The Hills Are Alive

FROM CAP’N MERYL

“The Hills Are Alive”

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/getline/2005-01-24-ask-the-captain_x.htm
I’d say this was a very exotic week in my relatively new position as a B-777 captain. I was treated to a flight which went to Europe and beyond for a six day extravaganza. I can tell you it’s always fun and exciting to fly somewhere I haven’t been before.
At one time I flew out of Tehran, Iran for a small commuter (as depicted in my book) but I’ve never flown a commercial jet over such countries asTurkey and Hungary. Every country has their own idiosyncrasies and it’s quite the challenge keeping up with all of them.
On one leg, we were treated to a display of Northern Lights that was very out of character. I’ve seen this type of display only once before, as a matter of fact, and that was, of all things, on a flight between Denver and Washington, DC. Instead of the usual blue-green display, this was a solid red stationary blob which eventually seemed to dissipate. It looked like a heavy darkred stain in the sky and I have no idea what gives it this extraordinary appearance.
Later, we saw a more traditional display with the“zipper effect,” where the Lights start small, then suddenly widen up so they’re very high, then shrink again as though a zipper is opening and closing.
But here’s the really exciting part and the reason for this week’s title, which refers to the Alps in “The Sound of Music.” Those of you who’ve read mybook might remember that early on in the book, in the chapter called “Austria,” I traveled to Europe on my sixteenth birthday and resided with a family by the name of Jordan (pronounced “Yordan”) for a few months during that summer in order to attend school and become proficient in German.
After returning to the United States, we exchanged a letter or two but that was about it. Because this recent trip was a charter, it resulted in a layover in Frankfurt of almost 50 hours instead of the usual 27.
On impulse, I jumped aboard a train to Innsbruck, about a six- hour trip. When I got off, I took a cab to my old address at 5 Schulgasse (SchoolStreet) in Hötting, in the foothills of the Alps just outside beautiful Innsbruck. I explained my situation to the driver and he agreed to wait while I found out if the people I was looking for were still there. He told me he was curious himself after I told him a little bit of my story.
The house had been somewhat redone on the outside and I didn’t recognize it other than for the address. When I knocked on the door a woman I didn’t know answered. I explained that I was an American that had lived in this house 35 years before and was there any way she knew the FamilyJordan.
She bought the house from Frau Jordan and had her current address and phone number. The new address was only a 10 minute cab ride away so off we went!
I have to stop here and tell you that for some reason, there often seems to be a musical backdrop to whatever I’m doing. The Hötting house sits on a steep incline, and across a narrow cobblestone street—so narrow two cars cannot even pass—there is an ancient church. As it happens, there was a funeral in progress with a Tyrolean brass band playing in the yard of the church. The musicians were dressed in traditional Tyrolean Alpine shorts, hats with a feather, the whole nine yards. I would have loved a picture and I did have my camera, but I felt it would be in very poor taste so I didn’t taken one. It was difficult to walk up the steep incline back to the street and I couldn’t immediately see the source of the beautiful but serious-sounding music. The day was gray and bitterly cold and the music fit justright.
In any case, we drove to the new address and the cab driver left as the train station was in walking distance should Frau Jordan prove to not be home. The door to the building was locked and I couldn’t find her name to ring so I walked down the street to a payphone.
Frau Jordan is well into her 80’s but it took only a few words for her to freak out completely that I was there and to come down from her 4th floor apartment and get me. She was now living alone in an impossibly neat apartment as Herr Jordan unfortunately died 12 years ago.
When I handed her my book, she said she couldn’t take a gift. Then I told her I was a pilot, that I was the author of the book and that she and her husband were in it! More freaking out took place. She was stunned as this was the first she’d heard of any of this.
I apologized for not letting her know I was coming, but my charter flight was on short notice, there was no time to write and I had been previously unsuccessful in locating her phone number. She was just fine with that but wouldn’t let me take her picture as she was unprepared and felt she looked bad. I asked repeatedly but she declined, so all I got was a picture of her street which is posted on my Photo Gallery now. I’ve posted a few other new photos as well. (Accessible through my website http://www.fromthecockpit.com/)
Finding her after so many years was emotional for both of us. I stayed a couple of hours then walked back to the train station for the stunning ride back through the Alps. I was very tempted to get off at one of the ski resorts but it was snowing so hard in some places I was a little worried about the train shutting down. Even inMunich, there was a blizzard going on. Staying the night in Innsbruck crossed my mind, but it was bitterly cold there and snowing and I would have had to leave early in the morning. So I caught a 2:30 PM train back which arrived in Frankfurt around 9:30 PM after a few transfers.
After arising at 4:00 AM that morning, having had just three hours of sleep after my last flight, I was definitely ready to hit the sack back at my Frankfurt hotel.
I suspect there are people in all our pasts we just never expect to see again; Frau Jordan was one of those people for me. She still speaks noEnglish but has a 38 year old niece (who was 3 years old when I last met her) who is fluent and who I am sure will read her my book.
An amazing trip I’ll never forget and I hope you’ve enjoyed taking it with me.
If you would like to order a signed copy of my book, my offer stands. Just make out check or money order for $22 to WFS, Inc. and send to:
WFS, Inc.c/o Meryl Getline1253 Santa Fe Trai lElizabeth, CO 80107
Cover price is $17.95 and the rest is for Priority Mail back to you. Specify EXACT name for whom book will be signed.

