Flying in the US tonight. Well, I hope my luggage gets there. I learned that when I arrive in LA I need to visit the ticket counter and get my remaining tickets due to change in airlines and no partnering between them. They assure me, however, that my luggage is checked all the way to Beijing. Flight was ok, nice to fly first class. We had dinner and a little wine. I read one of the books I brought, which I borrowed from Kate McCutchen. It is sort of a history of our understanding of the cosmos, from the B.C. Greeks to about 1988. Hard to believe that is nearly 20 years old. I love this kind of book, and mildy surprised that I got it from Kate’s bookshelf. I’ll have to discuss it with her when I get back.
   Anyway, arriving in LA I had to leave the terminal and find the ticketing counter for the second airline. Leaving the secure area and knowing I needed to wade through security again was enough, but wow, did my cultural microcosm change and quick! Lots of Asians in line for planes to Asia, as in hundreds of people. Sound obvious, but I didn’t expect this sea of humanity at 9:30pm local time. I also noticed that people are carrying LOTS of luggage, including large cardboard boxes. Apparently, night flights to Asia are so popular they get their own ticketing area here in the airport. I noticed lots of 747s docked at the gates as my plane was taxing, so I should not have been surprised, but I was. My plane leaves at 12:30am. I have time to head for the business class lounge, where I grab a drink and a snack and try to logon to the wireless network for a blog update(I can’t, so consider this ‘recorded earlier’ material).
   I immediately notice that the business class lounge is much more diverse than the ticket counter because Asians no longer dominate the landscape. And there are fewer families and couples. Makes me wonder about class(financially speaking) and all those poor folks flying coach back at the terminal. And I also wonder why there are so few Asian’s flying business class. I would have thought there was plenty of high powered work for them as effective interfaces for business between Asia and the States, but this doesn’t seem so. I feel lucky yet guilty for flying business class. I am already dead tired, so I have to not fall asleep until I get on the plane. Then I hope to fall asleep. Right. I am thinking big nap when I arrive in China, but first, a short stop in Seoul, Korea after flying some 6000miles across the ocean. Man!