I went back to my homeland this October (2016). I still decided to fly Taiwan's China Airlines, despite the fact the Hainan Airlines sells for two hundred dollars less, and that Xiamen Airlines now has a direct flight from Seattle to Xiamen. Hainan carriers will require me to stop at Beijing airport for one whole night, while Xiamen Airlines does not sell tickets from Portland and Seattle. With China Airlines, I can just check in my my two pieces of luggage at Portland, and they will end up in Xiamen. Besides, I like the food they serve on board, and I like their nice customer service. When I was about to board the flight from LAX to Taipei, their agent asked me if I could just let them check in my walker and carry-on too, for free. I consented, but soon realized that I forgot to take out my medications from the carry-on. What if they lost it? At the destination (Xiamen), I got my two pieces and my carry-on without delay, but my walker was nowhere to be seen. Sensing my anxiety, an agent pointed out where my walker was. It was lying there in plain sight, but wrapped in a big plastic company bag! Then I realized that they also secured my carry-on with a plastic tie-up. What a thoughtful, kind act! What a cultural difference between them and another main-land carrier whose airport stuff would purposefully break bandages on those luggage whose owners chose not to pay them extra for their reinforcement bandaging.

The morning after, I took my 96-year-old mom out to the marketing place, she using the walker. It's mid-October, but the weather is approaching 100 degrees inside and out. However, I had good food, and good time with family and friends.

2016年10月我又踏上回乡之旅。乘坐的仍然是台湾的“中华航空”，尽管比国内的“海南航空”略贵，尽管“厦门航空”已经开通了西雅图至厦门的直航。从波特兰到厦门，乘坐“海南航空”头一天到达北京，去厦门的飞机得隔整整一夜才有。如果乘坐“厦门航空”，他们不卖““通票”，即他们出的票不包括波特兰到西雅图这一段。买华航的票，我的两件托运行李可以从波特兰直接交运到厦门。当然，我还喜欢华航的飞机餐，尤其喜欢他们的人情味。在洛杉矶转机登机前，我被劝说把我的“步行助椅”(walker)和随身箱（carry-on）交给他们免费直接托运到终点。东西带走后，我才记得我的随身箱里有重要的丢不得的东西。一路心里揣揣不安，直到到了厦门终点站。两大件和随身箱很快到了，步行助椅却久久没来。经机场员工指点，我的步行助椅被包在一个标有“华航”的大塑料袋里，所以我没有认出来。他们不仅为我的步行助椅加塑料袋保护，还为我的随身箱加了塑料锁。感动之余，我又想起2007年过一个机场时，那个机场的员工把没有额外交钱给他们加“保护包装”的行李耍流氓：把人家行李上原有的绑绳拉扯掉。这应该就是中华文化和流氓文化的差别了。

到家的第二天早上，我马上带妈妈上街。扶着步行助椅，98虚岁的妈妈又可以上菜市了。不过，家乡的天气还是热了些。我带回来长袖衣一件也穿不上。39度！热归热，亲情与人情，以及满桌佳肴，还是十分可意的。