I'm leaving on a jet plane...

Well, it’s official. I’m going to Malaysia for a week - I just booked my airline ticket (which was a feat in itself. Without sounding like a complete bigot, I officially cannot understand people with Korean accents and they cannot understand me with my southern accent. I was turned away by not one but TWO Korean Air phone reservation agents. Fan-f'in-tastic. *vent*). Anway - Kevin will be over there for about 2 months for an engineering school, and I just can’t be away from him for 2 months. I can barely stand it when he visits his parents for a week. So I’m packing a bag (or 3) and taking my non-Malaysian-speaking, doesn’t-fly-well-with-others self 10,000 miles across the Pacific to Malaysia. I’m going right in the middle of his 7 week trip, which is perfect timing because that week is his birthday. And I’m pumped. And totally nervous at the same time. This is the first international trip that I’ve (a) had to plan completely on my own and (b) had to endure the flights ALONE. For as much as I fly, I am a HORRIBLE flier. I get antsy after about an hour, I fantasize about how great it would be if I were sitting in first class, and I always get stuck sitting next to one of three kinds of people:
(1) the talker. I do not know you. I do not want to know what you do for a living (unless it somehow benefits me), and I do not want to hear about your life for the next 20 hours as we share this excruciatingly long flight together. Unless you are a cute little old person. Or unless you are famous (in which case you would be in first class or in your own plane). Otherwise a polite “excuse me” every few hours as we have to climb over each other to get to the restroom will suffice for our in-flight conversation.
(2) The head-bobbing-sleeper/snorer/drooler. To me, sleepers are the perfect neighbors to have on a flight. However, I am a head-bobbing-sleeper on planes, and having two next each other is a safety hazard as we may eventually collide. And, well, snoring and drooling are pretty self-explanatory.
(3) The stinker. For some reason, stinkers generally manage to sit in very close proximities of me on planes (and yes, I’ve checked a few times just to make sure it’s not really me). It’s just not right. Or fair.

I have another in-flight concern. I have had the luxury of flying first class on a couple of occasions and have been exposed to the wonderfulness that is first class airplane food. It looks like food, smells like food, consists of more than a cold sandwich with chips, and you get your own salt and pepper shakers (with REAL silverware!). However, the majority of my flying experiences have been in coach. And call me a food snob, but I cannot eat the food they hand out 95% of the time. Just the smell of it makes my stomach turn a little. Especially when everyone opens their mayo packets to put it on the above-mentioned sandwiches. *random fact: If you know me, you know how much I absolutely cannot stand the smell of mayo.* In summation, I generally cannot handle airplane food. Therefore I plan on raiding a vending machine before I board the plane. 20 hours living on chips and peanut butter crackers… nutritious and delicious.

So as sad as I am that Kevin leaves me next week for TWO MONTHS, knowing that I will be seeing him a few weeks after he leaves (and getting a vacation at the same time!) makes it a little less unbearable.

The Cranes take on Malaysia… this should be entertaining.