Leading up to my departure I really didn't feel any sort of nervousness or even anticipation. I had absolutely no preconceived notion of what Prague would be like. And, even if I did, it would have been completely wrong. Accordingly, in the week prior to my departure I only felt a feeling of uncertainty, knowing that my life would be completely different soon, but having no idea what life would entail.
Perhaps the strangest part of the trip was going to airport. I drove the car up because I wanted to get a drive in before I left. There was no big speech from my parents, no real heartfelt talk. I think everything that had been said had been said already. The procedure was very businesslike. My parents helped me with my bags, we walked into the airport, I checked my luggage and then we arrived at the security checkpoint. From here we said goodbye and I walked through the security screening. After getting through I found my gate, sat down and started listening to music. I was overwhelmed by a feeling not of loneliness but of independence. With that independence came a fear as well. I was struck by the fact that I was on my own for the entirety of the next 4 months.
I looked around me and saw that most of the people waiting for my flight were college kids. I guess every year in January, flights to Europe and filled with college students heading for their respective study abroad destinations. I talked to one kid was studying abroad independently in Amsterdam and then we boarded the plane. I looked out the window and saw snow coming down pretty hard. We began to move and I was relieved to find that the 2 seats next to me were empty. This was going to be a good flight. The pilot then came on the PA and told us that the plane had to undergo deicing. Apparently the process takes about 20 minutes for each plane but the assholes at the Philadelphia airport had yet to set up the machine. I guess they were watching the Eagles get beaten by the Cardinals. I pulled out my itinerary and did some quick math. I had an hour to get to my connecting flight in London and there was supposed to be a strong tailwind that would shave a half hour off the flight. That meant that at most we could lose an hour in the deicing procedure. An hour and minutes later we were in the air and I kissed my connecting flight goodbye. Annoyed that things were not going to plan already I accepted the fact that I couldn't do anything about it and tried to enjoy the flight.
The flight attendant came by for dinner and asked me if I wanted some wine. I wasn't sure what British Airways' policy for alcohol is but I figured I needed to get in the European spirit. She asked me if a 2007 Merlot was OK. Yes, British Airways flight attendant. That will be just fine.
She came back a little later to tell me that I could lay down on the other seats and that she wouldn't bother me. I spent the rest of the flight sleeping.
Landing at Heathrow, I was told that I had been given another flight to Prague. I went to the British Airways kiosk and was told that my flight would be leaving at 2:45. It was about 8:00. They gave me a 10 Pound voucher and I took off to hang out at Heathrow airport. The international terminal isn't like airports in the United States. It has sports stores, cell phone stores, designer boutiques; things I didn't expect to find in an airport. I read some of my book and then sat in a tiny corner and watched planes land and take off. As I sat there I started thinking about my situation. I was all by myself, my things packed and on a plane somewhere, across the Atlantic ocean from home. It was weird to think that I was in London by myself on a random day in January.
During my wait I grabbed lunch with my voucher. I grabbed a Guinness and had a greek salad. I decided that I was going to like studying abroad. I tried to keep busy but ended up miserably bored. At one point I just walked back and forth the length of the terminal for fun. Of course, I had nowhere to put my bags so I had to lug them with me. I suddenly got really tired but couldn't go to sleep. They don't tell you what gate you are using until 30 min before your flight at Heathrow. And, being terrified I'd sleep through my flight and miss another one I managed to stay awake until safely aboard. I don't even remember the takeoff I was asleep so fast.
Landing in Prague I began talking to some of the kids on the plane and found that some of them were with CIEE. We got our bags and cleared customs easily. Still, we were going to call a cab because all of the CIEE people were supposed to be long gone. However, there was still one Czech person there to greet us who helped us with a cab.
Getting to the Holiday Inn was a bit of a journey. At this point it was dark and I couldn't see out of the cab too well. As we traveled through Prague I tried to take in the sights but I was confused and tired. We finally ended up at the Holiday Inn where we dropped off our things and went to dinner. My group of stragglers from the airport and two Czech "buddies" as they're called took us to a Czech restaurant where we had "smazeny syr" which is fried cheese. Very tasty. After that, we went out, had a few drinks and talked to the Czech buddies.
Returning to my hotel room I was very relieved. The day had worked out well and the feelings of anticipation and fear were gone. I had made it to Prague and was free to make own assessment of it as the trip went on. With everything in order I went to bed in anticipation for moving to the dorm.
In this post I also want to related a little anecdote about an incident I had on the tram last night:
Two guys got on the tram, heard us speaking English and asked us where we were from. I answered, "the United States,"
"Oh, really? We're from Norway."
"Norway huh, that's a very nice country, I'd like to go there some day."
"Yes, United States is nice too."
"Thank you, it is."
"Watch out, I have bomb." (He then sticks out his hand, opens his coat with one hand to show the imaginary bomb, presses the imaginary detonator and goes, "BOOM!")
"I will kill all you Americans with bomb."
"No, I'm just kidding America is very nice. I like Barack Obama very much. Good change, good change."
"Thank you, this is my stop."
No comments:
Post a Comment