Yesterday, I arrived to O'Hare International Airport at about 9 pm after voyaging on three airplanes. One left from Budapest at 7 am, the next left from Milan at 10 am and the final was supposed to leave from JFK at 5:30 pm but it ended up leaving at 7:45 much to my frustration. I just wanted to get home. Every single plane was late and I'm convinced that I lost a quarter of my hearing in one ear from the piercing screams from a little drama queen boy sitting across from me who persistently kicked the chair of the man in front of him and threw things into the aisle.
Luckily, my parents had figured out my delays and were there to welcome me home. We went to baggage claim only to discover it wasn't there. The arrogant New York customs guy at JFK had told me that it wouldn't go to O'Hare.
"That all the baggage you got?" in that quintessential New York accent. (I half expected Jerry Seinfeld to wander over with Coztanza.)
"Yes, I'm transferring to Chicago."
"Your bags won't go through...trust me."
"They won't?" defeated, I walked back over to the crowded carousel and waited for about thirty minutes to find out that my bag wasn't there. So the woman in Budapest was right...my bag would make it all the way to Chicago. Well both those people were wrong. It is now 1:40 pm of the next day and I still don't have my bag.
On a lighter note, I did make some observations after arriving to New York. My first taste of America in a year.
The passport guy said, "Hello, how are you today? How was your flight? You sure have been to a lot of places."
"I've been away for a long time. It's good to come back." I said, taken aback at the sprinkles of small talk.
"Welcome," he said, "there's no place like home."
Two things that I immediately noticed on re-entry to the United States was that I could finally understand all the outside conversations around me (which of course I listened to, because I spent most of the day waiting around with nothing better to do) and that the food portions and bottles of soft drinks are HUGE! No wonder we're a fat nation! I actually settled on a little bag of Chex Mix for dinner...hell I didn't know what meal it was supposed to be at that point for me (it was midnight Hungarian time.)
Last night, I rejoiced at the thought of passing out for however many hours sleeping in my soft bed after a nice hot shower. And that's just what I did.
Now, I'm diving back into the Tour de France on OLN, even without Lance.
Hopefully, now I can resume the rest of my Spain vacation, etc...be back soon!!
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2 comments:
Hello Kat,
It seems we are trading places, well temporarily. I am leaving for Hungary Monday. I will be teaching in Budapest in the fall. If you are interested in swaping teaching plans and just meeting another American in Hungary, It would be a great pleasure to meet you. I came across your blog when searching for some Hungarian stuff this past year and check it periodically because it brings back so many memories of my three years working in Hungary for the Peace Corps. I even had to comment a few times. I feel like I know you, like you are this person who wrote a book I read. Cyberspace is a crazy place, but it puts us all closer together and keeps us in touch. Your blog gave me the idea to start my own to keep my family and friends here in the US up to date once I leave.
-Lisa Steiner
Welcome back, Kat!
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