The long journey back
So, after 24 hours in transit, I arrived back at my house just before midnight on Tuesday, the 16th. Goo gets home today, the 18th, and it will take him a peachy 8 hours. Originally, it was supposed to take me 17.5 hours, which was still beyond crappy. I woke up at 4:30am Swiss time and got to Copenhagen (NE of Zurich) at 8:30. I spent an hour and a half trying to find Karen -- including asking someone to use their laptop to verify my email -- with no luck. Left for Washinton DC (SW of Toronto, just so you can see the efficiency of this trip) at 12:20 Swiss time and got there at 3:15pm Toronto time (9:15pm Swiss time). Waited in line for stinking US customs for an hour and a half. I was still in line when the flight I was supposed to take left without me.
The worst part of all this was that the guy at the front had the audacity to say that the line was short, moved fast, and would only take 10-15 minutes. That must have been the biggest piece of bullshit I heard during my entire trip. How appropriate for it to have come from an American customs officer. What he should have said was, "We've come up with the ingenious idea of having half of our customs officers devoted to only US citizens and half to all others, even though the ratio is more like 1:10. This is to ensure that you get enraged by the time you get to the front, after staring at the empty US-citizens line and all the officers doing nothing, so that you look more like a terrorist would, if you happened to be one." Ok, good for them for being strict on security, but seriously, they could have organized it a teeny bit better so that the majority of us made our flights instead of missing them.
US customs was fingerprinting both index fingers on all foreigners and taking their pictures, except for Canadians, which I was grateful for. I was already determined to scowl at them in my picture if they did take one, since I'd been practicing during most of the lineup. After this, I had to pick up my luggage, put it on a luggage cart, and haul it for about 100m before re-checking it in again. Just around the corner from where I picked up my luggage, I could see the sign that said "Re-Checking Luggage." Somehow, I think there are much easier ways to get this done that don't have to involve the passenger.
Anyways, I was freaking out because I had to reach my parents at home before they left to pick me up at the airport, and it was just about the time I thought they would have left. On me, I had Swiss Francs, Euros, and Canadian dollars, but no American money. I was reduced to begging people for change. The first payphone ate my money with a mischevious giggle and I had to ask people for more money again. Luckily, I reached my parents 2 minutes before they had to leave. Waited in more lines to book another flight, which was at 9:30pm Toronto time. By the time I got home (midnight Toronto time, 6am Swiss time), I had been awake for more than 24 hours.
NEVER FLY THROUGH THE U.S.!!! Unless, of course, that's where you're going.
SAS, Scandinavian Airlines, was awesome though. We had 2 meals, both edible, and a lot of beverage service. The best part was that everyone had their own screen on the back of the seat ahead of them. On this screen, you could choose what movies or TV sitcoms you wanted to watch. There was also a bunch of different radio stations and games that I could play with the removable control pad in my armrest! The best parts were: the channel that showed our progress on a map, elevation, speed, estimated time, etc.; a channel that showed a view from the camera mounted on the nose of the airplane; and a channel that showed the view from a camera mounted on the bottom of the airplane.
Well, I didn't mean to make this so long, but I guess I had a lot to rant about, although there were no strange or disgusting characters on the plane this time. There was like a 3-year old kid in DC running around the airport in a full-on Batman suit, that was kinda cool. I was also trying to see if I could tell who on the plane to Toronto was Canadian. It wasn't much fun, but then I saw one woman sit down wearing high-cut hikers, Columbia-style waterproof shell pants (like the outside layer of snowpants), a sweater, and a Columbia-style spring jacket with fleece. Hahaha! Imagine her surprise when she finds out we don't live in igloos!
The real point of this entry is just to say that I'm going to be slowly writing about my trip and adding pics, so the blog isn't dead yet :).
The worst part of all this was that the guy at the front had the audacity to say that the line was short, moved fast, and would only take 10-15 minutes. That must have been the biggest piece of bullshit I heard during my entire trip. How appropriate for it to have come from an American customs officer. What he should have said was, "We've come up with the ingenious idea of having half of our customs officers devoted to only US citizens and half to all others, even though the ratio is more like 1:10. This is to ensure that you get enraged by the time you get to the front, after staring at the empty US-citizens line and all the officers doing nothing, so that you look more like a terrorist would, if you happened to be one." Ok, good for them for being strict on security, but seriously, they could have organized it a teeny bit better so that the majority of us made our flights instead of missing them.
US customs was fingerprinting both index fingers on all foreigners and taking their pictures, except for Canadians, which I was grateful for. I was already determined to scowl at them in my picture if they did take one, since I'd been practicing during most of the lineup. After this, I had to pick up my luggage, put it on a luggage cart, and haul it for about 100m before re-checking it in again. Just around the corner from where I picked up my luggage, I could see the sign that said "Re-Checking Luggage." Somehow, I think there are much easier ways to get this done that don't have to involve the passenger.
Anyways, I was freaking out because I had to reach my parents at home before they left to pick me up at the airport, and it was just about the time I thought they would have left. On me, I had Swiss Francs, Euros, and Canadian dollars, but no American money. I was reduced to begging people for change. The first payphone ate my money with a mischevious giggle and I had to ask people for more money again. Luckily, I reached my parents 2 minutes before they had to leave. Waited in more lines to book another flight, which was at 9:30pm Toronto time. By the time I got home (midnight Toronto time, 6am Swiss time), I had been awake for more than 24 hours.
NEVER FLY THROUGH THE U.S.!!! Unless, of course, that's where you're going.
SAS, Scandinavian Airlines, was awesome though. We had 2 meals, both edible, and a lot of beverage service. The best part was that everyone had their own screen on the back of the seat ahead of them. On this screen, you could choose what movies or TV sitcoms you wanted to watch. There was also a bunch of different radio stations and games that I could play with the removable control pad in my armrest! The best parts were: the channel that showed our progress on a map, elevation, speed, estimated time, etc.; a channel that showed a view from the camera mounted on the nose of the airplane; and a channel that showed the view from a camera mounted on the bottom of the airplane.
Well, I didn't mean to make this so long, but I guess I had a lot to rant about, although there were no strange or disgusting characters on the plane this time. There was like a 3-year old kid in DC running around the airport in a full-on Batman suit, that was kinda cool. I was also trying to see if I could tell who on the plane to Toronto was Canadian. It wasn't much fun, but then I saw one woman sit down wearing high-cut hikers, Columbia-style waterproof shell pants (like the outside layer of snowpants), a sweater, and a Columbia-style spring jacket with fleece. Hahaha! Imagine her surprise when she finds out we don't live in igloos!
The real point of this entry is just to say that I'm going to be slowly writing about my trip and adding pics, so the blog isn't dead yet :).
posted by lilswtamy at 5:27 p.m.
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