Awkward things and ness

"bye bye" and "Ayubowan" (or something along those lines)is what the slight attendants always say as you leave a flight. I always find this moment very awkward and despite having come back home numerous times and undergone such instances on many instances, I still haven't figured out how I'm supposed to react to this. I generally opt to grin and nod my head (in a, "thanks for feeding me and bringing me three immigration form thingies" way). But I know that there must be a smoother way of handling things instead of panicking and opting for the most obvious way out (not out of the plane but the situation) as I approach the door.
Leaving that aside, I also happen to be one of those people who turn up before the luggage at the belt to collect it. I have a tendency to get out as fast as possible because I don't like lines so I almost always end up waiting for my luggage instead of in a line at the airport. My record time for getting out of the plane and to the belt is around ten minutes (and I'm mighty proud of it actually). So I just stand there... Trying to look laid back and casual and wait impatiently for my bags to appear and naturally it just so happens that my bags turn up right at the end... I'm assuming it's because there are certain laws that prevent people from exiting an airport without waiting at least an hour. That's just how it is I'm sure.
So not only do I run out of the air plane (because I don't know what to say to the stewardesses) but I also run all the way to the belt so I can wait there. I bet the people in charge of ensuring that passengers remain in the airport for unnecessary amounts of time chuckle to themselves when hey realize that my attempt to get out of the airport was in vain... sigh...
Air ports are such funny places and being the avid people watcher that I am (and no, that doesn't mean I'm nosy. I just people watch) I love just watching people. Naturally. Somehow that's seemed to lost it's charm after two and a half trips back and forth to the States and back in the last year but it's fascinating how different the people at the airports are. I always try to figure out what they're story is and where they(and their story) might be headed...
So after waiting for my luggage which finally made its appearance, I've got home now. Not now as in right now but now as in a few days ago. Unfortunately, thanks to the stay in London and the three different time zones I've been in, my sleeping pattern has gone hay wire and I can no longer sleep until the early hours of the morning. I'm supposed to force my body to sleep but it seems to think otherwise. Jet lag has never bothered me to this extent before so I don't know what exactly to do to get out of this predicament.
In the meantime I've been stuffing myself with goodies, dying because of the heat and watching my hair get electrified thanks to the humidity. I still haven't gotten around to the "Hi I'm back" phone calls yet and I'm hoping it can be put off till the end of the week. I do hate those calls because again, I run out of things to say. What do you say anyway? I don't mind the good friends who know you'll be here and insist on dragging you out of bed at ungodly hours and insisting that
I should maybe change out of my pajamas once the clocks hits two in the afternoon and do something instead. I mean the random people who're friends but not quite good friends, the extended family -including the aunt who calls you three days after you get back to inquire why they hadn't heard from them because they've known my return date for weeks (thanks to my mother). What do I say to them??? I do fine till the Hi, How's America, when are you going back, we should meet up/visit soon but then it just gets awkward because neither one of you know anything about the other persons' life to converse further. I find this awkward. Naturally. I seem to find a lot of things awkward apparently. I also find it somewhat awkward when you do the initial meeting with some people. Everyone I see has pretty much the same reaction which hovers somewhere around "You've put on but that's good you'r not skinny anymore and you've gotten really fair" (I appreciate this a great deal naturally as I'm quite incapable of seeinf all of these things myself). I like seeing my friends and that's why I come home (and because I miss the food) but what about epople you haven't run into for ages and you haven't kept in touch with at all. That's just plain awkward. Anyways, I'm an adult now and I should try to get over some of these and actually make some phone calls tomorrow which means I should get up at a decent hour so now I'm going to attempt to make myself sleep.

p.s. - I'm sorry about the long silence on my part (if you missed me and all). I have several posts I typed while in London and will upload them as soon as my laptop can be connected to the net

p.s. 2 - The friends I mention in this post doesn't include any of the friends whose blogs I stalk. Just in case anyone gets the wrong message. Gutter, Ding and T, it wasn't/won't be that awkward at all. I pinky swear. :)