I was lucky enough to fly to Germany. And with flying there are airports! The plan was that I would fly from LAX to Philly, and then from Philly to Frankfurt. Three airports! So I was pretty darn stoked. Of course I wasn't so stoked that I would be on one plane for 5 hours and another plane for 8 hours. Quite the trek.
We pulled up to the US Airways drop off area and got out of the car. At that point I couldn't quite process that I would be leaving California for a whole year, and would be leaving all my friends and family too. So I hugged my girlies and headed off to the check-in counter without even crying. I would have bet money that I would have cried. But I surprised myself. I think I was just too nervous about getting my butt all the way to Germany without issue that I could think about little else.
The lady at the check-in counter was a scary beast to behold. She seemed nice; until she opened her mouth. Attitude with a capital A. But she helped me get my tickets and my big red bag checked; and I am thankful for that. I headed off to security after that.
Ahh security. Everyone's favorite place in the airport. It's hilarious to see everyone stripping off their shoes, jackets, belts, and jewelry. It's quite scandalous if you think about it. No where else in America is that really "allowed" unless you are behind closed doors. The fabulous older lady in front of me turned around and sarcastically said to me "Anything I forgot to take off? Because there isn't much left." All I could do was laugh and shake my head.
When it was my turn to walk through the metal detector the thing went off. I had accidentally bumped into the side of it, and that apparently makes it go off. So I had to walk through it again, and guess what? I got selected for addition screening! Yippee. There is something extremely shameful about standing in a small clear plastic "room" in your socks. You become the curiosity of the moment and everyone stares at you probably thinking, "I didn't know blondes were terrorists" or "oh that poor girl, she is going to miss her plane." It's also embarrassing to think that you are going to be felt up by a female security guard. Thank the Lord they couldn't find an available one! All I had to do was get my fingers swabbed with something and then I was free to collect my things and put my shoes back on.
The older lady who was in front of me earlier was sitting on the nearest bench putting on her shoes. I sat down and joined her. We ended up having a little conversation. She was going to San Francisco for a friend's funeral. Apparently the friend had cancer so it hadn't been a surprise when she found out that they died. But it was still sad of course. I told her about my adventure to Germany, and she smiled and told me that I was going to have a great year. After we finished readjusting ourselves, we said goodbye and headed our to different terminals.
I got to my gate like ridiculously early. So I just sat there and listened to my iPod and people watched. Finally boarding began like an hour and half later. My section (right on the wing) was the last to board. How the heck does that make any sense?
So I got to the front where they check your ticket. The stewardess looked at my rolly suitcase and told me I had to check it because it wouldn't fit in the overhead compartment. I sighed and complied. Though I definitely grumbled to myself about how it so totally would fit. Thankfully I found out later that I didn't have to pay for it. And I must admit that it was nice only having to deal with my overstuffed backpack. So that made me happier.
The plane ride itself was pretty uneventful. I got middle seat (gag me with a spoon). To my right was an older lady (older than the last one) reading a book called "Over the Hill but Not Out to Pasture." I pretty much had to hold in a lot of giggles for that. To my left was a guy about my age. He kinda reminded me of a less surfer boy version of my friend Arthur. The guy slept like the whole time except for when he watched Super Troopers on his Mac. I got a kick out of that. I slept a little, read a bit of The Secret Garden on my Kindle, and then watched a movie. No, there was not an inflight movie, and no, I did not have my computer. I must admit that I watched The Other Boleyn Girl over the shoulder of the woman sitting in front of me to the right. Of course I didn't get sound, but I have seen the movie before so I was fun to make up lines for the actors. I think the lady knew I was watching it. How embarrassing haha. Well, not long after the movie ended, the plane stretched out its wheels and we landed.
Philly. I had never been there until the plane landed. And since I was only in the airport the whole time I was there, I still technically haven't been there. And I was only there about and hour and a half. My first plane landed early, thank God, otherwise I wouldn't have made it to the next plane in time. Because my plane arrived early, we "parked" (it's funny to think of a plane parking haha) at a totally different gate. Which was completely on the other side of the airport of where I needed to be. So I pretty much ran to the bathroom (acknowledging in the mirror that I looked like a total mess), and then ran down the airport (with the help of those cool flat escalators). I couldn't help but laugh because every five feet there were white rocking chairs. Apparently Philly wants you to feel like you are just chilling on your porch when you are at their airport. So I found a food court and ordered Chickfila. At this point I had like fifteen minutes to find the right gate. I fast walked (I was so over running) to the gate while scarfing down chicken nuggets and fries. I found the gate and plopped down into one of those strangely comfortable seats that you only find in airports.
