Why America is Losing

Most things in the world have become commodities.  Electricity is the same for you as a consumer whether its generation comes from coal, natural gas, water, or sun light.  It doesn't matter if the milk you drink comes from a farm up the street or across the world - it still tastes like milk.  Oil changes, airline flights, taxi's - everything is the same product.  There are only two true differentiating factors:  technical quality and quality of service - and the price you have to pay for each.

A synopsis of my recent traveling experience should highlight why America is losing to nations overseas.

1)  How Super Shuttle Lost my Business

When mechanical failure with the hydraulics delayed our initial flight out of Phoenix for 7 hours, this was, effectively, a cancellation for us.  We would not make our connecting flights.  This meant we needed a ride back to our house where we would stay another night.  I left a porter with my family to load the luggage and I went to find us a ride.

I've always been brand loyal - or disloyal, as the case may be (ask me some day about my Hollywood Video experience).   When I needed transportation, my first thought was to use Super Shuttle.  I walked to the spot - outdoors - where everyone in the airport said I would find the scheduler.  No one there.  A shuttle was about to leave so I knocked on the window to ask where I could arrange a ride.  The driver said:  "Is he gone already?  He should be right where you are standing."  He wasn't.  I asked the taxi stand if they knew where I could get a Super Shuttle.  They pointed to where I had just left. 

Not ready to book a taxi - really, two, with 5 people and 11 bags - I walked back inside to help with the bags.  Off to the side, I noticed a guy in a Super Shuttle uniform reading some electronic device.  I ask him:  "Are you the Super Shuttle guy?"

"Are your bags outside ready to go?", he says, not even looking up at me.

I point to the carousel where the porter has finished loading the bags and is heading our way.  "They are right there on their way over."

"When your bags are outside I can put you in the system."

"They're headed this way now."

"I can't put you in the system until you're outside."

"Um, oookay", I reply and walk away.  I meet up with everyone and inform them we won't be using Super Shuttle because the guy was a jerk (I think I actually said "asshole").

As we walk past him to head outside, then he walks up and says:  "Ready to go?"

I say:  "No thanks.  I'm going to use someone who actually wants me as a customer."  That's how we ended up in the limo.

If I'm in his place, and someone locates me standing around at another service's counter, I think the first thing I say is:  "Where would you like to go?"  Then he could follow it up with "Policy prevents me from entering you in our system until you are standing by the curb, so when you're ready I'll be happy to book you for a ride to Mesa."  Of course, that would require hiring someone who is interested in actually doing some work.

2)  The Value of Business Class

There is not a lot you can do from a technical standpoint to improve on an airline flight.  You either arrive in one piece or you don't.  So the only way an airline can charge more is because of the service aspect - the perks.  People fly Business Class for those perks.  The primary perk being the size of the seats and the ability to lay flat and sleep well.  The secondary perks are the "expedited services" you receive.  There is a priority line at security.  Bags are tagged with "priority" so they are the first to arrive in baggage claim.  And a key for international travel, you get to be the first off the plane.  In fact, most flights don't let the coach passengers deplane until everyone from First and Business Class have already exited.  This really helps shorten the lines for immigration and customs.  It's a huge perk and well worth the extra fare.

Delta didn't do that.  In fact, they let Economy passengers come crashing through our cabin in the mad-rush style people often try.  I never understand the guy sitting in 49F who thinks he just has to be the first guy off the plane so he whips off his seat belt as soon as the plane comes to a stop and rushes to the forward cabin as the others stand up and collect their bags.  The crash of people made collecting our bags a challenge.  Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific would never have allowed it.

3)  Singapore Economy Class is Better than Delta Business Class

To save money, I'll often book our shorter flight in Economy.  Usually, the LAX to PHX and the Singapore to Jakarta flights, each about an hour, I'll book us in Economy.  I find it wasteful to fly Business Class for such a short flight.  The perks are warranted on a 19 hour flight.  Not so much for 1 hour.

The last leg of our trip was from Singapore to Jakarta and we flew Economy.  We were tired, the kids were fussy, and we only had three seats, instead of the four I had booked on our flights from Singapore to Phoenix and back.  Both our boys were listed as "lap infants".  Ugh!  Booking mistake on my part.

