The 12-Hour Overseas Flight The 12-hour flight from Chicago to Tokyo is probably something best left not described. It is part of the price any traveler pays who wants to visit Asia. There is no way around it, so you just have to bite the bullet and ride it out. Like most of the other flyers, we did not fly First Class and we eyed those much wider seats as we filed back to the economy section of the plane where there are about 11 seats to a row, configured 3-5-3. And these seats are no roomier than those coach seats on smaller aircraft. When the guy in front of you reclines his seat, you have very little space between him and your nose. If you could make all of the economy-class seats suddenly vanish, you would be in very close company with a few hundred people. Pretty much, you have to kind of hold still for 12 hours. Trying to get comfortable is a waste of time. You don’t get comfortable; you just get through the experience and that takes time. In the end, the best position was to just sit in the seat and close your eyes. Trying to find the right angle to sleep never worked out. And I underestimated how cold the air-conditioning would be on the plane and left my coat and shoes (I had on sandals) in the stored luggage. Luckily I had an extra pair of socks. Even so, my head was always cold from the hissing air above, although I grabbed about every blanket and pillow I could find. And the in-flight movies in theory make sense, but they were not really good movies and they ended up reminding me of the times when I wake up after falling asleep watching television when I have a fever – something flickering on and on. And the earphones, when they worked, were not much help against the roar of the plane. I am almost done here, with just the food to comment on. The food is really funny. In the beginning, when the flight is young, you get a smart menu card outlining the meals you will be served during your long flight. Hey, it looks pretty good on paper, something to look forward to. But I had a hard time identifying the food that was served with the list on the menu. Is this green gelatinous blob really the ‘Creamed Spinach Soufflé’" Could it be? A greater mistake was to request vegetarian meals or what the flight attendants call "Special Meals." "Does someone in this row have a ‘special meal’?," they would ask. That would be me. The problem is that we did not get vegetarian meals, but someone’s (who for sure is not a vegetarian) idea of a vegetarian meal. For the most part, they were inedible, but we ate them. Meals, no matter how bad, are one of the highlights of these long flights. Meals and bathroom trips are about all the diversion you get. But from now on, I will take the standard meal, meat and all. At least it is recognizable. It is a great kindness that (like life itself) the farther into these long flights you are, the faster time seems to pass. You just kind of give up, let go, and get there. ...back to the opening page go on to the next story...