Mifumi arrived at 8am sharp and Matsu (?) drove me to Narita. Again we took a back way….could never find it myself…so many many turns on very small roads! Arrived and checked in and cleared security and had a full two hours to wait at the gate…..
but I did buy toothpaste because security here didn’t like the fact that my container was 130ml and only 100ml are allowed. When I pointed out that it was obviously more than half gone that didn’t seem to phase the young lady! I could tell she was a little disgusted because she had to go through my toiletry kit….handling every piece….and I wasn’t helping. First item taken from me in 3 weeks! Typically as I have travelled, they do not ask you to remove your shoes, or even remove laptops from containers….and the items go through xray pretty fast. I could have left the campus an hour later than I did but….better safe than sorry.We are banking left at 40,000 feet.
We passed over Manila an hour ago. Now the video map says Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) is an hour flight directly to my right. And Singapore perhaps another hour in a straight line beyond that. As I look down from 7 miles up, straight into the sparkling sun-drenched white-capped South China Sea I feel a little like I did yesterday flying into Japan. 
I know that many Americans flew over these waters while I was in college…some of them my friends. And many gave their lives under the clouds I can see at a distance over Vietnam. The world is small and all the fighting at such cost and such distances is so tragic beneath a bright sun like today’s. Below me is mysterioius Borneo. 
A place thought of as the end of the world….but must a 15 minute island as we hop over. I’ll pass over the equator in justa a few minutes too. I’ve gone from roughly 35 degrees north at home to 35 degrees south in Bolivia, to 60 degrees north in Helsinki back down to 10 degrees north in India to 35 degrees north again in Seoul, down to Taipei, north to Japan, and now crossing the equator for the third time this trip to 10 degrees south. I will cross the equator 4 times in this trip…and will cross a Tropic 11 times….It is a small world…and I still marvel at jets. This huge 747 hunk of metal travelling 567mph 7 miles up…and I even have my shoes off. I know I know….it’s old hat. My first 707 ride was in August of 1962….47 years of jet travel for me. And yes I do understand the Bernoulli Principle that makes it all work. But I confess I am often still amazed….or maybe it’s because I DO understand it that I’m amazed. (The northwest corner of Borneo down there is making my ride pretty bumpy right now! Seat belts called for….what a fragile thing we are this high…and how very much we rely on the predictability of nature.I watched The Day the Earth Stood Still, part of Madagascar, and all of Changeling……and reading Paulo Coelho’s Alchemist…..interesting that Bill Clinton was seen reading it, Julia Roberts, and now me. One of the cabinet of UCL in Quito is nephew to Coelho….the famous Brasilian author. Even more seat belt warnings…..pretty bumpy and I can see they are altering course to avoid worse.
I’m realizing the end of my trip is in sight. I’m looking forward to being with Richard and Tickey in Sydney. Will stop there at Wesley Institute as well as Southern Cross, so that will bring my total of schools visited to 16. I will no doubt always remember this trip…perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime race around the world. But it’s not been as hard as I thought. Everyone says I must be tired….but the new places and people energize me. I remain surprised by the homogeneity of cultures. Apart of the “hieroglyphics everywhere” Inzai City (the real place where TCU is located) and the shopping mall in particular felt like Norfolk or any other major US city. Kinda sad don’t you think? With everyone speaking English it hardly takes any cultural adjustment to travel anymore…..did I mention that even the smells seem the same everywhere? We’ve left the Borneo coastline and are slicing directly across the country now…but still north of their mountains….I guess THAT is not a place we’d like to end up by accident! Back to the book!
My arrival in Jakarta was unique! I stayed on the 747 for a few minutes since I hadn’t filled out my immigration and customs papers ahead of time and I figured there’d be a long line anyway. So when I finally left the plane….
last one off….I found myself at the end of a long line for visas. Within 60 seconds a man came down the line with a sign with my name on it. He asked for my passport and immigration form and took off to the front of the line. I was a little nervous that I had just forfeited my passport to a stranger….but kept reminding myself he DID have my name. Only a couple minutes later a woman employee motioned to me that the man was motioning for me to come ahead. I moved ahead of 50 people….he motioned me to the exit xray machine and the three operators didn’t even bother to get out of their seats while my bag ran through. We walked into the baggage handling basement (a first for me!) where a van was waiting with two men who loaded my bags, my friend and I jumped in to and we sped out of the handling area and across the airport runways. As we drove I wondered….have I been kidnapped…like the Westmont prof who disappeared one summer never to be seen again while visiting Jakarta! I asked if my new guide was from the university and he seemed to say yes and when I mentioned Sheldon Nord, he asked if was a friend. I was somewhat reassured….but soon we were driving down a taxi way directly toward a waiting helicopter with blades turning. 
I said to myself, that the van was probably going to turn and exit the airport for the hotel right before the chopper. I decided that if they tried to get me into the chopper I’d ask a LOT of questions first! But to my surprise we wheeled around and pulled up directly by the chopper. My friend jumped out and began fetching my bags….as I started to ask where I was going…Sinta Lucia 
a young well-dressed woman walked over to me, handed me her card (which DID say Universitas Pelitas Harapan!) and said “Welcome Drl Mannoia, please follow me.” So we jumped in the chopper 
while the men from my van loaded my bags and the 2 person crew already on board revved the engine. We were airborne within 60 seconds. As we travelled, Sinta asked if it was my first visit to Indonesia. I said I’d never been welcomed this way and could use the airport friend anytime….Mr. Wrasto! I snapped a few pix, and as we approached a center with multiple skyscrapers, Sinta pointed out UPH buildings….both very tall and marked with the initials of the university. We landed, my bags were whisked to another black limo, while a distinguished man (turns out he’s a founder of UPH, and major bank owner with whom I’ll have lunch tomorrow) greeted me and welcomed me to Indonesia and UPH, then jumped into the chopper himself and was gone. Within 2 minutes my bags were being removed by the bellmen at the Imperial Aryaduta Hotel and Country Club. I was offered a lime drink, was checked in, and was in my room. The total time from walking off the 747 and walking into my room 15 miles away…having never handled my bags, was 15 minutes. Now THAT’S the way to travel! 
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