Examples of what Singapore Airlines personnel did for us:

• Before the flight took off, filled our sippy cup with milk for the 22 month old, then washed it when he was done.
• Brought two sets of stuffed animals, puzzles and coloring books to help keep the kids calm.
• When my son was throwing a crying fit, and I had separated myself on the mostly empty flight, three of them surrounded us to help try to calm him down.  One even dried his tears.
• My wife was breast feeding and trying to eat her meal.  The flight attendant cut her food for her.
• One of the flight attendants pretended to call the pilot to ask if it was okay to name the plane "Bambang" at my daughter's request.  Of course the answer was "yes" - which thrilled my daughter.
• We were the last to exit the plane.  On the way out, my son's diaper - about one size too large - chose that moment to fall out of the bottom of his shorts and hang around his ankles.  One of the flight attendants attempted to remove it, found it full of his "business" and put it back on him so we could clean him after exiting the gate.

I will fly Singapore Airlines anytime I can from now on.  They are amazing.

Overall, I always felt with the American workers that I was making them do their job and they wished I wasn't.  With the Asian workers I felt like they were glad their job was servicing the needs of my family.

On the flip side - and this is something my Asian colleagues often point out to me when I rave about Asian hospitality - on every flight to and from an American destination, when passengers saw how many bags I was carrying (5) with three kids and a wife in tow, at least one person always offered to help.  To and from Asian destinations - zip.  A good friend of mine in Indonesia who spent several years in the US in school always reminds me:  "In the US, if you get a flat tire, someone will always stop to help you.  In Indonesia, someone will stop to help, but you'll need to pay them for doing it."

So, import Asian labor to the American service industry, but make sure all the passengers are American.

Traveling Travails

These last few weeks I have definitely lived my moniker of the Travelling Technologist.  Dating back to 12 July, my travels have included:

• Singapore to Jakarta
• Jakarta to Singapore
• Singapore to Tokyo to Los Angeles to Phoenix
• Phoenix to Los Angeles to Tokyo to Singapore to Jakarta

 The last two trips accompanied by a 5 year old, a 22 month old, and a 2 week old.

The trip from Singapore to Phoenix wasn't bad.  Our five year old is easily entertained by the in-flight movies, food, and sleeping.  Her only issue is learning to modulate her voice according to the situation - and recognizing that even though the headphones prevent her from hearing her speak, it has no effect on the rest of us.  Our two week old was equally easy.  He just wants to eat and sleep in two hour shifts.  As long as we're not working our way through security at the start of his eating shift, we're all set.

That leaves our 22 month old to reign holy terror over our travels.  Thankfully, of the 70 hours or so of flying and transferring, he was only fussy for 150 minutes - less than 5%.  An extremely frustrating, patience-trying, procreation-questioning 150 minutes, but manageable.

A few of the more interesting stories from this globe-trek:

1)  Airport security in the U.S. is unlike anywhere else in the world.  Of all the airports we've travelled through, all of which required a pass through security, the U.S is the only one that required removal of shoes and the full-body scans.  Yet for all the focus on safety, the U.S. based airline on which we travelled (Delta) did not require child-restraint belts for our lap-infant.  Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Garuda, and Lufthansa all required lap infants to also be latched to their parents via a seat belt that attaches to the adult seat belt.  My guess is the reason Delta doesn't require it is because, in an attempt to avoid more delays, they are using all of their extra seat belt material to make extenders for the obese travelers.

2)  Our daughter is at the age where she is trying to be helpful.  When some of her help started to include a fully packed bag moved from its location by the front door back to the bedroom where we were packing other bags, I felt it time to mention to her that "help" involves making the situation easier, not harder, and that the best thing for her to do is to ask "how can I help" and wait for an answer before jumping in and doing what she thinks is most helpful.  After our trip through security in LAX on our way to Phoenix, I almost reminded her of that conversation - I ultimately decided seeing the results was lesson enough.  On this particular occasion she felt it would be helpful to remove my silver watch from the bin it shared with my laptop and place it on the silver table next to the scanning line.  She then handed me my laptop to return to my carry-on.  When I get to the gate and realize I don't have my watch, she informs me where she "helpfully" placed it.  A quick rush back to security where I proceed to make a fool of myself by perfectly describing every aspect of my watch except for the brand (I said "Guess" - they thought I was joking; my watch is a Casio).  This required speaking to a supervisor because the agent holding my watch was unable to return it to me solely by my description of "Silver with a white face, the bottom half of the face is digital and there are three digital images of fish". Apparently the brand is more important than a detailed description.  They eventually return my watch to me after I fill out a few forms and run back to the gate to retrieve my passport so they had a record of to whom they delivered the watch (I still don't understand that part - they never officially booked it into the lost and found).

3)  On what was supposed to be the last day of our trip - 11 August - we arrive at the airport, check-in, and then go back to our home in Mesa.  In the last two years, I've travelled nearly 100,000 miles on non-US airlines and have only experienced weather delays.  Due to the lateness of scheduling this trip, US-based airlines were the only viable options (half the cost of Singapore and Cathay Pacific).  The first leg of our trip home was on Alaska Airlines.  They landed, pulled up to the gate, and then promptly experienced a 9 hour maintenance delay due to a hydraulics leak.  We missed our connecting flights and had to fly out on 12 August instead.  On the bright side, my kids experienced their first limo ride!

