, we would have been flying to the moon in a half second paying a nickel".  What I do want to note is that it is really hard to believe that there was no progress at all.  Judging by the ticket purchasing, itinerary changing, check-in, boarding, durations, comfort, food, we are going backwards.  Judging by the security procedures, we're about to enter the Bronze Age, again...

Back in the 70s, people could smoke in flights.  I heard the most interesting story about in-flight smoking.  First, let me state that I am not sure whether or not this story is true, but judging from my own experience, I'd say there's something to it.  The statistics show that "as of September 1, 1998, smoking is prohibited on 91 percent of flights to and from the United States".  Most if not all US based airlines adopted this policy even before it was accepted by FCC as a law.  And when you wonder why, you have to consider the following: it's cheaper to operate no smoking flights.  Here's why: when smoking was allowed, fresh air had to be brought in from the outside, and heated before introduced to the cabin (outside air temperature can be as cold as -50 degrees Fahrenheit).  When smoking was banned, recycled air could have been used, hence saving money on heating the air.  So, if you think you breathe better air as a result of the no smoking policy, think again.  (International Herald Tribune Article).

Back in my IBM days, I used to fly to the US from Israel at least 6 times a year.  Some years were way more.  Paying no attention, I was declared a Gold VIP frequent flier member one day.  Jokes aside, if you must fly, being a Gold member is a better way to do it.  The occasional (and then the often) upgrades, the special check-in line, the  better seats, the points, the awards.  Not bad at all.  But then I started working for Sun, and soon enough I lost the Gold status with El Al.  It was a sad day.  But I had no idea, because I didn't get the mail, so I showed up as usual at the special check-in line in the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.  I was a happy person, plus I knew I had significant overweight (in my suitcases that is, they don't yet charge for overweight people, a matter of time).  Then the attendant told me: "sir, you have been stripped of your Gold status".  She may have not used these very words, but I felt like my ranks were stripped off my uniforms like in old war films...  I said to her: "are you going to embarrass me in front of all these people?".  She thought for a second, weighed the options, then said: "I will check you in, but no lounge for you!".  I said thanks, and saw my overweight suitcase disappear.  I was happy again.

A little over nine hours later we were landing in Beijing.  It was good to be home.  It made me think: "what makes a place a home".  I found the following definition: "A home is a place where a person or a family lives, perhaps spends much of their time, or where a person is comfortable being."  (home).  Well, I live here, my family lives here, I spend most of my time here, and I am very comfortable being here.  But even without all that, Beijing feels like my home.  Beijing is my home.

Indeed, I had a lot of fun in Israel.  I saw my family, the immediate family as well as some second tier.  I saw a lot of friends.  I had a good taste of my favorite food - Falafel, Humus, Shawarma), I did all the physicals, checkups.  Got all the prescriptions.  It was exhausting.  I am back, and I am tired, and I need a vacation desperately.  Let me end with this: please do what I did.  See a Dermatologist, get your body inspected for suspicious moles.  It is painless, and it may just save your life.  Most likely the result will be absolutely nothing, like in my case.  But it will make you feel better.

Posted at 09:35PM Jul 16, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[2]