Thursday, September 12, 2013

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

The first 24 hours

At 2:35 p.m. Wednesday September 11th I got a call confirming my address so my travel agency could send me my visa and passport.  About 20 minutes later I got a call asking if I’d be ok with leaving tomorrow.  I said yes not quite believing that this was actually happening.  I’ve heard of last minute flights for exchange, but not quite this last minute.  I was told that my Visa and passport would arrive at my house by 10:00 a.m. and that my first flight would be out of Green Bay at 2:30. I then proceeded with telling everyone I know that I’ll be leaving the country tomorrow and had the chance to Skype with 2 of my best friends.  I went to bed early to get a good night’s rest for the day ahead of me. 

I woke up early the next morning, made myself some crunchy peanut butter toast (figure I won’t get a lot of that in Turkey), went to see my peacocks one last time, and then waited.  And waited.  And waited.  By the time it hit 11:00  a.m. we called everyone we could think of to try and figure out what time my passport would come, or if it would even come.  Finally, my mom received a call back from FedEx saying that there was a delayed flight and that my package was guaranteed by at least 12:50.  12:50, if I were to get it that late there wasn’t a chance I’d make it to Green Bay in time.  This was followed by more frantic calling, and my travel agent saying getting upset with the FedEx company.  He even said this was an unusual situation for FedEx. (Unusual situations seem to follow me uncannily) We were considering driving down to Chicago to get to my 7:20 flight on time, but because we’d be hitting rush hour, it would still be pushing it.  At 12:05 we got a call back from the FedEx Company.  “The driver of the truck is at Burger King, you can meet him there to get your package.”  I then had to give my dad a quick goodbye and my mom drove me to Burger King.  Out of all the places for me to get my Visa, the last place I expected to pick it up was Burger King.  When I called Ed (my travel agent) he said at least it’d be a good story to tell my grandchildren one day.  I told him I’d keep that in mind.  So at 12:15 I signed that this was my package and my mom took pictures cause she thought it was too hilarious. 
2013-09-12_12-14-55_457.jpg       I think the FedEx guy found it funny as well.
After that we rushed over to Green Bay, following many truck in the “fast lane” that were going at a mighty speed of 66 miles per hour.  We finally made it, and I was able to get to my flight on time.  I then said goodbye to my mom as well, and at 2:35 (24 hours after I learned when I was leaving) the plane left the ground and I was on my way to Chicago.

So now here I am, in Chicago, and I’m still sinking it all in.  I’ve been talking to this sweet Indian family who had two adorable children that were so in love with my pins I just had to give each of them one.  The girl seemed enamored with my pin that has an Indian flag, and the boy asked for the pin with a hamburger on it.  As thanks they each gave me a mike and ikes.  I’m still sinking it all in, that this is really happening.  At 7:20 (Thursday) I’ll leave for London, then head to Munich, and at 11:10 p.m. (Friday), I’ll be in Izmir, Turkey, where I’ll stay for the next year of my life.  Honestly, with the luck I’ve been having lately, I keep saying “I’ll believe it when I see it.”  But in a bit more than 24 hours, I’ll be starting one of the craziest adventures in my life, and I can’t wait.


No comments:

Post a Comment