 

4)  On our return to Jakarta via Tokyo and Singapore, we were unfortunate to have a 7 hour layover in Singapore.  We arrived in Singapore at 1 AM and our flight left at 8 AM the following morning.  Thankfully, Singapore's airport has a "Transit Hotel" in each of their terminals.  After checking in for our 8 AM flight we checked-in to the Transit Hotel.  Small, clean enough, and built like a cave, we struggled with trying to get the kids to sleep, finally sleeping for an hour before leaving for our flight.  Not a bad experience, but not one I'd like to do again.

5)  The last leg of our travels - the morning flight from Singapore to Jakarta - happened to be 60 of the 150 minutes our 2 year old went loco.  Thankfully, the plain was mostly empty.  Had it been full, I'm sure at least one person would have complained about his ear-piercing screams.  To top it off, as we exit the plane and are packing the stroller - which we gate check - we noticed his diaper hanging out the leg of one of his shorts.  He had, ahem, "done some business", and the weight of it caused the diaper to slip off his rump and fall to his ankles.  I'm glad I wasn't the one to clean the mess underneath.  My wife was gone for 10 minutes.  At least he carries his own weight in the airport....if you don't count the fact he's walking AWAY from me (I'm in the red pants and gray shirt behind him, walking the opposite direction).

6)  I'll post a longer entry on this topic tomorrow.  America doesn't know service.  If you really want to understand why companies are shipping their call centers, manufacturing, and everything else they can to Asia, don't just look at the price.  You have to examine the attitude.  Our experience in Economy Class on Singapore Airlines was far superior to our experience in Business Class on Delta.  Airport workers in the U.S. come across like you are interrupting something more important when you just want them to do what their company pays them to do (the gate agents for the severely delayed Alaska Airline flight were a notable exception).  Workers in the hospitality industry in Asia welcome you like an honored guest at a State dinner.  In the U.S., they treat you like the odd kid with smelly clothes who just had the audacity to sit at the table of a clique two levels too high for his High School social status.  I provide several examples of the stark differences in my post tomorrow (Hint:  We wouldn't have been in a limo if the Super Shuttle representative hadn't been such a jerk).

We're now safely at our home in Jakarta and, for the most part, managing the jet-lag quite well.  My daughter starts school at 6:40 AM tomorrow morning.  That will be the true test of how well our sleep schedules adjusted during our two days of return flights.  I'm prepared to continue my jump in to the coffee consumption pool with both feet.  I'll probably need the caffeine.

Culture Differences Work Both Ways

Over the past year, my company has been working on a major project involving all facets of the business, including technology.  This is a global project managed and driven from our corporate headquarters.  The project has afforded several members of my staff to make their first ever trip to the US; for some, it was their first time ever leaving Indonesia.  This week, I held a team meeting to announce some promotions and hand out awards for a program I initiated at the beginning of the year.  We took the opportunity to ask our global travelers to share anecdotes from their trips to the US.  Here are three of the funnier ones:

1)  In Indonesia, like Britain and Australia, traffic drives on the left side of the street, not the right.  This is more pervasive than you would ever imagine.  For example, next time you're walking towards someone in the hallway, move left instead of right and watch their reaction.  It isn't natural.  One of my staff had a layover in San Francisco and needed to catch a shuttle bus to the hotel.  He stood on the curb for nearly an hour and didn't understand why the bus wasn't coming.  Then he realized, he was on the wrong side of the street.  Similar problem when he walked up to the bus and didn't understand why there wasn't a door.

2)  Live in Phoenix long enough and you're sure to hear someone complain about how bad the traffic is.  Having a twenty minute commute is often grounds for bragging rights at a social event.  By US standards, Phoenix traffic is bad.  It's usually in the top 10 of national surveys for bad traffic.  One of the things that EVERY member of my staff said the liked so much about Phoenix?  No traffic.  When you are comparing it to Jakarta, where a 7 mile drive can take 90 minutes on a good day, Phoenix traffic is heavenly.

3)  Language is another interesting challenge.  My good friend, Pete Faur, discusses on his blog the difficulties foreigners have with the word "fix".  Add the phrase "to go" to this list.  In Jakarta, if you plan to eat somewhere other than the restaurant, or you want a doggie bag, you use the phrase "take away".  One of my employees approached the counter at McDonald's and placed his order.  As is customary, the person behind the counter asked:  "Here or to go?"  He had no idea what she meant so he replied:  "I want to eat.  If not here, where should I go?"

