No pictures, sorry. Half the time I couldn't have the camera on anyway and the other half I was too busy to take pictures.
We started the day very early at 3:30 am. I had already packed most of my stuff the night before, so we just had to haul my stuff down the stairs, brush our teeth, I ate a banana, and we left around 4 am.
The Luxembourg airport isn't big, but we still got there two hours early to make sure that there were no problems. There weren't, and we proceeded to sit down and wait until the inevitable. Charel and I seem to always have the best conversations right before one of us is about to leave. It's a bit funny how that works.
The time came to go, and sadly I had to say goodbye. I did better with the crying part this time, but I still teared up a lot. There was a Portuguese family in front of us, minus the dad (who was saying goodbye to the kids). The little boy in front of us saw me, and started crying too (or pretending to cry, not sure which). I went through security finally, every time I looked back, Charel waved. After completing the process, I had one last look, he waved again, I blew him a kiss, and then, walked away. I focused on finding my gate, so that I wouldn't just break down in the middle of the airport.
I found my gate without too much trouble. There was a food shop there, and I was tempted to buy breakfast, but I then realized that my plane was already boarding and I didn't have any euro anyway. We took a bus to the plane, I found my seat, and we took off.
The plane ride was uneventful. We landed in Amsterdam and I didn't have much trouble in the airport itself. Even the first place you present you passport didn't even ask me questions besides "Where are you going" and then stamped it. At the gate, however, there was a completely separate area sectioned off. I first had to stand in line and get "interviewed" about our intentions in the US. This is where Charel had to answer a bunch of questions when he visited, but all the guy interviewing me seemed to care about was if I packed my own bags. After being cleared, I went through security (this is a theme), and they pulled my bag over to check something. Turns out, I had used a bobby pin as a bookmark and they couldn't tell what it was on the x-ray. So they only pulled my books out, at least.
I then went and sat in a different little area, to wait for them to call my row number. They did, and I finally boarded the plane to Detroit. I had an aisle seat again, although on the opposite side of the plane. In the seat next to me was a guy around my age, maybe a bit younger. After a bit of conversation, I determined that he was a Dutchie going to see his girlfriend in the US. I smiled at the coincidence of that (me leaving visiting my bf). It was his first trip to the US and I could tell that he was excited.
We finally took off from Amsterdam, and began the long 8 hour flight to Detroit. I read my one book for a little while before breakfast, but also answered my neighbor's questions about things such as how the meal worked and how the displays in the seats worked. He kept apologizing for his English (why do all Europeans do that?) and thanking me. He also seemed surprised that the drinks on the plane were free. I guess if you come from a place where you pay for water in a restaurant, you're surprised by that sort of thing.
The meals finally came by, and I got eggs. They were okay, but I should have gotten the chicken salad or something. It was still needed, as I was very hungry. After eating and them clearing the trays, I finally got tired enough that I could doze off for an hour. I only know I did because my neck hurt when I woke up. I managed to get another half an hour or so of sleep, but after that, I was too uncomfortable to sleep any more. At this point, there were still 4 hours left on the trip, so I got out my other book (a Dean Koontz one) and started to read.
Meal service came again about an hour before we landed. It was simple, just a warm cheese and tomato sauce sandwich. I was leery about the tomatoes, but I tried it anyway and it was really good. It tasted kind of like a pizza. I was starving, so I ate it pretty quickly. They also gave us a little cup of ice cream, which also was delicious.
The only downside of the flight (besides the length) was a guy sitting two rows in front of us, in the middle of the plane. He was one of those people that likes to chat up their neighbors, loudly. He was asking questions of this guy from Wisconsin that were hugely based on stereotypes. They were the wrong ones, though. He asked about ice hockey (Canada) and the 12,000 lakes (10,000, and that's Minnesota). I'm almost surprised that he didn't ask about corn. I started ignoring him after awhile, or trying to, but he was so loud. He also demanded things from the flight attendants every 5 minutes, and I could tell that he was starting to make them angry. Eventually, though, he fell asleep. For a little while. I wonder if people like that know how annoying they are. Probably not.
As we approached Detroit, the questions from my neighbor increased. I couldn't answer all of them (this was my first flight back to the US, after all). He was really excited. It kind of reminded me of a puppy.
Our flight finally landed, and after the usual long wait to get off the plane, we were dumped out in a huge hallway. At the end, I wished my neighbor luck (he was still nearby) and I went into the US residents line.
The lady looked at my form that I had filled out on the plane, looked at my passport, and then asked me a couple of questions about what I had done in Europe and where I was going in the US. She asked me where I worked and asked me how I could afford a ticket. I answered that I had to save up for it. She was pretty friendly, and let me go on my way pretty quickly.
I then had to pick up my suitcase to recheck. I found that one pretty quickly, too. Then came another line, another agent, and another interview. This one didn't go as well. This guy was older, and didn't like the fact that I had met someone on the internet. Well, I think that's what he didn't like. He tagged my form and made me go to the right. To the right was another line, where the complete bag search was to be.
I should mention at this point that my plane for CR was already boarding. I realized that there was no possible way for me to make it on time. I had a minor freak-out moment (to myself, not out loud) and then talked myself out of it, as I knew that there were more flights later in the day. The line ahead of me only had 4 people, but I was forced to wait for almost half an hour before the lady got to me.
The bag search went pretty well. She first asked me questions (why did you go, who were you with, how do you know them, where do you work). She seemed perfectly fine with the internet answer, and when I told her about the restaurant job, all she asked was how long it took me to save for the trip. We reviewed my declared items list, and then she set about searching my bags. She did it in a way that it stayed organized (I had organized it well anyway) and she was friendly. At least I was relaxed for part of this trip. Well, after looking through everything and a few more questions (some about my artwork/origami I had) I was sent back out and to the Delta desk to re-book my flight.
The guy at the counter found an open spot on the next flight out, and informed me how lucky I was that it was open. I'm not sure how lucky I felt at this point, but I was grateful not to have to wait too much longer. I got my new boarding pass, thanked him, rechecked my bag, and went on my way to get in line for more security.
Thankfully, I was not stopped again at this one. I would have been a bit annoyed to have my bags searched again. I got through, turned on my phone, and then called my mom to tell her about the change as I walked to the next gate.
Even if I wouldn't have had my bags searched, there is no way that I would have made it to the plane on time. Not only did I have to walk across the entire airport, but it left 10 minutes early. The walk to get to the new flight was a lot more relaxed, as I had two hours to kill before the plane boarded. I bought a Mountain Dew (finally!) and then went to my gate.
I called Charel's phone for a brief conversation to tell him that I was on a different flight. I also left a message with my dad. When the plane finally got in, there were mechanical problems so boarding was delayed for about half an hour. We ended up taking off about 20 minutes late.
The last flight of the day was uncomfortable but short. The plane landed about 15 minutes late, so my mom was waiting for me as I walked out of the terminal. We got my bag, got into the car, and finally I got to her house.
After dinner at Hy-vee (chinese), I managed to make it to 7:30 pm before I passed out. That's 2:30 am in Luxembourg, meaning that I was up for nearly 24 hours. I ended up sleeping 12. The goal for today is to try to stay up until 10 pm. I work 12 hours tomorrow so that will make things interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment