5 airports : I was originally supposed to go from Chicago to Dulles to Amsterdam to Norwich. Ended up having to put Frankfurt in there for some added cultural experiences.
4 strangers: 2 Cowboys, 1 Military Man and 1 Asian Child. (And some random other stranded abroad students in between) The two cowboys were in Chicago going to Dulles to catch a connecting flight to Rome. What would cowboys do in Rome, you may ask? Well, despite the boots, hats and grey stylish beards, I believe that they would have looked like naturals drinking fine Italian wine with the Mc-a-D's they were chowing down on. Classy Cowboys. The guy in the military sat next to me on the plane to Frankfurt. He was a talker and oddly friendly. Offered to let me sleep on his shoulder - thanks, but no thanks. Most likely he felt bad for me because I told him my delayed saga of the first part of the trip... he went to culinary school and worked in mass production for Whole Foods for a while until he realized he could be doing something better with his time, so he signed himself up. He's originally an Ohio country boy and had never left the country before but was going to be in Germany for three years and spend the summers in Afghanistan. So he's going to cook in Germany and then be the normal infantry in Afghanistan. The Asian Child sounds weird, and he was. I was sitting close to the entrance of the bathroom charging my computer and using the free internet in Amsterdam when he ran out and then up to me. Where were his parents? No idea. He definitely had some built up energy because he was making all sorts of noises and running around back and forth in front of me. We exchanged a high five after a he tripped over his own shoes but got up valiantly and then he ran away. Not exciting, but made me smile.
3 delays : Plane leaving Chicago was delayed two hours, making me miss my connecting flight in Dulles. New plane leaving Dulles was delayed almost two hours (thanks, de-icing team) missing my next connecting flight. Frankfurt to Amsterdam was only slightly delayed so thankfully I didn't miss anything. Sitting next to noisy Italians was quite an experience though...
2 tears : I never cry. Nevertheless, being alone in airports is apparently my weakness. The first time was just some watery eyes in Dulles when I ran to my gate and found the plane to have already left. That was cleared up once I made my new reservation. Then came missing my connecting flight to Amsterdam in Frankfurt. I walked over to a gate area that was relatively empty, set down my bags and let the tears all out -- no shame.
1 bag : Ah, after all the messiness of new flights, delays, etc. what I really needed was one more set-back and lucky me, I got it! When I arrived in Amsterdam I went to the baggage claim to pick up my bag to transfer it to be in Delta's system to Norwich. But alas, I was left waiting there with those two noisy Italians who were equally as disappointed in our bad luck. Shuffled over to the lost baggage room and made up the report, the Germans let me down yet again and had failed to put the bag on my flight.
O regret: Yeh, this is a cheesy number. But I'm loving my time here! Despite the setbacks, I am really enjoying myself. I met a few friends at the international student's orientation and I've started to settle in. We've explored the campus and the surrounding city and have enjoyed a Strongbow at the Pub. Tomorrow we're going out with a few UEA students to party at the club on campus - the LCR. Should be ragin'. The campus is much prettier than UofI and I'm looking forward to running around the lakes and parks here.
Cheers.
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