3 o'clock, arrive at the Duluth International Airport. (Why is it an
international airport? There's only 2 terminals--I suppose its because
one flight a week goes to Canada.) Say my goodbyes to my family. No one
in line for security, and the TSA agent seems genuinely happy to be
working today. The day's off to a good start!
I'm informed I've
been randomly selected to be searched. I'm asked to stand off to the
side. I wonder what algorithm they use to determine it? I know someone
who look like he's from the middle east who says he's “randomly
selected” every time he flies. Regardless, its a quick and painless
procedure, as only 2 minutes pass before I'm cleared to go through.
We
board the plane, and I introduce myself to my seat buddy, who I'll call
Janet. She's a nice lady, traveling to Las Vegas on a business trip. I
find out she works in Indian Affairs as a financial manager.
The
captain tells us there's weather in the Twin Cities (of course there's
weather, I'd be concerned if there was no weather at all), and that the
airport was completely closed: no inbound nor outbound flights at all.
The pilot wants to keep the delay as short as possible, and so because
its expected to clear up in about 20 minutes, we are to wait patiently
on the plane.
The man sitting behind Janet and I doesn't handle
delays well. He's on his cell phone with Delta Airlines, trying to
rebook his connecting flight for tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I overhear
him saying that the airport is closed for the day and won't start again
until tomorrow. He asks the flight attendant to let him off the flight
and help rebook his flight.
The 20 minutes pass, and then another
20. The man behind us is still restless and concerned. The flight
attendant tries to soothe his worries, telling him that the plane he's
supposed to be flying out of the cities on is grounded in Milwaukee,
just like we're grounded in Duluth. Janet's concerned she'll miss her
flight too, as her phone says her flight is still “on time.” I'm glad I
had a 3-hour layover.
After an hour and a half, the weather
finally clears and we're cleared for take off. The flight itself is
fairly uneventful, and we land safely, albeit not without some
difficulties for some passengers. Janet's plane is already boarding by
the time we reach the gate, and Mr. Cell Phone Man pushes his way out of
the plane, telling everyone that he's “only got a minute before his
plane takes off.” Janet nicely reminds him that everyone else on the
plane is in the same situation.
I hope Janet and Mr. Cell Phone Man both make it to their flights.
The
Twin Cities' Airport is fairly quiet today. Maybe because its getting
late on a Sunday night? We find our next gate and most everyone is
cuddled around the charging station with their phones. I begrudgingly
join them, deciding I should “top off” the battery on my phone, even
though it still has 89% battery remaining.
A few minutes pass, and
I start talking to the woman seated in the terminal next to me. She
works for Pearson--a company I've heard about before! They make
textbooks, and do other education-related stuff. She's traveling to the
United Kingdom because Pearson is trying to standardize the system they
use between countries. She tells me each branch of the company has an
Oracle database set-up slightly differently, and they want to make it
all one system for compatibility reasons. I can't believe I ran into
another person who's in the technology field on the trip!
They
start boarding the plane, but one of the flight attendants is overtly
concerned that passengers aren't boarding fast enough. She joins the
other attendants by snatching tickets and passports from passengers to
check them on the flight. I make sure to be nice to her, but move
quickly, as she looks like she's had a rough day.
The plane itself
was nicer (and larger!) than the Duluth to the Twin Cities plane. When
the plane was preparing for departure, we were greeted with a hilarious
video covering the safety protocols that included cake, 1920s film noir
characters, a doll with an oxygen mask, a crazy cat lady, and six
individuals performing synchronous reading of the inflight literature.
The rest of the flight occurred fairly uneventfully. Finally in London!
Wait,
apparently not yet. There's a big sign that says “UK Border” ahead, so
we must be in some sort of Limbo or something. The customs officer is
suspicious of my alleged reasoning in England—I told him I was on
vacation for three weeks (which is true), and he begins questioning me.
Doesn't three weeks seem to be a long vacation? No, I'm grateful that
I'm able to spend so much time here. Do you have family in England? Yes.
(I have a great uncle who lives here.) Will you be meeting up with him?
Well, maybe, I'm not sure yet. (Looking back, it was definitely this
answer that confused him.) I'm traveling with a group of my friends. Are
they all here now? Yeah, they're all going through customs right now.
Eventually, he lets me through, after asking how to pronounce “Duluth”
correctly. Now we're finally in London!
We
go out to eat at a quaint little pub, and I discover my first
language-barrier difficulty. I want to order a soda, so I ask for a
soda. The bartender doesn't understand. I try “soft drink” instead.
Still no go. I ask her what they have that doesn't have alcohol in it.
Success! I order a Pepsi (I didn't really want a Pepsi, I was hoping for
a Sprite or a Sierra Mist or something, but I'll take whatever I can
get at this point that isn't alcohol or juice). Fortunately, I'm not
much of a soda drinker, so I'll be perfectly happy with water from here
on out. I just need to make sure I specify plain water, not carbonated
water. Who knew that two individuals who seemingly speak the same
language could have such difficulty communicating!
After dinner,
we break off into groups and my group ends up wandering through London
for a few hours. We saw a really cool crypt, Big Ben, the London Eye,
and a whole bunch of other places I took pictures of but either didn't
catch the name of or don't remember—I'm sure I'll get a chance to see
them again and get all their names.
Matthew is a senior studying Computer Science at the College of Saint
Scholastica. Not content with only working with computers, Matthew also
performs in the CSS Theater, studies business, finance, economics, the
physical sciences, and loves to go ballroom dancing. He is a voracious
reader. His hobby is to learn about as many
different fields, and about as many different topics, as he can. Matthew also enjoys writing about himself in the third person. For more from Matthew, visit him at matthewrandolph.com.
Ha! You plebeians had to sit in coach whilst I ride like a king. Am I boasting? Perhaps. Nevertheless, I felt like the Queen of England flying first class, sipping champagne, tea, and dessert porter. Doth thou protest? Me thinkest so. Lorde once said, "and we'll never be royals." Well, for a short amount of time I was. Lovely. I highly recommend the experience. Thank you and wonderful post Matthew.
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