These long flights are murder on your back. Northworst doesn't help matters, either. Their food is miserable. To make matters worse, I discovered after I arrived in Detroit that this is not a direct flight to Taipei. It stops in Osaka, Japan first. *sigh*

For those of you who speak Japanese, the title of this page is a misnomer. I'm not actually coming back to Kansai airport. I'm coming back to Osaka. This is my first time at this airport and it is pretty nice. I gave the page this title because I like the aliteration with all the K's. I've heard wonderful things about this airport (KIX) and they are all true. It is so cool to finally see it. The Japanese built this place in the middle of Osaka harbor. Because land is so expensive over here and the need for a new airport was great, they reclaimed land in the center of the harbor and built and island for the airport. It is pretty impressive to see it. I only wish it was daylight so I could take more photos. I like this place better than Narita. They even have free Wi-Fi access!

The terminal I'm in has hinasama displays all over the place. They're kind of cute, but I don't understand why they're here. Every Japanese family owns a set of these dolls and they are made to represent the emperor and different people from court life. They are often treasured heirlooms and get displayed during the hina-matsuri (doll festival or girl's day). The reason I'm confused is because the hina-matsuri, if memory is correct, is held in March. Oh well... They're cute anyway. I'll have to get the exact date later.

I actually got lucky on my flight over. It was a full flight, but I got to sit next to a Japanese lady who has the same hobby I do. She is an amateur linguist. As chance would have it, she has an interest in many of the same languages I do. She even knew a smattering of Esperanto. We spoke mostly in Japanese and English; both switching languages whenever we had trouble finding the correct words. Her French is better than mine, but my Spanish is better than hers. It worked out rather well. The Chinese guy sitting next to us spoke English very well and he tried to keep up with the discussion, but we made it too difficult for him. I usually don't try to exclude people from conversations, but it isn't everyday that I meet a kindred spirit. I doubt I'll have this kind of luck on my return flight.