So as the title suggests, my 9.5 hour stay at Heathrow International Airport was less than optimal. We finally touched down at 9:20 GMT after a long but uneventful flight which was spent chatting intermittently with the tow people seated on either side of me. Thankfully there was a pleasant lack of screaming babies and sick old people so all in all the flight wasn't half bad. Finally saw x-Men origins or whatever the hell that wolverine movie was. Upon landing though, I realized that perhaps thing were slightly amiss when i walked into a terminal building and it was all but hermetically sealed in preparation for some impending nuclear war.
As is customary in airports I was shuffled from point A to point B with as little time for loitering and possible trouble causing as was physically possible without them carrying me football style from terminal 4 to terminal 1. Though I landed at roughly 9:30.. my connecting flight to Belfast didn't leave until 6:50 the following morning. Most people would balk at such a layover but I intrepid explorer that I am was looking forward to time spent wandering leisurely through a lovely large airport in search of a place to get a mani pedi before my French Adventure.
Well, my first obstacle was immigration. A portal to freedom and in my mind nail care guarded by a belligerent little blonde gnome. I could tell he was a bit of a piss ant with a stick up his butt but I thought meh let the beaurocrat have his red tape and get out of there as soon as possible. Unfortunately what transpired felt like i was strapped to the front bumper of a car slowly hurtling towards a cement highway divider. He interrogated me and threatened me and I'll save you the gory details but wound up demanding that I have a return ticket and bank statement upon my return from France..... yea ok.
So as I wearily make my way from the little fiefdom of pissant 1.... I meander through terminal 1 where I will miserably be spending the next 9.5 hours since everything appears to be closed.... at the whopping late hour of 10:00 pm. Yea folks 10 pm and Heathrow airport is locked down for nuclear winter. after like half an hour of wandering i come upon a pay internet terminal where I buy credit so that I can bitch to Andrew about how much Heathrow is sucking. Well maybe 10 minutes into my internet session a security guard wanders over and demands to know how much longer I'll be at the terminal. Long story short within five minutes I'm being ordered away from my already paid for session and directed to gate 36. Mind you gate 36 is not where my flight is departing from. Apparently though it's policy at Heathrow to heard all the overnight passengers into one spot. I can only imagine this is to make it easier for terrorists to achieve maximum casualties.
Terminal 36 was possibly the least logical spot to herd all of us unlucky bastards. It had typical fluorescent lighting stiff narrow chairs and full blast air conditioning. Not to mention the fact that there was no access to food or water for the duration unless we wanted to drink out of the sink. Mercifully though,we were told that food p[laces may start to open as early as 5:30 AM... which was about as useful to me, whose flight was boarding at 6:15 AM at the other end of the terminal, as a polar bear... though at least I could have used a polar bear as a heat generator.
The many long cold and uncomfortable hours were eased slightly by a really chill kid named diego who was going back to jerz he and I chatted away and actually had quite a lovely time hanging out. Finally though the morning rolled around I had time for a coffee and a bottle of water before my BMI Baby flight to Belfast took off and at last I was in the air on the way to Belfast. I honestly couldn't tell you what the flight looked like I was so past tired I think I might have slipped into a coma for the duration. But I can tell you I had never ever been so happy to see the perpetual grey drizzle of a typical Northern Irish morning than I was at 8:50 August 17 when I finally reached my destination. That is until I realized that Heathrow screwed up again, their incompetence seeming to follow me to a whole other country. They lost one of my suitcases, of course the one with the working handle, and would have to send it to me once they found it. TYPICAL!.... Anyway, I survived.. if only barely and I can happily assure my Bahamian comrades that there were no terrorist threats of any sort made by me... out loud. ^_^
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Cuz I'm Leavin on an Airplane... Don't know when i'll be back again
So in true Johnson family fashion the morning of my departure from the States was hectic and best described as flying by the seat of our pants. The morning which for me and for my mom was a continuation of the preceding two days was a hectic and emotional rigmarole that consisted of me essentially packing for a transatlantic MOVE all in one night. Needless to say as I begin to unpack upon my return to the UK from france, I will be writing back about the many and varied things i inadvertently left home. But finally as 6:00 am rolled around and the bags seemed stuffed to bursting the time came for my shower and getting dressed.
