Instant noodles were rolled out on my 13 hour flight from Toronto. Nothing like some mr. Noodle to get me in the mood for my upcoming 10-day trip to the mainland (with 2 days in hong kong). The new power plugs on the Boeing 777 made the thirteen hours bearable as I cranked out some exam blitz material. The Asians around me on the plane, now satiated by the instant noodles, pulled out their engineering/math/computer science degrees and evaluated my work from afar. I arrived in Beijing where the mob was divided between "foreigners" and "nationals". I went into the foreigners line.