Snakes on a Plane

I was searching the internet to see if I could bring a real python-skin sanshin back to the US* when I came across this article:

"A young woman has been cautioned at Scotland's Glasgow Airport after attempting to smuggle a live snake on a journey from America** to the Netherlands.

Customs officers in Glasgow were carrying out a routine check on the woman when they noticed that her snakeskin belt was in fact a live snake. The harmless reptile had been chilled prior to the flight to keep it in a comatose state but it came to life in the warmth of the airport terminal.

The snake was confiscated and the woman was allowed to catch her flight after being given a warning, according to Scottish newspaper The Herald. "

-- Courtesy of Airline Industry Information, Feb. 18, 2002


Genius.

When I mentioned this story to one of my private lesson students the other day, he came up with a brilliant idea of his own.


Ryu: Hey, didn't you say you're going to have give your goldfish away before you go back to America?

Me: Yeah, the softball team wants to FedEx them back to Seattle for me, but I don't think that'll work so well....

Ryu: You should find a piece of opaque plastic piping, fill it with water, put the goldfish inside, and wear it as a belt on the plane!


It might be worth a try. I'd sure feel bad if my poor goldfish suffocated, though. I suppose every once in a while, I could sneak into the bathroom, take the belt off, and blow bubbles into it....


*Apparently pythons are an endangered species, and it's illegal to bring products made from endangered species into the US, so I settled for a synthetic snakeskin sanshin instead.

** Does this mean that she had already smuggled the snake on a plane once when she flew from the US to Glasgow??? Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to get the sanshin through customs after all....