Until Next Time, Maintain Airspeed!
Cap’n Meryl

Terminal Woman

FROM CAP’N MERYL

“Terminal Woman”


http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/getline/2005-01-17-ask-the-captain_x.htm

This week was busy, as always. On Tuesday (Jan. 11th) I spoke to the Desk & Derrick Club of Denver. This is a group of people who either work in the oil field (no, not literally) or are related to those who work in the oil industry.

Although I’ve done over fifty radio, television, newspaper and webcast interviews, this is the first time I’ve faced an audience which expected me to say something without being asked something specific. It’s quite different from being interviewed, as you might imagine. Someone from this group heard me on a local radio program and asked me to be the featured guest-speaker.

I’m happy to say it was a very fun event for me. I started out by saying I don’t do speeches—I just have conversations—this one with sixty of my newest friends. From that statement on it was a piece of cake as I discussed the unexpected reaction to my book “The World At My Feet.”

I wrote this as a fun book, an autobiographical work which follows the unexpected path I followed when I decided to become an airline pilot in a world where women were not accepted in this profession.

The reaction I expected was one of amusement, and although that has been present, it hasn’t been as prevalent as the “highly inspirational and motivational” reviews I’m consistently getting.

And that reminds me: If you would like to order a signed copy of the book, my offer still stands. Just make out check or money order for $22 to WFS, Inc. and send to:

WFS, Inc.
c/o Meryl Getline
1253 Santa Fe Trail
Elizabeth, CO 80107

Cover price is $17.95 and the rest is for Priority Mail back to you. Specify EXACT name for whom book will be signed.

After my speech, I flew to San Diego where I attended my brother Ned’s (A.K.A. Smokey Joe, for those of you who’ve already read my book) 60th birthday dinner. It was a family reunion of sorts with all three of my brothers in attendance along with my parents and a few other relatives and friends. I’m fortunate in that my whole family is still alive and well.

From there it was on to Los Angeles where I taped a second half-hour segment (the first was a month ago) for the Gregory Mantell Show, which airs on Time Warner, Adlephia and Comcast in the Los Angeles area. Times for these and other broadcasts can be found on my website by clicking the Media Links button. Website is http://www.fromthecockpit.com/.

You’ll also find my Photo Gallery on the website. I’ve added a few more photos, all of which were taken within the last week with the possible exception of one sent in my one of my readers from Canada. I think you’ll enjoy his shot of the Rocky Mountains.

Then, early Friday morning I appeared on Fox News’ “Good Day in L.A.” on their “Ask The Expert” segment. From there it was straight back to LAX to hop a flight back to Denver. The airplane was full so I rode in the cockpit on the way home. It was a little embarrassing when the copilot turned around and said, “Didn’t I just see you on TV?” That set the stage for some interesting conversation all the way back to Denver as both pilots quizzed me about why I was on TV, the book, which was mentioned on TV, what’s it like behind the scenes, etc. etc.

When I last left off the travel portion of my previous Weekly Update, I had just finished laying over in Narita, Japan. Next stop was Seoul, Korea. We had absolutely gorgeous weather as we took off in the afternoon. The scenery was spectacular, with the dark blue waters of the Sea of Japan and the coastlines of both Japan and Korea clearly in view.

This brings me to the title of my update: “Terminal Woman.” I named it after the Tom Hanks movie “Terminal” which, if you’re unfamiliar with it, is about a foreign guy who, for political reasons, is not permitted to leave JFK Airport after he arrives in the U.S.

This was a short layover and, as it happens, the hotel we use is inside the airport. That’s just as well because this new airport is about 30 miles from the city of Seoul and we were short on time. Previously, in the late eighties, we flew into Gimpo Airport which was much closer to town.

When we got off the airplane in Seoul, we were immediately outside Security. So we went right back through again as the hotel is located inside Security. We never cleared Customs or Immigration or any of that.

