A man walks through a crowded airport, desperately trying to find his gate so that he doesn’t miss his flight. He frantically keeps checking his boarding pass against the numbered signs hanging from the ceiling…”Gate 23…Gate 24…Gate 25…” Just a few more gates, the man keeps thinking to himself, now checking every clock as he passes them to make sure he can make it in time. “Gate 39…Gate 40…Gate 41″ Rushing up to the counter, the man literally shoves his pass at the stewardess and she politely replies, “You made it just in time, sir. Enjoy your trip.” Finding his seat, the man breathes a sigh of relief and checks to make sure he still has everything that he wanted to bring, which wasn’t much: His cell phone, an mp3 player, a few gaming devices, and the couple hundred dollars he had managed to save up in the months before this trip. He has left all of his family behind in pursuit of what he believes to be his one and only want and desire in life…something he could not have back home. Knowing that it is going to be a long night as this flight is going to near 6 hours before landing to change planes and then flying for another 8 hours, he settles in to take a well deserved nap.

–

The man was awoken after what seemed like minutes on the plane: “Attention passengers, we have arrived at our destination…For those catching the connecting flight, this is your plane and will not need to depart, but may since the wait will be a few hours.” He decides against leaving the plane, for he is exhausted from the previous flight and wants to sleep more.  During this period of sleep the man begins having vivid dreams; dreams of his past and dreams of what he wants the future to be like.  Past events flash through his mind like a sped up film strip; never focusing on one thing but rather continuously moving through different scenes. He is awoken once more by a rattling of the plane, and much to his surprise the are landing again. The man looks at his watch, reading “3:45 AM” through his blurry vision, but soon realizes the sun is bright and shining in the sky, the time difference becoming apparent. The captain comes over the intercom “Welcome to your destination, passengers. We thank you for flying with us and hope to see you again in the future.” He stumbles off the plane and into the concourse, not sure what to do next. He is surprised to feel the building being air-conditioned, then remembers where he is and where he was, and the sharp temperature differences between the two places. His next course of action has already been planned out, using various traveling and tourism websites to gather information back at home on how to move about this new city. Using the public transit will be his best bet to get to where he wants to go. Knowing only an address and nothing else, the man attempts to snake his way through the city using various combinations of subways and buses to cross the city. Thankfully, everything is labeled in English and most everyone here speaks English so the man has no language barrier to cross, in fact most people treat him with a certain amount of respect. Soon he arrives at an area that seems familiar to him, although he has never been here in his life before. With confidence in every step he finds the road name that he has been looking for, and turns down it, now looking for a certain house number. He eyes a dog through a fence and recognises it, then realizing that he has found the house he was looking for. With even more confidence, and a certain hint of nervousness, he walks up to the front door and awaits an answer.