Danny ChaiAt a little past 3 PM, we leave the Museum of Television and Radio (we watched an old episode of SNL (Lorne Michaels left the show for a few seasons and he shows nearly no clips from the seasons he was gone, which featured like Billy Crystal, Martin Short and Christopher Guest, so I wanted to see what those shows were like) and the pilot episode of Growing Pains at Jieun’s request) to walk to our hotel. On the way we realize we left a bottle of milk in the fridge in the room when we checked out.
You have to understand that milk is like gold – it takes so much work and effort to produce that it’s a true treasure. We value every drop. Definitely not something you just casually throw away. So anyway, once we realize that, Jieun runs on ahead, getting run over by a bike in the process. I get to the hotel at a little after 3:30, but to make a long story short, the hotel takes forever to find out what happened to the fridge and to get bandages and wipes for Jieun’s cuts, having to go through the “proper” procedures, and we don’t end up leaving until 4:15 for a 5:30 flight at JFK. Not good times. And we aren’t even able to find the bottle.
We end up taking a limo car (not really a limo but a Lincoln Navigator) since the cost going into JFK is comparable to a taxi and, since it’s a flat rate, there’s more incentive to get us there fast. Get to the airport at 5:00, but they close check-ins 45 minutes prior (4:45) so we don’t make it on the flight. After waiting in line for an hour (one ticket agent serving all domestic flights. Curse you, American Airlines JFK) we construct a plan to fly standby to LAX then take a flight out the next morning at 8:00 to SJC. We send our bags straight to SJC, taking out what we need for the night.
The ticket agent claims we have a strong chance of getting on the 7:00 flight to LAX, but it’s full and we don’t make it on. We do get on the next one at 8:45, which arrives in LAX past midnight. Oddly, both flights we’re standing by for have medical emergencies that delay departure. The flight to New York was great – there was an empty seat so we could bring the carseat on. No such luck coming back. With much effort, Jieun gets Abby to fall asleep on her lap, after which she walks funny from her leg being completely numb. Jieun’s words: “we are never flying to New York again.”
Giwoong picks us up from LAX. As we’re walking to the car, I hear someone yell my Korean name – Sunil-shi! I turn around and see the Kims – Daniel and Risa’s parents – driving through the parking lot. I’m so shocked to see them (I thought they lived in Austin) that I leave Abby’s stroller in the middle of a lane to go to their car; meanwhile Giwoong’s car alarm goes off and he can’t stop it, and Jieun’s wondering who these random people are. Chaotic moment.
Anyway, alls well that ends well. The Kims get to meet Abby, Jieun’s family also gets a quick moment with her, and we end up flying into San Jose so Penny doesn’t have to drive so far to pick us up. Exhausting though.
And that was how the Chai family got home from New York. Alesage.