I feel their pain.  It's also why I have much more sympathy for the immigrants who come to our country and struggle to learn our language. It isn't easy.  It's so idiomatic, so full of slang, even when you think you grasp it, you don't.  And when it comes to something as important as legal rights, medical care, or the democratic process, I would prefer new citizens to have the option of fully understanding their rights through use of their native language.  I don't think this is too much to ask.

In Singapore Again

Singapore has become our home away from our home away from home.  To a large degree, I feel I know Singapore better than I know Phoenix!  This trip, however, is unlike any of our prior trips:  the incentives are mixed.

My wife and I vacillated on whether I should make this trip alone or if the family should come with me.  We're always up for a trip to Singapore, even if just for a few days.  We often make mini-vacations out of our frequent medical trips because insurance pays for the airfare and lodging, and we make up the difference for adding the kids, meals, etc.  Taking this approach has minimized the time we spend apart.  If we knew for sure I'd be here one day, I would have come by myself.  Because there is a chance I'll be here a full week, we eventually decided everyone should come along.

So for this trip we're in a quandary.  We can all use some extended time away from Jakarta.  But I'm on medical leave, not vacation.  If my test tomorrow comes back negative - which is good news - we return to Jakarta tomorrow so I can be back at work on Tuesday.  If the test confirms the original results - which is bad news - my family will remain in Singapore as I begin treatment.  In order to get the enjoyment of staying longer in Singapore, I need a positive test for glaucoma.  Poor incentives.

We tried to start this trip off on the right footing.  We left Jakarta early afternoon.  This allowed us to sleep in normally and even have a traditional Sunday morning in Jakarta.  We arrived in Singapore while it was still daylight and had dinner at a normal time.  Plane was mostly empty, we were no worse than third in line at check-in and immigration in Jakarta and Singapore.  No waiting for a taxi once we landed and no traffic on the ride to the hotel.  The timing was great.

Unfortunately, my son has added a new wrinkle to our travels.  For the first time, as he watched the plane leave the ground, he absolutely flipped out.  He didn't calm down until we closed the window shades and he could no longer see outside.  The process repeated itself when we opened our shades for landing - a regulatory mandate.  After all of our traveling he has apparently developed a fear of heights.  I can only hope this is temporary.  It's not exactly easy to reason with a sixteen-month-old.

In any event, we're back in Singapore staying at the Shangri-La Hotel.  My daughter had the same reaction as our last stay here.  This time, instead of one of the tower rooms, we're in one of the more exclusive "Garden Wing" rooms.  Totally inadvertent.  Apparently my secretary and I miscommunicated.   I also didn't pay close attention to the details when she gave me my itinerary.  So I'm paying $100 more per night than I had intended.  It's quite nice, and, with the new baby in July drastically reducing our travel opportunities, we weren't going to use my full travel allowance for the year, anyway, so I don't mind the additional indulgence.

So I guess now we just have to hope we stay long enough to enjoy it?  Ugh, what to wish for....

Travel observations

We have become a traveling cliche.

When I was traveling to Indonesia on business, I saw a lot of families on vacation.  It was easy to pick them out of a crowd because they always fit the same pattern.  As we made our way through the Singapore airport on Sunday, I realized we, too, fit that pattern.  Father in the lead acting as guide and family pack mule.  He is holding the tickets and passports in one hand, searching for the right gate, and carrying all of the family's carry on luggage.  Mother following with kids in tow, looking weary in a way only a mother with young children can.  Often carrying the baby with one arm and holding the hand of one or more other children.  She doesn't really care where she is going as long as they get there quickly.  She definitely isn't paying attention to anything other than staying close to her husband and keeping the children occupied.

That is now us.  We're among the traveling families who just want to make it through to our destination in one piece and without strangling any of the children.  We also hope the young one doesn't scream at the top of his lungs for any extended duration of the flight.  Nothing adds tension to a group of people in a big metal can 30,000 feet in the air like a crying baby.

I think we'll have to explore traveling the way many of the wealthy Asians do - with their nannies.  On the 70 minute flight to and from Singapore we always fly coach.  I try to limit our business class tickets to flights over four hours duration.  Because we travel with an infant, we get the first row of economy because they can setup a bassinet.  On our return to Jakarta, a young Indonesian family with an infant boarded the plane with two nannies.  The couple proceeded to sit in business class with the infant.  After the nannies helped prepare the baby, they went to their seats in economy.  About half way through the flight, the baby started to cry.  The mother tried soothing her for a few minutes, then looked expectantly back to the nannies for help.  They rushed from their seats and calmed the child down again.

And they call the US a nanny state!

I don't know what the fuss was about.  The baby's cry wasn't very loud.  Of course, I'm comparing her cries to those of my son who decided that the flight back to Jakarta was the perfect opportunity to try out both a new pitch AND a new volume level.  Freddie Kruger never heard screams like that.  Thankfully, the flight attendant distracted him with the sophistication of a sticker.  He stared in awed rapture at the wonders of sticky paper as it stuck to noses, cheeks, fingers and hair.

Thank God for the simplicity of a child's mind.

Closing out our US Trip

The last week of our trip to the US was as busy as the first.

Tuesday and Wednesday we spent in Sedona.  My daughter was very excited to climb a mountain and was very disappointed when we did not climb to the top.  She always likes our trips to Sedona and this visit was no exception....though leading up to the trip she kept telling everyone she was going to Barcelona on Tuesday.  My son took advantage of our time in Sedona to begin walking unassisted.  This newly discovered mobility has him wreaking more havoc than ever before.

Thursday, I met my good friend Peter Faur for lunch (if you have not checked out his blog, you really should - great stuff).  Pete was helping me setup a meeting with Bob Begam to discuss becoming an author.  When that meeting didn't occur, Pete and I decided to just meet ourselves and had a great discussion.

Before and after our lunch, I spent my day running errands while my wife and kids spent time with my wife's sister who also has children just a few weeks separated from our own.  I shipped two boxes back to Jakarta.  The first one contained 120 pounds of food.  Shipping it to Jakarta increased the cost of the food by 50%....which still gave me a 50% savings over what it would cost to buy in Jakarta.  When the clerk asked me what I was shipping and I said "120 pounds of Jell-O", she laughed.  Then I showed her the receipt and she realized I was serious.  Well, it was actually more like 60 pounds of Jell-O, and 60 pounds of salsa, beans, cake mix, frosting (which you cannot find in Jakarta), peanut butter, baby food and cereal.  The other box was all the toys from our son's first birthday party.

Thursday night we toured the potential site for our new store and then met my sister and her new husband for dinner.

Friday we spent the morning tying up loose ends and returning things to our house in Phoenix that we did not want to bring back with us to Jakarta.  We left our hotel around 2:30 and dropped off the rental car and made our 5 PM flight.  Walking on the plane, I noticed that our CAO was on the same flight.  We spoke briefly and discovered he would be on all the same flights to Jakarta.  We were both flying Business Class, and I was worried my son would have a repeat performance of our trip to the US and keep the boss of my boss', boss', boss awake the whole time.

We had a two hour layover in Los Angeles and took advantage of the Business Class lounge to let our son practice his new, yet wobbly, walking skills.  We hoped it would fatigue him enough that he would sleep most of the flight.  Flying to the US, we had a stopover in Tokyo.  Returning to Jakarta, we were on the new Singapore Airlines all Business Class direct flight from Los Angeles to Singapore.  The plane is much smaller (it's not a 747), but the whole plane is Business Class - 39 rows of 1-2-1 seating.  On a normal flight, we would have been a few feet from my CAO.  Thanks to this new flight option, we were 20 rows back.  Our son slept most of the flight, so it wouldn't have been an issue, anyway, but I was glad to have the separation.

For those of you who asked, we were not affected by the erupting volcano.  It is on the same island as Jakarta, but quite far south.  The airport in the city nearest the volcano (which we visited in January) was still open - and remains open even today.  Volcanoes are regionally catastrophic, but the region is small.  For Mt. Merapi, the emergency zone is a 12 mile radius around the volcano.  See the A and B points in the below map.  The volcano is over 300 miles from us.  We are very safe.


View Larger Map

Back in the US

For the first time in eighteen months, my family and I are back on U.S. soil.  This is our son's first trip to the United States.

Our day started at 3:30 AM in Jakarta.  Our travels took us from Jakarta, to Singapore, to Tokyo, to Los Angeles and, finally, to Phoenix.  Five cities, four security checks, three planes, two children, and zero sleep.  My son is not a good flier.  He doesn't sleep well, he shrieks like a bored parrot and he needs to be in constant motion.  His favorite activity on the flight?  Climbing the stairs.  On the plus side, all of the flight attendants lavish him with attention, which means we're well taken care of.  I'm leaning towards the reimplementation of my rule about not flying with kids under two.  It's brutal.

Our flights were mostly uneventful.  Turbulence on the Tokyo to Los Angeles leg, delays from LAX to PHX.  My mom, her fiance, my grandmother, my sister, and my sister's fiance met us at the airport.  This was the first time my mom and grandmother were able to meet our son.  He did not disappoint.

