2:15 PM Los Angeles, CA 1/27/10:
Landing in LAX, I was hit with the all too real feeling that the world is HUGE and small at the same time. Walking from the domestic commuter flight terminal to the international took 15 minutes, but coincidentally Mr. Sheppard from RLS was on the flight and we got a chance to say hello before the flight was over. The one problem with booking through a discount site like Student Universe is you have no control over the layovers. Mine (3 hours) was a lot of time to spend in the chaotic zoo they call Los Angeles International Airport. Between the groups of 50 Koreans seeing the country the first time and the swarm of paparazzi getting that one good shot of the d-list celebrity getting into his courtesy driven blacked out Lincoln Navigator, I soon realized this is not a normal airport. Luckily my friend from LMU was free and could pick me up for lunch so that I was out of the airport and saw one more friendly face before traveling cross-country alone. Alex and I went to The Habit, a burger joint, which was a perfect last meal in the US. I had a BBQ bacon avocado burger with jalapenos; I can’t think of a more American send off. After lunch we stopped by her house in Marina Del Rey where I got a chance to relax and think about the next 11 hours I’d spend cooped up in 2 foot wide chair with probably a crying baby on my left and a 300 pound gorilla on the other. After lunch and final goodbyes, I scurried towards my gate only to be stopped at security with an abrupt halt. The line was long and moving very slowly. I’m not a fan of the one-foot forward shuffle as everyone lurches lethargically forward at a sloth’s or snails pace. Once at the gate I did my usual protocol, asking the counter girl, “any free upgrades for me today?” (No she promptly said) with a none too friendly I’ve heard this a million times before smirk. Plane is boarding and the German lady over the intercom is telling me to load. Time to go ciao.
12:00 PM Frankfurt, Germany 1/28/10:
Well the flight was not as bad as I thought; luckily I had a friendly row mate who had the aisle while I took over the window and a majority of the middle seat. With a total of 90 pounds of luggage, and a bursting at the seams carry-on, the extra space was appreciated by both of us. I had a nice conversation with the gentleman who was in LA on business (He works for a company that is trying to bring 3-D movie projectors to more theatres in Germany and all over Europe. A conversation I normally would not have initiated, usually sticking to my typical Ipod and pillow leave me alone and let me sleep routine (maybe this Study Abroad going away for 4 ½ months alone is changing me). We talked off and on and at the end of the flight he gave me his business card in case I came back to Germany on my trip and needed a place to stay, or if I got lost; a nice gesture, but one I probably won’t follow up on. He did, however, tell me that if I went to Germany for a weekend go to Hamburg that it is the best place to go and is “less Germany-ish” meaning the not very friendly strict uptight with piercing glares that I have grown accustomed to in this bitterly cold country (it was 30 degrees outside). But back to the flight, I had a great formula for sleep: Alex had supplied me with 4 benadryl (my elementary self-prescribing sleeping pill) which I promptly lost somewhere in the depths of my bulging over-stuffed backpack. Onto plan b which popped into my head as the drink cart went by…This was an international flight…ok so that means I don’ t have to be 21 to drink…This is Lufthansa…so beer and wine are free! Two glasses of red-died vinegar - I mean wine - and a bottle of surprisingly tasty and hoppy German lager all on the house combined with my down pillow, a blanket, and the new tunes of Lady Antebellum I drifted off to sleep. 4 hours later, I was up refreshed (not hung over) but still stranded in the darkness of the 3 seat by 4 seat by 3 seat enormous economy class cabin. I finished Heat, my third culinary book of the break and broke into Setting the Table by Danny Meyer. Fitting all to coincidentally, the book was a perfect choice; Meyer graduated from Trinity College and actually attended the exact same program in Rome that I am embarking on at this moment. 500 Hundred Days of Summer, one of my favorite movies recently, and I took a hiatus from my reading. In summation, I’ve had many 2-hour flights that were worse than this 11-hour behemoth. Between the excitement of going to Europe, reading books I like, and new music to listen to, you could have told me it was going to take 2 days, I wouldn’t have cared.
Top 5 songs of the flight:
- Hello World – Lady Antebellum
- Sky Blue and Black – Jackson Browne
- Friends, Lovers or Nothing – John Mayer
- Old Man – Neil Young
- Fire and Rain – James Taylor
My time in Europe, so far consisting of only the Frankfurt airport, has been great. There is an different feeling over here that is impossible to describe but something akin to that goosebumps tingling you get with good music or enjoyable times. I have only two complaints thus far, Who the Fuck thought that serving fish as the dinner on the plane was a good idea? I mean really; I don’t care if you like fish or not, but last time I checked Germany didn’t have the largest population of fresh salmon and even if it did how was this supposed to taste good reheated to death into a soggy sponge like pink thing with fake grill marks on it? And secondly, the security guard (I had to go through passport check in and then through security again for my flight to Rome) confiscated my shampoo bottle that I had taken with me. This of course was my fault; I am not to current on my millimeter measurements of what is allowed on a German aircraft. For anyone wondering about this pertinent information it is 100 ml NOT 125ml. He also wouldn’t let me pour out my full to the brim Gatorade water bottle and instead asked me to chug it. I’m all for hydration, but all of it in a minute or two was a lot. More to come later, but now the journey continues and I will soon land in Roma my home for the next few months. My afternoon will conclude with a nice late lunch at a Trattoria or Osteria after I arrive by train into Rome followed by a dinner checking out the streets that I will soon (hopefully) become fully versed in.
Top 5 Goals of the Semester:
- Get in a kitchen and learn how to cook Italian food, and make pasta
- Travel everywhere
- Become fluent in Italian
- Play water polo with a club team here
- Be open to any and all paths that this adventure takes me.
----Ciao
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