I looked up to find a man staring at me. He seemed European (which turned out to be wrong, he definitely was American). I think I made a pretty big entrance haha, he probably thought I was crazy. We kept making awkward eye contact until it was time for us to board the plane. I was near the wing again (my favorite place) so I got called last again. So did the man sitting across from me. All I could think was "oh my gosh I am going to have to sit next to him, how embarrassing."
I found my seat, and surprise, surprise I had a middle seat again. (I died a little inside). I didn't end up sitting next to the man, but he was a seat over from me. How does that work? Well it was a huge plane! One of the ones with three rows of seats and two aisles. So we continued to have awkward eye contact the whole plane ride. Typical.
The people who I was sitting in between were a married couple that missed their flight and had to get placed onto the one I was on. (So if they hadn't missed their plane I would have had the whole row to myself... such selfish thoughts). They never said where they were from, but I knew. They have the same accents as my grandparents. They were definitely from Texas. The wife explained to me how she was a retired stewardess and had a bunch of flying benefits, so she and her hubby decided to go to Amsterdam (wonder what they were going to do there... giggle). So they had one more plane to catch once we landed in Frankfurt. Dang. That is a lot of airplane time. The couple was super sweet and we talked on and off throughout the flight. I eventually switched seats with the wife so she could sit next to her husband. She wasn't thrilled on sitting in the middle seat, but sitting next to her husband won out over her discomfort. So that meant I got an aisle seat! Wahahaha.
I spent all freaking eight hours as a very wiggly girl. I just couldn't handle the thought of being couped up so long. I wanted to walk up and down the aisles, but you get reaaaally weird looks when you do that. And the stewardesses start think you are going to take over the plane or something. So I stayed in my seat and watched all three inflight movies (well sorta, I fell asleep a lot). Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is very strange to watch when it is in German. The movie sucked, but at least the German made it entertaining. Next was Water for Elephants in English. Which was great, and I was totally into the movie. That is until my headphones broke. So I was left watching the rest of the movie without sound. Fail. The third movie was one of those Big Mama movies. It was really dumb and I was glad at that point that my headphones were not working.
My favorite thing about the flight came in the form of a three year old German boy. He and his dad were in the row in front of me. And about every five minutes (except for the 5 or so hours that he slept) he would turn around in his seat and talk to me. Which was hilarious. One, because he spoke a mixture of German and English, so it was hard to follow what he was talking about. Two, he was so darn adorable. Three, his father was soooo embarrassed but tried to play it off like it was no big deal. At one point towards the last hour of the flight, the little boy got out of his seat and stood next to mine. I was reading my Kindle, and he really wanted to play with it. So I showed him how it worked. He tried to use it like a touch screen (kids these days) and I just laughed. Eventually I distracted him and we played a game. I would tell him an animal and he would pretend to be it. He really loved being a dragon. The other people in their seats did not like the game as much as we did...
Finally the plane landed in Frankfurt. I was about ready to run down the aisle and hightail it as fast as I could out of the airport. I was ready to get off that plane and start my adventure. But of course I couldn't. The ramp that connects to the plane wasn't working. So all the passengers had to wait for them to fix it. And then when it was decided it wasn't going to get fixed right then, we had to wait for them to find some roll away stairs. We were finally able to exit the plane like thirty minutes later.
My first reactions to Germany? "Dang it's chilly. And wow the sky is blue! Like blue, blue." And then it was inside again. So I went through a line where I had to show my passport, and then it was off to the baggage claim. My luggage was some of the first things out. I grabbed them and awkwardly proceeded to walk away with two rolly suitcases and a backpack.
I didn't see Johannes right away so I figured I would just sit down and wait. Then a horrible thought struck me: what if we don't find each other?! My phone no longer had service now that I was in Germany. And I had no European money to make a pay phone call. Fear started to creep up on me. As I was trying to come up with a plan, I heard my name. It was Johannes! I was so darn glad to see him. He grabbed my luggage and we set off to the car and to my new life.
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