We went directly from the airport to the rental car company, and from the rental car company directly to Chipotle.  We intentionally skipped breakfast on the flight to LAX so we would be hungry enough to finish our Chipotle meals.  After dinner, we crashed.

My son has decided he wants to be on Jakarta time even though we are in Phoenix.  We all went to bed at 9 PM, he woke up at 2 AM.  I woke up with him.  Finally went back to bed at 5 AM.  The only meal I had for the day was a Chipotle Steak Fajita Burrito in the late afternoon.  Two meals, two Chipotle visits.

It's now 5 AM Sunday.  My son is just now going back to bed after waking me up at 1 AM.  I am NOT going to miss my full day of NFL football.  Not going to happen.  I may just have to start drinking coffee.

Oh, and my son's first birthday party is this afternoon.  I should probably be awake for that.  After the last two nights, he should be happy he is able to celebrate it!

The Adventure has begun

The next few weeks of blogs will introduce a new character - my niece from Chicago. We have invited her to join our family on this vacation to assist with keeping track of the kids. On a major vacation like this, I tend to focus on transit connections for flights, trains, shuttles as well as planning out the daily activities based on when events occur. My wife is, for the most part, left with keeping tabs on the kids. Our niece, who graduated last week and will be attending Illinois State in the fall, will help in both areas.


Our journey began simply enough when I left work at noon to return home and finish packing, eat lunch, and leave together as a family. We were out the door, as planned, by 3 PM to arrive at the airport by 5 PM for our 7 PM flight. Other than a complete mental lapse that I cannot yet claim as a "senior moment" when I forgot to fill out the requisite immigration cards, everything was uneventful. We cleared customs by 5:30 and spent the rest of the time before our flight in the airline lounge enjoying fresh juice and fruits.

We flew Singapore Airlines from Jakarta to Singapore, and Lufthansa from Singapore to Paris. Our connecting Lufthansa flight left Jakarta at the same time as our Singapore Airlines flight left Jakarta. Going forward, I need to rethink how I use online booking websites (Orbitz, on this trip). At the recommendation of Singapore Airlines, I tried to check in with the Lufthansa ticketing agents for our connecting flight. They informed me they could not, and that I should try it online from the lounge.

When I got to the lounge, I tried to check-in for our connecting flight. Lufthansa had no record of me by either the credit card I used to book the flight, or by the reservation number Orbitz had given me for how Lufthansa would recognize me. I was disappointed, but not really concerned. When I checked in with Singapore Airlines, they saw we were booked all the way through to Paris. I was a little nervous about the 90 minute layover not being sufficient now that I needed to get a boarding pass upon arrival, but, flying Business Class, I knew I would get preferential and expedited treatment.

We left for our gate at the allotted time - 30 minutes before our 7:05 PM departure. Then we waited. And waited. And then we boarded...and waited. Our flight left ninety minutes late. Our connecting flight was leaving Singapore at 11:05 PM and we were now scheduled to arrive at 10:40 PM, and I needed to get boarding passes.

Now I was concerned. We had to fly from Singapore to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Paris. Our flight was scheduled to arrive in Paris one hour before my niece's flight. This was intentional so we could be the ones to find her, and not the other way around. If we missed our Frankfurt flight, we would surely be delayed at least a day. Not good, but my wife and daughter still enjoyed their poached salmon dinner while I enjoyed my usual vegetarian fare.

When we landed, I rushed up the loading dock to the gate while my wife waited for the stroller we had gate checked. To my extreme gratitude, a Lufthansa representative was waiting at the gate looking for me. He loaded us all into a cart, sped through the airport to a transition station where I obtained our boarding passes, and then raced through the terminals again to get us to our gate. Singapore performs passenger security at each gate. There was a small line for Business Class - a much longer one for Economy - and we cleared security just in time to walk up for final boarding of our flight to Frankfurt.

This is probably a good point to introduce the two biggest difference we noticed between Asian based airlines like Singapore Airlines and German based airline, Lufthansa. For us, they really exemplify the cultural experiences we've had with the two countries. On Singapore Airlines, they were very interested in giving us the best, most personal experience possible. They catered to our needs. For example, they staggered the delivery of our meals so my wife could hold our son while I ate, and vice versa. On Lufthansa, the first thing we noticed was all the attendants were six inches taller. The other major difference was Lufthansa was focused on efficiency. Meals served to everyone, at the same time, in the correct order, according to regimented policies. They were more interested in following the book - give kids toys, offer drinks immediately after take off - than on personalizing the experience or catering to our needs. On this flight, the attendant recommended my wife hold my meal on her table while she ate and then give it to me when she finished. We talked them into keeping mine until I requested it. Asians are known for their hospitality; Germans are known for their engineering. The two airlines perpetuate these stereotypes.