We arrived late in the evening and the whole crew went to bed. About two in the morning I got up and went out into the terminal, and it was a scene right out of “Terminal.” It was just me and vast, empty corridors of Seoul’s Incheon Airport. Kinda spooky—kinda neat in its own weird way. This airport is large, very new with lots of glass and steel, and very spread out; I’m sure I walked the better part of a mile up and down the empty vastness of the completely deserted terminal.

When morning came I was really hungry and made the mistake of going to the hotel restaurant for toast and coffee. I made an interesting observation there: Korean waitresses, at least in this restaurant, do not walk—ever. They run. Even so, my one cup of coffee (bad) and toast (cold) was ten dollars! Highway robbery for coffee and toast any way you slice it (bad pun). I was somewhat mollified when they gave me a 40% crew discount—but still!

The flight back to Narita was just as pretty as the day before, but instead of the Sea of Japan being the intense dark blue of the previous day, it was churning with whitecaps and foam. The land around Tokyo is shaped somewhat like a triangle. As we approached it we could see what looked like a very angry sea beating upon the exposed coastline. But then, as we crossed over from one side of the triangle to the next, we saw an utterly calm coastline and quiet beach on the side protected from the wind.

We flew very close to Mount Fuji on the return and I once again bemoaned the fact that my camera’s battery had run out of juice. (No more—I ordered a spare for future trips in case I get fooled again by what looks like a fully-charged battery when it really isn’t).

Because of the direction of landing, we made a wide circle around the airport before finally landing to the south. My copilot pointed out the giant Budda I’d seen before only in pictures as we made our final turn toward Narita airport.

Another full day at our layover hotel in Narita, where I partook of the Japanese baths, whirpool and gorgeous indoor swimming pool. The ceiling is glass and it was an interesting vantage point as jumbo jet after jumbo jet flew just overhead on their departures from nearby Narita Airport.

Next night it was off to Chicago. We were treated to a rather subdued but nevertheless beautiful display of northern lights as we flew along the Aleutian chain. I pulled up the weather in Denver and in Barrow, Alaska, just on a whim. Barrow is on the north coast of Alaska and stays dark for months in sub-zero temperatures, but on this night the temperature was colder in Denver—just 6 degrees Fahrenheit. It was practically balmy in Barrow—15 degrees Fahrenheit. Last time I was in Barrow it was about 40 degrees below zero. That was in the early eighties when I flew extensively in Alaska.

We had great weather all the way on our flight until we got to Chicago, where a blizzard was in progress, but we made it in just fine and that was the end of another enjoyable, interesting and educational trip. With the weather really bad in Chicago and our flights very, very full, I went to a hotel to get some sleep before heading back to Denver and home.

Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed!
Cap’n Meryl

Mama-Sans & Big Macs

FROM CAP’N MERYL
“Mama-Sans & Big Macs”
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/getline/2005-01-10-ask-the-captain_x.htm I have good news and bad news. First the good news: My trip to Tokyo and Seoul was super-interesting as well as super-fun. The weather was spectacular with blue skies and mild temperatures, unlike the blizzard we found upon our return to Chicago. Now the bad news: I’ve never been much of a photographer and misinterpreted my camera to be fully-charged when in fact it was only partly charged, so I got a few enroute photos but for my actual forays into the town of Narita, Japan, I had no camera. The battery isn’t replaceable but must be recharged, which I’m afraid learned the hard way. I’ll have to wait for the next time around to get the great shots I wanted at the Buddhist Temple in Narita, Japan and some other missed shots. We flew right by Mt. Fuji on the flight from Seoul to Tokyo and I was kicking myself the whole time over not having my camera available. I attended a Buddhist ceremony at the temple in Narita and kneeled on the floor along with everyone else, listening to the chant of the monks and absolutely the biggest, loudest drum I’ve ever seen or heard. The hum of the chanting, the fragrance of the incense, and the pounding, relentless drumbeat all combined to be mesmerizing. The narrow street leading to the temple was thronged with people and vendors hawking roasted chestnuts and a variety of Japanese goodies. Loudspeakers played Japanese music. I’ve learned once again (well, apparently I haven’t learned that well) to never look into the open buckets outside the various shops. Invariably there’s something live and squirming in there and I have a weak stomach. I, too, was live and squirming after I peeked. At the head of Narita’s main street is a McDonald’s which I remembered from flying to Japan in the late eighties. Since coffee in a Japanese coffee shop— these are new since I was there last—was about $7 per cup with no refills, I went to McDonalds for my coffee and paid about $1 instead. There, just as I remembered, were Japanese women—some young and some quite elderly—in traditional kimonos ordering Big Mac’s. Although my Japanese is limited, I distinctly heard the teenage girl behind the counter ask, “Would you like fries with that?” The word “fries” was said in English but came out “flies”. Maybe it’s just me, but I always get a kick out of seeing scenes like this, just a little out of whack. For those of you not familiar with Narita, its airport serves the Tokyo area. It takes about an hour by train to get downtown Tokyo but I stayed in Narita this trip. Narita Airport itself has gotten fairly interesting since I last flew there on a regular basis in the late eighties. There was only one, long runway then and a feud going on with some local rice paddy farmers. The airport wanted to expand but the farmers wouldn’t relinquish their land. Eventually, some kind of partial success was realized. The airport put in a second, shorter runway which, because of the various fences separating the airport grounds from the rice paddies, makes for a fascinating taxi experience. It’s not only the longest distance I’ve ever taxied an airplane—probably around four miles—but one of the most intricate routes with various holding points where you have to wait for other aircraft to pass before continuing. The B-777 I fly measures about 200 feet from nose to tail and also about 200 feet from wingtip to wingtip. It’s like taxiing an ACRE of property around and you just have to be careful. The pilots cannot see the wingtips from the cockpit, so it can be tricky. There are places where one aircraft must wait in a holding area for another to pass or else the two airplanes would smack wingtips. This would be a bad thing—a VERY bad thing—and yes, it has happened (no, not to me). The flight from Chicago to Tokyo was twelve hours, thirty-eight minutes. Flights over twelve hours require two relief pilots, so there were four pilots in the cockpit for takeoff and landing. Other than that, though, we took turns going back and sleeping or, in my case, catching up on my movie-watching. While still over the United States, a Royal Canadian Air Force C-17 flew over us. They were on their way to Indonesia to help with the tsunami relief effort (as were some of our passengers). I later saw the crew interviewed on CNN International from my hotel room in Japan. In the Photo Gallery, you’ll see a great shot of an American Airlines B-777 flying the same route we were, two thousand feet higher. We were at 36,000 and they were at 38,000. Please notice who is passing whom (if it isn’t obvious, we were passing them). We met up with the crew going through customs in Narita and they said they got some great shots of us! This update is getting long so I’ll save more about this trip for next time. This coming week I’m busy visiting with family and doing some TV interviews out in Los Angeles, including Fox News Live’s “Ask The Expert Segment” which will air live at 5:45 AM this Friday, January 14th if you locals care to watch. I won’t have any new flights to tell you about in any case, so…… Until Next Time, Maintain Airspeed! Cap’n Meryl

New Year's at 35,000 Feet

FROM CAP’N MERYL New Year’s at 35,000 Feet
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/getline/2005-01-03-ask-the-captain_x.htm
It’s December 30th as I write this. Tomorrow morning I’m headed up to Chicago to overnight there before heading out to the Pacific on a five day trip to which I was assigned just moments ago. The trip starts on New Year’s Day.
First leg Chicago to Tokyo, then Seoul, Korea, then back to Tokyo, then back to Chicago. Each stop has a layover for about a day.
In the meantime, I’d like to draw your attention to a new feature on my site – the “Photo Gallery.” I always appreciate feedback so if you like the idea of pictures from various spots around the world I hope you’ll let me know. When you enlarge a picture for viewing, be sure to click your browser’s BACK button. If you close the picture, you’ll find that you’ve closed my site.
Also, I’ve been booked on a radio talk-show that will be a webcast. That’s not until Jan. 25th so I’ll give you notice closer to that date. This is good because normally the radio interviews I do are very localized. This one will be broadcast from 1150 AM KKNW in Washington and anyone can sign onto the Internet to hear it. It won’t be archived, however.
I always take New Year’s rather seriously. I think about what went right this year and what went wrong. I think about the year ahead and mentally go over all the things I want to accomplish. In fact, I almost always write this list down as it tends to be pretty long each year. This year I’ll be somewhere out over the Pacific as I go over my New Year’s List, and that makes it somehow even more poignant than usual. Looking at all that blue always brings things into perspective with its calming effect.
Most of all, I count my blessings each New Year’s. I’m not lying in a mud puddle in Indonesia starving to death and miserable, waiting for help to arrive, and hoping it arrives. I’m not in Iraq in a dirt hole wondering if I’ll be blown to bits any second. I have a job—at least for the moment—that I love, I have a roof over my head and I have people in my life I love and who love me.
I wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year!
Until Next Time,Maintain Airspeed!Cap’n Meryl