Aikido × Travel: Enjoying an Aikido Seminar and Dojo Visits in Prague, Czech Republic – 02
October 21st finally arrived—the day of our departure.
Our flight was scheduled for 17:55, so leaving home in the afternoon would have been more than enough.
Since I had time, I joined the morning training session before heading out. After lunch, we made our way to Narita Airport, only to find out that our flight would be delayed by about 30 minutes.
I had once missed a connecting flight because of a delay, so the news made me a little uneasy. Still, with more than three hours between flights this time, all I could do was trust that everything would work out.
As announced, the plane took off 30 minutes late. The cabin was completely full—there wasn’t a single empty seat.
The flight to Taipei would only take a few hours, but imagining spending the following 13-hour Taipei–Vienna flight in the same packed conditions sent a chill down my spine.
Shortly after takeoff, an announcement came on:
“Today’s flight is expected to experience turbulence.”
I’ve been flying since I was a child, yet I still can’t fully grasp how a giant metal object manages to stay in the air. Whenever the plane shakes, my heart rate jumps. I’ve gotten a bit more used to it over the years, but it still makes me tense.
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About four hours into the flight, the special meal I had requested was served.
“You can start eating first,” Mike said kindly.
But with no meals served to the people around us yet, I felt awkward eating alone. Besides, the only drink that came with my meal was water. I wanted to enjoy the meal together with him, ideally with a drink, so I decided to wait.
Just then, the turbulence worsened and the seatbelt sign lit up. Meal service, which had just begun from the front rows, was suddenly suspended.
Even when it resumed, the turbulence kept interrupting it, and Mike’s meal didn’t arrive until about an hour after mine.
After finally receiving their meals, the cabin crew collected the trays almost immediately—there wasn’t much time left in the short flight.
Another announcement followed:
“Due to airport congestion, we will be holding in the air for about 20 minutes.”
We had already departed late, and now we were going to arrive even later. My anxiety grew, but there was nothing I could do except sit and wait.
Eventually, the plane began its descent. The turbulence had been constant, but once we entered the landing approach, it became even stronger.
I had just finished watching a movie and was playing a game with Mike on the in-flight entertainment system, but staring at the screen during the shaking made me motion-sick for the first time in my life.
Beep-beep-beep.
A sudden unfamiliar sound echoed through the cabin. Then it happened again. Soon, the same alert tone was ringing from all directions.
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Our seats were in the middle of the aircraft, right above the wings.
When I opened the window, the wing was right there. In turbulence so strong it would be considered an “emergency level” on a roller coaster, the wing suddenly dipped sharply downward, looking as if it might hit the ground.
The woman sitting next to me—a Taiwanese passenger I had never met—looked at me, and we silently prayed for a safe landing.
And then… we touched down safely at Taoyuan Airport.
But something felt strange. The announcement had said the airport was congested, yet only a few planes were parked outside.
As soon as we landed, the alert sounds grew even louder, and when the woman next to me showed me her phone screen, I was shocked.
The message read:
“您所在地沿海及空曠處易有10級（時速89公里以上）強陣風，請注意人車安全。
Be cautious of Force 10 gusts caused by low pressure and the northeasterly monsoon.
It turned out we had flown straight through a monsoon.
To the captain, the cabin crew, and the aircraft itself—thank you for bringing us safely to Taipei in such terrible weather.
Because of the delay, we now had only 30 minutes until our next boarding time, and we also had to transfer from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1. We needed to hurry.
As soon as we got off the plane, the European passengers who had been sitting in front of us started running. Thinking they might be on the same connection, we followed them.
The security staff quickly understood our situation. Even though I had a bottle of water in my bag, they let us through swiftly.
“The train to Terminal 1 is that way,” one of them said kindly.
I was truly grateful for her thoughtfulness.
On the train, we found the same two passengers sitting across from us.
“Are you going to Vienna?” I asked.
They told us they were headed to Amsterdam and that their flight was scheduled to depart in about 10 minutes. We wished each other a safe journey. When we arrived at Terminal 1, they ran, and we walked briskly toward our gate.
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When we reached the gate, it was surprisingly empty despite boarding time being near. That made me a little nervous, but once I saw our destination displayed on the signboard, I finally felt relieved.
The moment I relaxed, my motion sickness returned, and I ended up throwing up in the restroom. In all my years of flying, this had never happened before.
Soon after, boarding began. When we took our seats, the cabin was nearly empty.
When the flight attendant came to confirm my special meal, I asked:
“Will someone be sitting next to me?”
“That is the plan, but I’m not completely sure,” she replied.
In the end, no one sat beside me.
The economy cabin was divided into front and back sections by the lavatories. In the rear section where we were seated, only about 30% of the seats were filled. In the front section, it was closer to 10%.
The earlier announcement about “airport congestion” was probably meant to keep passengers calm.
And the empty seat next to me—someone must have missed the flight for a reason.
Considering this was a codeshare flight operated by three airlines, such an empty cabin was highly unusual.
Perhaps the fact that we managed to land safely in Taipei despite the severe turbulence was already incredibly lucky.
And maybe my wish—“I really hope the long-haul flight isn’t packed”—had manifested itself in the form of this unusually empty cabin.
The turbulence continued for a while after takeoff, but eventually it settled down and the first meal service began without issue.
After watching others move to more spacious seats, I asked the flight attendant for permission and then moved to an empty row in the center. I stretched out and slept soundly.
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