Friday, May 15, 2009

Today ended up being a really long and stressful day. I got up at 6:30 and finished my last minute packing. Kyler, Joel, and I then made the long walk to the train station. Usually the walk isn’t so bad, but when you are carrying a heavy backpack and dragging a really heavy suitcase behind you, it’s a long walk. It had rained earlier this morning so the ground was wet. The sky was gray which probably made it easier to come home. We took the train from Leiden to Schiphol Airport.

When we got to the airport, we checked into our flight. I ended up having some problems. I was flying from Schiphol to Chicago with United and then going from Chicago to Rochester, Minnesota with American Airlines operated by American Eagle. When the lady tried to tag my luggage with a final destination of Rochester, she couldn’t find the airline or the airport in her system. So she tagged my bag to go to Chicago. This ended up being not a problem, but she made it sound like a problem.

After we all got checked in, we went through passport control. We got stamped out of the country. Then we found our gate and sat for a little while. When it was time to board the plane we were asked many questions before going through security at the gate. They had four people asking the passengers questions and somehow the same man ended up interviewing Joel, Kyler, and I. So he figured out that we were all together. When he asked me if I had learned any Dutch, I answered in Dutch “some.” He then started asking me the security questions in Dutch! I was able to answer if I had checked any bags and how many. Then he asked me another question and I had no idea what he asked. It was sort of fun. We were both laughing which will probably never happen again when I am going through security.

After we got through security, we sat for a little while and then boarded the plane. The three of us ended up sitting in different parts of the plane. I was lucky and got a window seat. The flight took nine hours. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to sleep so I watched a couple movies on the plane. We arrived in Chicago around 1:00 local time.

When we got off the plane we had to go through passport control to get stamped into the country. Then we had to collect our luggage. At this point, Kyler, Joel, and I said our goodbyes and parted ways. I went through customs which was really simple and then went to check into my next flight. I got my boarding pass and checked my luggage to go to Rochester. I then went to find my gate and sat there for awhile. It was about 2:30 at this point and my flight was scheduled to leave at 4:50 so I had plenty of time.

Due to a large storm south of Chicago, the airport was a mess. Planes could not depart or arrive. I kept checking the board, but hoped that since my flight was not leaving for a couple hours, it would be fine. When it had a 20 minute delay I wasn’t too worried. But then, I found out my flight was canceled. At this point my mom and brother were on their way to Minnesota and my sister’s graduation party was on Saturday. So, I really needed to find a way to get home.

I went up to the desk and asked the woman what my options were since my flight was canceled. There was a later flight to Rochester but it was completely booked. My only options were fly to Minneapolis or wait until Saturday morning to fly to Rochester. I called mom and she said they could go to Minneapolis to get me. I then went back to the desk and told the woman I needed to go to Minneapolis. She changed my ticket with no problem. I then asked if my bag would be rerouted to Minneapolis. She told me that she could put in a request but there would be no guarantee that it would get there in time, so it was better to leave my bag going to Rochester. That is when things really got bad. I asked how and when I was supposed to get my bag. She told me I had to collect it in Rochester Saturday morning. I told her that really wasn’t an option and asked if Sunday would work. She told me that I should get it as soon as possible since at the last place she worked, they threw away bags after two days.

At this point, I was very tired, stressed, and upset. I went to my new gate and tried not to worry which of course didn’t work. The plane I needed was coming from California and with the weather had problems getting in. So, that flight was delayed. Finally, my flight to Minneapolis departed around 6:00. It arrived a little before 7:30. I got off the plane and found my mom and brother. It was so nice to see them.

They had arrived at the airport early and talked to a really nice woman in baggage. She told them that the airline would deliver my bag to my front door. She told me that the woman who told me that my bag would be thrown away had no idea what she was talking about. I felt better but still wished I had my bag with me. She told me that the other flight to Rochester would be arriving there about the same time I would if we drove there. Since it really wasn’t out of our way, we went to Rochester to see if my bag was on that flight. Fortunately, it was. I was really happy to see it.

We then headed home. It ended up being a really long day. I was up for 24 hours before I got to sleep. Even with all the problems and stress, everything ended ok. I made it home and all my luggage did too.