I AM STANDING in front of a classroom of 15 Laotian teenagers in Phonsavan, Laos. I had read on the Internet that in this somewhat remote northern city, a bit off the typical tourist track, they love it if a native speaker pops in to teach an English class.

I AM KNEELING in a Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I am getting a sak yant tattoo that will be blessed by a monk. Sak yants are mystical tattoos with magical properties which will protect me from harm, bring me kindness and merit.

I’M JUST AN ORDINARY PERSON. I never thought of becoming a flight attendant. I assumed you had to be 5 feet 10 inches tall, drop dead gorgeous and speak five languages. I was none of those things.

I AM SIGHTSEEING in Hong Kong. The sights and smells on the street are overwhelming. The Chinese eat everything, and it is all for sale, coiled up in baskets, hanging from shop windows, crowded in cages.

I AM STANDING in the December cold in Boston along the route of the Olympic torch relay. My flight attendant friend, Mel, a woman in her mid-fifties, has been chosen to carry the torch for 200 yards, a torch lit in Athens

I AM ACCEPTING a pile of freshly laundered clothes, a hotel employee delivering it to my room. Jeans, shirts, socks, undies. Everything ls so cheap here in Kathmandu so I have the hotel do my laundry

I AM WAITING in the jetway in New Orleans with a young passenger and her mother. A motorized wheelchair will be brought up from the cargo hold for this young girl. She has very closely cropped hair,

IT IS LATE and we are serving dinner on a flight from Frankfurt, Germany to the USA. The food catered out of Germany is delicious, crispy schnitzel with fluffy mashed potatoes,

I AM DRINKING in the Officers Club on Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan. I am with my flight attendant crew, having worked a military charter the day before, bringing troops and their dependents to Japan.

I AM WALKING through the fish market in Nagoya, Japan with my guide Takako. I got up early, met her at 7 am, the better to watch the activity in the bustling market. This fish market is more accessible