That Would be Spelled "Gigolo" - Eugene

So my first blog post. Exciting.

Here's a dilemma: do I sleep now and read and watch movies on the plane, or do I stay up all night doing nothing and sleep on the plane?

If any of you have flown long distance in the morning you'll know that this question has no answer that everyone will agree on. It's a more complex version of its close cousin, the "should I just pull an all-nighter through classes tomorrow, or should I get an hour or two of sleep?", because there's another factor at play: jet lag.

Jet lag is a bitch, and like all bitches, it's complicated. In one sense it's like religion: experienced fliers will try to give you their own ideas for overcoming it, like caffeine loading once you get tired and taking a nice, big sleeping pill when you think you should be sleeping, and they expect that their way--and only their way, mind you--will take you to the salvation of your new time zone. In another sense it's like a canker sore: the more you tongue it and try to make it better, the more you'll notice it and suffer.

The only good part about jet lag might be the half-awake state it puts you in constantly for the first few days in a new time zone. When, for instance, I wake up at 3 AM the day after I get back, I feel no less tired (nor more energetic, I suppose) than I did the evening before, when I fell asleep at the Puritanical time of 6 PM. Instead, I'm stuck in an unproductive limbo, incapable of performing anything enjoyably or effectively. So here's where I digress from the original question and post some good games to play while jet lagged (best done with a travel partner):

Staring Contests: Classic, and hysterical for an outsider to watch, because two jetlagged people gazing into each others eyes for an extended period will soon forget what they were doing, and an awkward sexual tension will arise once traveler A mentions how he'd never noticed how gorgeous the green in traveler B's eyes was.

Writing a Journal: Personally I think a person's subconscience really comes out when they're jetlagged, much like when a person's drunk, making this the perfect opportunity to make someone's thoughts permanent by writing them down. Through this method I've learned that my love for Mentos candy is indeed true love, my relationship with Andrew is only based on his looks, and I have a deep suspicion of anyone who wears sequins too often. Wtf am I talking about?

Go Fish(ing): Seriously, I did this once in New Zealand with my great uncle. It's fucking awesome.

But back to my original question, should I stay up now that it's nearly 2:30 AM, or jsut go to bed? Well from my experience recovery from jetlag can't be sped up by any means. Forcing yourself to stay awake til midnight one night doesn't mean you won't be coming to bed at 7 PM the next day. Instead, the best you can do is just sleep through the plane ride and make the transition as fast as possible. That said, it looks like I'll be staying up tonight.

Jet lag is like a bitch in another sense: dealing with it is all about waiting.