Ready to board @ JFK.
Inside the plane, kids are everywhere. Chinese kids with Chinese parents and grandparents.
Five year olds run up and down the aisle. Mid-flight, a couple of ten year old boys play a pushing game with their in-flight pillows near in the emergency door alcove. Across from me, pre-teen twins speak to their grandfather in Chinese and to each other in English.
School is out and everyone is going to visit the family. I've never seen the plane so filled with children.
Fourteen hours later the sun is setting in Beijing. We file off the ramp and into the sweeping gorgeous terminal. The kids are quiet.
The line at customs moves fast.
My taxi driver is pissed because I'm staying near the airport. In-between the gestures and the words I actually understand I realize he's solid with the guys at JFK: he waited in the taxi queue for an hour only to end up with me and a paltry $10 fare.
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