Once the house was awake it seemed the dragging hours of the night before were moving on fast forward now. Before anyone realized it was already 7:15 and well.... we were still at the house. As dad and I hurriedly dragged the large suitcases out the front door he casually asked whether or not I'd checked into my flight and confirmed my seat. The problem with that seeming innocuous question was that, dad had said he was going to do that since I was packing. So here we stood on the front porch basking in the unmittigated horror of the knowledge that neither of us had checked me into the flight, and to top things neither of us had any of the flight information or to that end what time the flight even took off.
On the heels of this revelation we discovered that David needed gas, dad had to take his own car to get me cash, and well there was not the impending dilemma of not actually knowing when I had to be at the airport. So began a mad dash... for me, a leisurely stroll for Dave and dad into their cars to begin this three car circus which would hopefully for me be only a one way trip.
When the two car contingent of my mother and brother finally made it into Newark having hit every single red light conceivable between our house and Newark Penn David remembers his need for gas and my mother thinks she has to accompany him because he needs to pay for it with her credit card. At this point an epic phonetag began between the three cars all while driving through Newark breaking I can only imagine how many traffic laws. Finally it was decided mom and I would continue to the airport dad would meet us there and Dave was off to get gas and then to negotiate Newark International Airport for the first time as a lone driver..... yea a comedy of errors all set to fail spectacularly on the morning of my departure.
The time now 8 o clock in the morning I pull up to terminal C of Newark at the departing flight check in gate when I remember that dad has my two bags which need to be checked in his trunk. Deciding getting to the desk was more important than waiting for the luggage I find the appropriate counter and very hurriedly check in. Apparently the flight is leaving at 9.... yes folks I checked into an international flight less than an hour before it took off.
Now begins the herculean effort that is getting in touch with my father on his cell phone. This whole answering his phone thing is hard enough when he's say at work or doing laundry but while driving, well, I might as well have been trying to build a nuclear reactor out of tooth picks. After several unsuccessful tries I get dad on the phone and inform him that the chekc in lady is holding off on letting the luggage get loaded onto the plane for my two bags but that if he doesn't hurry up my bags and possibly myself will not be on board that plane. So after several minutes of frantic phonecalls between the scattered members of my family we discern that dad is parking and dave may or may not be somewhere in that same parking structure and mom is lost in terminal C.
I'll not bore you all with the details but it was a very tense few minutes while the check in lady looked sternly on as I sat there waiting not so patiently for my parents to arrive. They did though, and my luggage miraculously made it onto the plane as did I. And seated aboard that plane I thought to myself.... at last I can enjoy this experience... little did I know what Heathrow had in store for me
Once the house was awake it seemed the dragging hours of the night before were moving on fast forward now. Before anyone realized it was already 7:15 and well.... we were still at the house. As dad and I hurriedly dragged the large suitcases out the front door he casually asked whether or not I'd checked into my flight and confirmed my seat. The problem with that seeming innocuous question was that, dad had said he was going to do that since I was packing. So here we stood on the front porch basking in the unmittigated horror of the knowledge that neither of us had checked me into the flight, and to top things neither of us had any of the flight information or to that end what time the flight even took off.
On the heels of this revelation we discovered that David needed gas, dad had to take his own car to get me cash, and well there was not the impending dilemma of not actually knowing when I had to be at the airport. So began a mad dash... for me, a leisurely stroll for Dave and dad into their cars to begin this three car circus which would hopefully for me be only a one way trip.
When the two car contingent of my mother and brother finally made it into Newark having hit every single red light conceivable between our house and Newark Penn David remembers his need for gas and my mother thinks she has to accompany him because he needs to pay for it with her credit card. At this point an epic phonetag began between the three cars all while driving through Newark breaking I can only imagine how many traffic laws. Finally it was decided mom and I would continue to the airport dad would meet us there and Dave was off to get gas and then to negotiate Newark International Airport for the first time as a lone driver..... yea a comedy of errors all set to fail spectacularly on the morning of my departure.
