Christmas is a day of joy, singing and presents. As with every year, people spent time with their families, have parties and just have fun.

Many didn’t ever leave their houses, chowing down on Christmas feasts and relaxing. I, however, spent my Christmas day flying across the Pacific.

“Merry Christmas!” They said. One worker, who was helping an elderly lady, broke out into song, singing what sounded like a Jamaican Christmas carol. Once inside, we passed through the empty security checkpoint with more than an hour to spare. We stopped by a nearby Starbucks and acquired some breakfast, passing by the time while munching on pastries.

At five o’clock in the morning, I scrambled out of bed and into my car, all the while in a daze-like state, to get to St. Louis to catch my nine o’clock flight to LAX. After sleeping the entire two hour car ride, my family and I reached the St. Louis Lambert Airport. When we went to check in, which had a line of exactly one person, the workers were in a cheerful mood.

Once our plane started boarding, we realized that two of our tickets were in the first boarding group while the other two were in the fourth. We all went up together in the first group and asked the gatekeeper if we could all go through together. He waved us through with a smile and a joke, and we settled into our seats.

All of a sudden, a basketball team from Christian Brothers College sits right behind us, bantering and laughing. When I overheard the conversation behind my seats, I couldn’t help chuckling to myself, thinking that the flight had gotten a little bit more bearable. Once we took off, it was smooth flying down to LAX.

We landed without much discomfort and the pilot came on the intercom, wishing us a merry Christmas and being pleased to be half an hour early even with a 110 mph headwind. We had a layover of a few hours, giving us time to stretch and eat lunch. This would be the last time we would have room to stretch for more than 14 hours. That flight would be very uneventful and boring, my time spent either sleeping or watching the inflight movies. By the time the flight landed, Christmas was over, and I was across the Pacific in China.

Traveling on Christmas is different than traveling on most other days. Most of the workers seem to be in a happier mood, and often keep a smile glued on their face. It is nice, being able to chat with the airport staff in a more cheerful way, rather than only when we have problems. Even though my Christmas was boring than most other peoples, it was made better by the Christmas cheer of the airport staff and the decorations they had put up. Flying on Christmas was a joyful experience; it is one of the best days to fly on.
By Derek Wang
Did you travel this Christmas? What was it like for you?