My flight!
Hi everyone!
Now I am finally in the US! After trouble with the visa, a moved departure date and many tears when saying goodbye to loved ones I am here! I am just gonna tell you about my whole journey since I have not written anything for a long time. Even though I told you I would ( sorry Rebecka)!
So it started out with me, Anja and her mom leaving at 3 am for the air port. My in checked bag which had a max weight of 23 kilos wighted (after a lot of repacking) 22,85 kilos. This is after I took out my winter shoes which I instead had to wear. It did not bother me on the plane though since it was freezing. My other bag the hand luggage were supposed to weight a maximum of 10 kilos and weighted around 9 kilos. It doesn't seem like much but when you are rushing down an airport with it on your already sore arms it feels like at least 50 kilos. So after sitting down in my seat my hands were shaking. Apart from that it went well to on the flight from Gothenburg to Amsterdam, I met one of the guys from MY GROUP on the EF preparation weekend. What are the chances of that happening?! Though he was not on the same flight as me to the US he helped me to find my gate, and I returned the favor by giving him the wrong number to EF… His plane was late and we are supposed to call them and report if anything happens so that they know and can help us. Obviously this is a problem for me to if anything happens, but he found the number on a thing we got from EF that I did not bring (also I forgot to ask him for it). Then he held up another piece of paper (that I had not brought) saying that it was important, well not on the plane but later when I am in the US. I will get it somehow…
My flight between Amsterdam and NY went well! I met a guy before entering the plane who had also been an exchange student when he was young. He also worked with the organisation he had travled with. I got a great seat on the plane and I got ice cream!!! And airplane food OFC.
When I landed in NY at the JFK airport I first go through security and all that. I got my bag and check it in again after that I have NO idea where to go so I ask a bunch if people and finally get directions to the Delta information desk. Not only is does the lady tell me that my plane is late... my gate super hard to find. When I arrive at my gate and have to wait for 4 hours so I turn off the flight mode and find out that I have gotten a text from Anja saying that my arrival family can’t pick me up and that another woman who works for EF will and that I will live with her and her husband for the next couple of days… So after panicking and calling Anja in desperation who somehow succeeded in calming me down and told me to get something to eat. Because obviously I was so emotional because I was hungry, which she knew (as always). So after eating I felt a lot better and started reading my book for the next three hours until my plane left. My flight went well, I fell asleep for the first 3 and a half hours then when we got closer to Saltlake City there was a thunderstorm. So the turbulence was horrible and I felt really sick. When the plane finally arrived I could barely move a flight attendant had to bring me a glas of water but then I felt a little bit better. When I got to the bag drop my arrival family (who would not be picking me up) were standing at the stairs with a sign with my name on it!!! So the Limas were greeting me and also some of their friends, the woman who works for EF and her daughter. Unfortunately I felt really sick but they were all so nice and understanding. The woman from EF went home and the others and I went out to get frozen yoghurt, some food and then home to bed. I was still feeling sick when I went to sleep but when I woke up in the morning I felt a lot better!
I will tell you about my first day next time!
- Denise