The time now 8 o clock in the morning I pull up to terminal C of Newark at the departing flight check in gate when I remember that dad has my two bags which need to be checked in his trunk. Deciding getting to the desk was more important than waiting for the luggage I find the appropriate counter and very hurriedly check in. Apparently the flight is leaving at 9.... yes folks I checked into an international flight less than an hour before it took off.
Now begins the herculean effort that is getting in touch with my father on his cell phone. This whole answering his phone thing is hard enough when he's say at work or doing laundry but while driving, well, I might as well have been trying to build a nuclear reactor out of tooth picks. After several unsuccessful tries I get dad on the phone and inform him that the chekc in lady is holding off on letting the luggage get loaded onto the plane for my two bags but that if he doesn't hurry up my bags and possibly myself will not be on board that plane. So after several minutes of frantic phonecalls between the scattered members of my family we discern that dad is parking and dave may or may not be somewhere in that same parking structure and mom is lost in terminal C.
I'll not bore you all with the details but it was a very tense few minutes while the check in lady looked sternly on as I sat there waiting not so patiently for my parents to arrive. They did though, and my luggage miraculously made it onto the plane as did I. And seated aboard that plane I thought to myself.... at last I can enjoy this experience... little did I know what Heathrow had in store for me
Co- Star
So as many if not all of you know... this move isn't entirely academic. In fact, the roots of it are quite simple, Andrew is at Queens for two more years and we don't want to be separated as we have been that much longer. That said, Queens does, if I get in, present an excellent learning opportunity and an opportunity to live abroad as I've always wanted to.
We have a lovely house on Ebor Drive which is apparently near to everything, I personally haven't the faintest idea as my navigation skills in Belfast are still something of a coin toss. * at the bottom of this post I am including links to video Andrew's little brother took of the place... its a bit cloverfieldesque... but u all get the idea* Its a duplex with two bedrooms a large living room, dining room, and kitchen with a small study right off the dining room. We'll be living there with Andrew's little brother who is definitely a great kid.
We're calling it our first home and I'm terribly excited to see the fruition of nearly three years working at a relationship separated by 3000 miles the vast majority of the time. We would love to have as many people over to visit as is possible. But really, this is about Andrew and I finally being able to be properly together and begin the next chapter in a shared life without the utterly ridiculous long distance phone calls and plane tickets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq1kiSRsgAM&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXxnNAUnbdI&feature=related
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Ending Credits
So I've really done it. Graduated from TCNJ picked up sticks and moved across to Northern Ireland. Though I write to you now from an absolutely gorgeous little village in the south of France (pictures to come) called Montoulliers - the r is silent dad- I will be residing for the most part in Belfast and Ballymoney for the next two years.
Though still waiting on my official acceptance from Queens... cross your fingers for me guys, I am certain that this move was the right decision for me at this time in my life. Don't get me wrong, leaving; my home, my family, and my friends is one of the hardest things I have ever done. However, my absence is not permanent and will make returning even sweeter.
I really do want to hear from everyone and stay in touch with as many people as possible so I'm including in here all the current means of contacting me including my newly resurrected twitter!
aim screen name: citygirl211
msn contact: citygirl211@aol.com
facebook: Beth Johnson TCNJ alum 09
bebo: boticellibaby
myspace: bethj18/ unforgettable
skype: Bethcakes
gmail: johnso62@gmail.com
twitter: twitter.com/boticellibaby
Though still waiting on my official acceptance from Queens... cross your fingers for me guys, I am certain that this move was the right decision for me at this time in my life. Don't get me wrong, leaving; my home, my family, and my friends is one of the hardest things I have ever done. However, my absence is not permanent and will make returning even sweeter.
I really do want to hear from everyone and stay in touch with as many people as possible so I'm including in here all the current means of contacting me including my newly resurrected twitter!
aim screen name: citygirl211
msn contact: citygirl211@aol.com
facebook: Beth Johnson TCNJ alum 09
bebo: boticellibaby
myspace: bethj18/ unforgettable
skype: Bethcakes
gmail: johnso62@gmail.com
twitter: twitter.com/boticellibaby
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