Rocking out in Majuro

August 8, 2006 – 7:08 AM – A couch, an office, but no bag


Just to let everyone know, regardless of what airline representatives tell you, luggage cannot be checked through an international layover. You must retrieve your bags if you have an international layover and recheck them if you wish them to reach your final destination with you. I flew from Idaho Falls -> Salt Lake City -> Vancouver -> Honolulu -> Majuro. The dude at the Idaho Falls airport assured me that my bag would be checked to Honolulu where I would have to recheck them due to having an overnight layover there. Once I arrived in Vancouver, I confidently sauntered through customs and up to the Air Canada gate. The nice Canadian lady asked me where my bags were. I told her they were checked through to Honolulu. She said they were not. I became sad.

Thus, I had to backtrack across the entire airport and through customs (the other way) before I reached the baggage carousel where my bags were spinning. Unfortunately only one arrived. The other one never made it out of Salt Lake City. I was told that it would be sent on the next flight from Salt Lake City to Honolulu and that I could claim it in Honolulu. However, the next flight to Honolulu would not be until next morning and would arrive precisely one hour after I would have departed for Majuro. Therefore, it will (hopefully) be sent on the next flight to Majuro which arrives in about three hours.

On a bright note, I had my first celebrity sighting. Showing up when and where a celebrity is scheduled to make an appearance does not count as a celebrity sighting. Rather, a celebrity sighting must be an accidental meeting. For some reason I have managed never to have a celebrity sighting… until the Vancouver airport. As I was waiting in the security line, I noticed that the man waiting in the line beside me looked very much like Charlie from The West Wing. Ironically, I encountered a similar situation four years ago at Princeton. I was debating and saw a dude who looked like Charlie (maybe it was because he was wearing a suit). Anyways, I approached him and asked if he was Dule Hill. He answered rather curtly that he was not and scoffed at me. I became sad. So this time, in the security line, I was a bit scared to ask the man if he was Dule Hill. Hell, what if it was the same guy from Princeton? Instead, I kept craning my neck to try to sneak a glance at the name on his boarding pass. Finally, when he showed it to the security check attendant, I saw it. YES! It was him!

Satisfied, I went on my merry way down the moving walkway while he stopped off to look at some magazines. But half way down the moving walkway I decided that I had to at least talk to him. I mean comeon, this was my first celebrity sighting! And it was Charlie! I got off the moving walkway and walked back to the magazine stand and asked if he was Dule Hill. He said that he was and I told him that I was a big fan of The West Wing and introduced myself. He said thanks and shook my hand. That was it. I left him alone afterwards. Later I saw some dude accost him for a picture and he agreed. Damn, I wish I would’ve thought of that.

So here I am in Majuro. I have no place of my own yet so I’m staying on an old lady’s couch. I moved into my office yesterday and rearranged it a bit to my liking. I made sure that the desk faced outside so I would seem more accessible. I organized the bookshelf and moved it to the side. I even set up a few chairs and a table inside the office so students can come in and work on their FAFSAs/applications with me in my office. I’ll take a picture of it once I’m more settled.

I stopped by the Ministry of Education to inquire about the status of my application for employment. Apparently the hold-up occurred because the position was originally advertised in the same announcement as classroom teachers. Thus, they were afraid that they may have confused potential applicants and decided that they would have to readvertise the counselor position separately from the classroom teacher positions. They did, and the deadline is this Friday. I’m still the only one who’s applied. With any luck, by mid-next week I’ll have something concrete regarding my employment.

Alright, now it’s time to go to work and then go claim my luggage.