Similar experience on my first flight to China. We flew over the North Pole, and flew over some mountain range in Russia. Many people were barfing in their complimentary puke bags. It was quite the ride. A few times it felt like we were in zero gravity for a few secondsWhen I went to Japan in 2009 the entire run from the Aleutian Islands down the Kamchatka Peninsula and into Honshu we were in 250 mph headwinds. It was a solid 2 hours of "this sucks" bumps. People were actually praying out loud. The winds weren't as bad down low, but it was still really bumpy. Then on landing, as we were in the ground effect we got hit with a sidewind blast that knocked us off alignment; 10' from the ground and I could see the runway centerline from my seat in the last row of a 777. It was the only actual dangerous part of the flight, and none of the pray people even acknowledged it. lolFront of the plane helps if you have a short connecting flight. Otherwise, you get off 5 minutes early, at the most?
On my recent flight from SFO to CLT, I sat next to a woman in her 20s/30s. Every little bump in turbulence and she completely freaked out. She would start this heavy breathing pattern to calm herself down. Felt bad for her. I don't think I've ever seen somebody so terrified of flying before.
I’ve also been on a flight or two where we were approaching the runway at a severe angle, and at the last second the pilot would hit the rudder and we’d land safely.