Safely on board our flight to Frankfurt, we finally relaxed into our vacation. That's when the turbulence started. There was a huge storm leaving Singapore. We were flying to the Northwest. To our right, below us, were clouds putting on a tremendous light show. To our left, was the blackness of the open sea. Inside the airplane we bounced and swayed. They flight attendants delayed serving meals for about an hour until the turbulence subsided.

At this point, we put our daughter down for the night, and the airline installed a bassinet for our son on the wall in front of my wife (we were in the first row). As we made our way over the Indian subcontinent, passing over Pakistan and Afghanistan and into western Russia, the turbulence began anew, and much worse. Turbulence never bothers me, but I had trouble sleeping. You can imagine what my wife, who is not a good flier to begin with, was going through. We landed in Frankfurt unscathed and on time at 5 AM, Saturday, local time, 10 AM Jakarta.

The Frankfurt airport was an experience unto itself. We had a two hour layover before our flight to Paris and had to change terminals. We deplaned, and went through customs. No forms, just gave them our passports, told them how long we would be in Europe, and they stamped our passports and waved us through. From there, we walked for about ten minutes down winding hallways to pass through security. The first security checkpoint we arrived at sent us to a different checkpoint further along that screened children. Apparently all the other airports have been doing it wrong by having adults and children follow the same screening process. After clearing security, we finally were able to head to our gate. This meant taking an elevator down, riding people mover conveyor belts through a long tunnel, taking another elevator back up, and walking 32 gates - another twenty minutes. Thankfully, the business class lounge was near our gate, so we stopped for some more hydration and a quick bio break.

Our pilot flying to Paris must have received training from Danica Patrick. She piloted the lane through the airport runways faster than any other plane I've been on. The actual flight was uneventful, until the landing. Five minutes into our final descent, after receiving clearance to land, we were hit with turbulence from the side. Pretty severe turbulence. Like an inexperienced driver trying to gain control of a skidding car on the winter ice, our pilot over corrected. First we jerked hard to the left, then hard to the right, before levelling out again. The plane filled with nervous laughter, and we landed safely in Paris.

Then confusion set in. We had gate-checked our stroller in Singapore all the way through to Paris. When we exited the plane, we asked where they would deliver the stroller. The flight attendants told us to wait at the top of the ramp. At the top of the ramp, there were arrows directing passengers to the right to claim their baggage. The right was roped off, so you had to turn left. This is where we're standing, underneath errors pointing the wrong direction. A group of elderly Americans got so confused, they stood next to us, watching everyone else on the plane go to the left. We told them to go left. We told them we were waiting for a stroller. They just stood there. Finally, a uniformed airline representative told them the same thing we did - "go left" - and they did. She also told us the stroller would be at baggage claim.

We went left, following everyone else, and arrived at baggage claim. Everything was there - except our stroller. It never made the flight. Thirty minutes later, our niece arrived. We gathered all the luggage that did show up, and followed the signs for the shuttle to the hotel. The shuttle became yet another adventure as everyone was confused as to which bus was which, who had paid and who hadn't (and who thought they paid but the agent didn't provide them with an actual ticket), but we all finally made it to our respective hotels.

We arrived too early to check in. Our room would not be available for another three hours. We were tired and needed showers. My son was tired and needed a stroller. We opted instead to eat for the 7th time and pass the time. We finally received our room - twenty minutes early, and our stroller - four hours after they said it would be delivered, and finally crashed for the night shortly before 8 PM.

Change is inevitable; growth is optional

Seemingly every week, I oscillate between to opposing opinions of the merits of seeing the world. On the one hand, this assignment has taught me that seeing the world is not nearly as important as being close to the ones you love. That travelling and seeing the world really adds no value to your life. What do you really gain from seeing the Eiffel Tower (as I've done twice), or seeing the Mayan temples in Yucatan (as I've done twice)? A picture? I can buy one of those in a store and it will be of higher quality than the one I take. Bragging rights? Taking a vacation for the three minutes it takes you to tell the story of climbing to the top of the Mayan temple is an expensive way to get a story. So travelling as a means to an end is pointless.

On the other hand, if you take the time to experience the people, see not just the tourist destinations, but absorb the livelihood, you are enriched beyond your wildest imagination. Most people spend their vacations moving from one tourist destination to the next so they can say they've been there, seen that, done that. You gain very little from that, besides the few historical facts you'll obtain from the guided tour.

