The Journey Begins

(written on Friday, May 11)
I am writing this on the plane¦.crowded in seat 53B but doing quite well, considering that the last 24 hours - or 72 for that matter - have been very hectic, as those of you who have traveled on long flights know they can be. All the preparations are stressful, but the body begins to relax once at the airport and checked in and even moreso when walking down the long enclosure into the plane.

Our route has been a northerly one - first over Green Bay, Wisconsin then northwest
through Canada. The pilot said we would be within 50 miles of the Arctic circle and sure enough, as we got further into Canada the polar ice cap began to appear - very cool to say the least. We will also be flying through Russian airspace and will eventually end up in Beijing.. after 13 hours! Since I only had 4 hours of sleep last night, I have already slept almost four hours and we have about 6 hours left on the flight so that has been really good and I am feeling much better.

The most amazing event thus far today is that three of my doctoral professors from the University of Illinois are also on this flight - the three people who taught me most of what I know about ethnomusicology. Mind you it has been 25 years since I studied with them, but the irony was that just this week, when I taught our Wheaton group a class on Chinese music, I referenced the woman who taught me - and there she was along with her husband, my Indian music professor, as well as one of my doctoral committee members. What a small world. We have had a couple good conversations and it has been nice to reconnect with these people who really ignited my passions about the music and cultures of the world..