On Customs & Airports

I keep a vague mental catalogue of customs officers in different countries. Post-9/11, I haven't found any as surly as US ones--though Turkish ones appear to come in a close second. At least they don't eye you with suspicion the way American ones do. And I don't understand why the deadpan demeanor is necessary. Wouldn't it be easier to do your job if you did so with a smile on your face? Or at the very least, if you returned the smiles or even just reacted to "have a nice day" wishes from passengers? I will never understand this.

In other news, I'm on a plane waiting to take off for Vienna. The flight attendant when I got on started directing me to my seat in German--until he saw I looked confused, more so than my usual here, and he laughed, switched to English, and apologized. There's also what appears to be a decently sized group of students on this flight, all speaking German. This is the most diverse flight I've taken on this trip--and it's still Turkish Airlines, just like the rest of them. There's just something I love about hearing Turkish, English (in at least three accents), and German being spoken all around me.

On that note, it is definitely time for a nap.