United Airlines has done away with their JFK to Narita direct flight, which means that this time I ended up on a plane from Washington DC. But this new flight path turned out to be fortuitous, as none other than Christopher Hill, who I have since learned is frequently described as handsome and boyish and has become something of a media darling in Asia was on my flight. I ended up sitting next to one of Mr. Hill’s charming colleagues and we had a wonderful conversation.

I learned a lot about the 5-party talks going on right now. Oh wouldn’t some of you in Korea and China liked to have been a fly on the plane cabin wall for that chat! But rather than writing about the many things we discussed on the plane, I think I’d just like to say the following.

It is very unfair that Mr. Hill managed to get off the plane with his boyishness and handsomeness intact, considering that some of us tend to deplane feeling very bloated and dirty and require several days of detox to begin to feel even remotely human. As for Mr. Hill, why, when I came off the plane, there was a herd of reporters waiting for him, and he smiled and gamely answered their questions, with a sincere smile and a hand gesture here and there, and you’d think he was Obi-wan with some Jedi Mind trick or something. I got to watch Mr. Hill (and the lovely gentleman who sat next to me) on TV for the next few days each time I checked the news. And each time Mr. Hill looked refreshed, with nary a hair out of place, shirts pressed, smile intact. You wouldn’t have guessed he’d just been sitting in this metal tube for 14 hours breathing re-cycled air. And it’s not like he fled to the bathroom to powder his nose or anything. I mean, I was watching.