Thoughts from the girl at the McNamara Terminal at the Detroit Airport. From 10:45-5:42 after a 12 hour flight from Osaka.

(My laptop wouldn't connect to the internet in Canada, hence the delay in this post)

• Signs that I’m sleep deprived:

-general zombie-ness
-lack of appetite despite many wonderful “foreign” food options.
-inability to read because I can’t focus enough to remember what I just read

and most notably:

-talking to myself out loud, often
However, I have seen at least 3 people talking on bluetooth chips crammed in their ears, including one woman who got, and answered a call mid-question to a sales clerk. Confusion ensued. Funny, but perhaps a little rude. Also into this category is the woman who walked into the bathroom, chatting on her phone, and talked while peeing. This is certainly not Japan anymore.

I had been chatting with myself for a good hour or so when I became desperate to befriend someone, and have them to talk to for as witty as I can be, I’d hate to not share my wit with others. Hence the conversation with the guy in front of me, while I was in line to buy a bagel (bagel! with hummus!). However, this guy, while a welcome relief as I was getting a little tired of myself, took off asap once he found out I was in a relationship. Really? was his thought process “Hey, this girl is friendly, maybe we will fall in love and make beautiful children?” or “Hey, maybe this girl will hook up with me in the airport?” and not anything like “Hey, this random girl is funny and clever in her zombie like state, lets chat a while for the sake of filling time” ? Whatever. that bagel was delicious, and I’m not sad at all that I didn’t get the weird hot-dog wrapped in a bagel that he was recommending.

BUT that guy was just a guy. He had nothing on the late-40s guy who I met on the moving sidewalk. What was his friendly, normal conversation starter? “Where are you off to?” “Heading home?” no... it was “Those are nice earrings. Did you get them in the Detroit airport?”. This is weird, isn’t it? I was desperate for company again so I talked to him for one ride on the moving sidewalk, and then declined his invitation to have lunch together and browsed a chocolate shop instead.

• I thought coming back to North America was supposed to make me feel skinny and svelte. Who are all these girls in leggings as pants who look better than me? I miss Japan where I feel special.

• I wish smiling wasn’t some sort of creepy thing. Half the time my smile is returned with a smile, and the other half the person clearly thinks I’m nuts. I like Japan, where people are always smiling at me because I’m exciting and foreign! Stupid reverse culture shock.
  
  
• All of the store clerks are BORED! So bored. So eager to talk to. I love them.
  

• I wish I could legitimately say y’all. It sounds so good. It’s friendly and welcoming. Unless I suppose it’s being used in the phrase “y’all are jerks!” but even then, that still sounds nicer to me than “You are all jerks”.

• Is it ironic that the first oxygen bar I ever saw was at this airport, and not in Japan. Kelly Osborne clearly sought out the weirdest things to do in Tokyo.