What living in Jakarta, versus visiting Jakarta, has taught me is to really gain anything from international travel, you have to experience it. Go and eat where the locals eat, not at the American restaurants, or the ones in your hotel. Find the places where the locals eat (if you can eat there safely). Don't buy a hamburger, try the local favorite. Instead of staying by the pool at your hotel, or only visiting museums and amusement parks, walk the streets. Shop where the locals shop. See where the locals live, love, and play. Take your kids to the parks, the beaches, and the playgrounds that locals do.

I've been to over fifteen nations in my life on over twenty different vacations. The ones I cherish most are the summer I spent in Mexico, the summer I spent in Germany, and my time here in Jakarta. I walked away with a richer understanding of how people in those countries lives, and how they view Americans.

The biggest impact Jakarta has had on me is my view of America, and the American way of life. I won't return a minimalist, but I will return with a much different perspective on the value of possessions. I will return with a much different view of Muslims, and stronger opinions on how the media, especially the conservative media, portray Muslims. Most importantly, I will return with a stronger appreciation for America's capacity to provide opportunity to anyone willing to work hard enough to find it.

Singapore....Finally!

By most accounts, I like living in Jakarta. The people are friendly, accommodating, and helpful (my wife will say too helpful at the department stores). There are a few idiosyncratic aspects of Jakarta, however, that will annoy the typical Westerner...which means they drive me batty!

On our trip to Singapore last night, we experienced one such issue. We arrived at the airport shortly after 5 PM for our 7:30 pm international flight. I still don't have my Indonesian tax ID (it takes 181 days), so I'm still required to pay the $250 'fiskal' tax for myself and my wife anytime we leave the country. You can't pay this tax at airline check-in, and you can't obtain it in advance. To pay fiskal, first you need your boarding pass. Then you have to go to one of the banks in the airport. There are two or three behind every airline's ticket counter. Of course last night, the only ones open were at the opposite end of the airport from where we checked in.

We flew Garuda, which is Indonesia's flagship carrier - it would be like the US having an airline called "Bald Eagle". We received our hand written boarding passes after waiting 20 minutes. I'm not sure if they didn't have a functioning printer, if the airport isn't wired for computers, or if Garuda is just too cheap to buy printers. I know Cathay Pacific can check me in within a few minutes and I get a printed boarding pass. They were nice enough not to charge us for our 14kg (25 lbs) overage on luggage because the extra weight was for a stroller and a car seat.

After a quick bite to eat at an airport restaurant that satisfied none of us, we went to the gate printed on our boarding pass: E4. Empty. Not even a gate agent. Keep in mind that the airports in Jakarta, each gate is a separate room and they typically have you go through security for a third time as you enter the gate. So an empty gate for a flight was a bit odd. At 30 minutes before departure, and still no one else, I decided I'd check the screen outside the gate to make sure it was headed to Singapore. It wasn't. It said Surabaya.

So, now I have to figure out where my plane IS leaving from. This is where it starts to get really annoying. Inside each gate are 7 - 10 large, flat screen televisions. None of them have arrival/departure information. In the terminal, there are dozens of flat screens. Again, none of them have arrival departure information. So, we begin our walk. Luckily, the gate next to us - E5, says "Singapore" and our flight, so we go in there. Still no gate agent, though I verify with others already in the gate that they are headed to Singapore.

Ten minutes to departure and I don't see a plane, and still no gate agents. I'm growing concerned now. Then, a Garuda employee comes over and directs all of us to gate E6. The sign outside E6 reads "Security Check In". No destination, no flight number. There are, however, gate agents who verify our tickets and seat numbers. This is the right place.

We get to the gate, and there is still no plane. 7:30 comes and goes. No plane, no announcement. No arrival/departure information, so I have nothing to review to learn of our new departure time. I ask the gate agent who tells me thirty minutes (8 PM). I return to my seat and they announce our new departure time - apparently I'm not the only one asking - and it isn't 8 PM, it's 8:20 PM. At 8, our plane arrives. At 8:30, I get up and ask them again when we will be leaving. They tell me fifteen minutes. I sit down, and a different agent comes up to us and asks us to board since we are travelling with a small child.

We finally leave Jakarta around 9 PM, arriving in Singapore at 11:30 PM local time. We arrive at our new apartment around 12:30 AM. Other than for a few minutes during descent, our daughter has not slept. She's exhausted. We're exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, so we go to 7-11 for milk, water and dried fruit (oh, and the pregnant one got Doritos and consumed nearly the whole bag!), before going to bed.

We finally fall asleep around 2 AM local time. One thing is for sure, everything is always an adventure. If this assignment doesn't teach me patience, nothing will.