Second chances: was Air India worth it?

After 3 days of travel, I have finally arrived at my host family's home in rural France, about 45 minutes outside of Paris. I'm excited for a new semester to begin tomorrow morning, even if it means I have to get up and go to school/work like a real person again. It's been nice to have a month off, but reality has finally caught up to me.

My transatlantic flight was the best to date. I flew on Air India, despite a less than desirable first experience with them about 18 months ago. On the way home in the summer of 2006, I contracted whooping cough from a man seated next to me who didn't stop wheezing and coughing on me for the eight-hour flight. I was gravely sick for the following 8 months.

But I couldn't beat the fare, so I went again with Air India. This time around, I was on a newer 777 with a kind crew and delicious Indian food all the way over the pond.

This second impression made me think: how often do we really give things (or people) second chances? It's also interesting to note how quickly one faux pas can destroy trust that's based on much more previous experience. Just within the airline industry, I boycotted Delta after they didn't allow me to carry a guitar on a plane. I was ready never to fly Air India again if I had similar trouble.

Food is another example. I have never liked tomatoes. For many years, this might have been because somewhere in my mind, I had it in there that they tasted bad. Even years after those childhood recollections, I avoided tomatoes. I periodically tried them, but since I had it in my mind that I wasn't going to like them, it made it difficult to give them a fair chance. Recently, I've been trying to eat tomatoes. I reasoned that if millions (and maybe billions) of people around the world don't just eat them but LIKE them, there must be something to them. (Kim Chi was another nice experience in experimenting with interesting foods.) Tomatoes aren't my favorite food (yet--but then again, neither is Kim Chi), but I have tried to eat more of them.

This idea on first impressions has so many applications. I guess the questions I've been asking myself recently--especially in a new setting with so many people to meet--have been, among others:

1. How do people perceive me when they first meet me? Are their first impressions accurate?
2. Whom have I met recently, and to what conclusions have I come? Or jumped? I suppose only time will tell whether they're accurate.
3. Are we wrong to rely so heavily on first impressions, or does the price of being taken in outweigh the consequence of giving second chances? I'm going to keep thinking about this, so I don't think this is the last time I'll bring up the subject.

Well, what are your thoughts? Have I learned anything from this?

By the way...

Hello again all. Here I am, it's after midnight, and I'm at my parents' house in Connecticut thinking about my flight tomorrow. I can't believe I'm leaving again. It's going to be a great trip, but I have to admit, I'm going to miss my friends.

I'm at a time in my life of great transition. I enjoy change, but there are sure to be some big ones coming up soon. I'll be graduating, and my friends and I will be headed in different directions. Studies abroad seem to claim one of us each semester, and the prospect of getting the boys back together again lessens with each departure. We're all doing good things, and the good things are taking us down different roads.

Up to this point, this blog has been mainly a travelogue of my trips to Europe. While I still intend to keep you up to date on my journeys, I would also like to make this blog a forum for thought and reflection. I'll be posting some of what I'm thinking, and I'd love to hear your thoughts and reactions. I'm looking forward to a semester of progress, improvement, and fun. Peace.

A summary/recap

I've got facebook rigged to import my blog entries as notes now, so you'll be able to read up on things from there.

I'm just getting ready to leave for France. I can't believe that by the end of the week I'll be in Paris. It's going to be quite the trip.

I'll try to post at least once a week. Please keep up and feel free to comment on my posts. I'd love to hear from all of you.

Have an enjoyable semester!

Mike, the Euroscapader