Trapped

The day has finally arrived. This will be my last post of London adventures. From here on the blog will be rededicated to life as a REGULAR BYU student. I am not sure how that is going to go after such an adventure, but I guess we will just have to wait and see. In the mean time....

June 19th

Our original check out time of the flat was 10am. That seemed very doable. The week before the program ended though our checkout time was bumped up to 8am. Rude! That meant I was up bright and early at 7am to finish packing, cleaning, and restoring the flat to its empty self. Everyone booked flights back to the states at different times, so people left in waves. My flight was one of the latest, at 3:20pm. There was a large group of girls flying home together on Delta at 2pm. I thought they would want to do something fun for our last morning, but they were content just to sit in the flat until someone physically came and kicked them out. No way was I going to waste my last precious hours in London! I dropped off my bags at Brett's flat and then headed toward Hyde Park for an adventure.

Justyne gave me this piece of Turkish Delight. It looks wacky, right? It is pistachio flavor and surprisingly delicious. Silly British candy. 

My first stop was the Prince Albert Memorial next to Queen's Gate. Just across the street is Royal Albert Hall. Both are marvelous.

Next I went to see my friend Peter. German high school students were flocked around him listening to a lecture, so I did not stay long.

Here I am chilling in the park. I love these parks. As I sat under the tree, several dogs ran up to me. They sniffed my shoes and ran around in circles a few times before being called away. British dogs are just as calm as British people.

Almost all of McKenzie's pictures of this trip have been of her feet. She said she had a driving concept. She photographs all the crazy places her feet have taken here. If I always wore cute shoes, I might join in. My feet have taken me to amazing places this summer. Thanks feet.

Last time on a London bus. I feel like I have conquered all the different forms of public transportation. I requested that the class final be changed from writing essays to being dropped in a random location in London and trying to find your way back to the flat. Whoever used the least amount of money and did is the fastest would win an extra prize. Isn't that the real reason we are here, to learn about London? The final was not changed, but I am still up for this Amazing Race type game across the city.

The V&A. One of my favorite museums. It is grand. I spent nearly an hour here exploring rooms and floors I had no knowledge of during my first visit.

There was a whole floor of ceramics! Looks at all those teacups! Even better, the museum was practically empty. I was able to see everything I wanted.

I designed this teapot on a touch screen in a teapot room. The computer was a little temperamental, but I think it turned out alright.

Right next to the ceramics was a room of glass. I also visited rooms dedicated to furniture, architecture, China, Japan, and other Asian cultures.

I had to document the spinning doors. I used to think they were so cool. Revolving doors are a common thing in London. I grew used to them.

Back to Brett's to pick up my stuff and then I hailed a cab. First and only time in a London taxi during this trip. My ride was not too far, just South Kensington to Paddington. At Paddington I took the Heathrow Express straight to the airport. Lots of girls took the tube. The tube is much cheaper, but takes three times longer than the Express. I bought a return ticket before I came to London and I am fine that I spent more money on it. It is much easier to handle luggage on the train and you get there in fifteen minutes.

Time to eat my feelings. I mean, spend the rest of my pounds.

I met Raeni at the gate after I spent my last few pounds at the airport convenient store. We were flying from Heathrow to Chicago together. Our seats on the nine hour flight were not close to each other, but we talked before hand. The flight back to the U.S. was much nicer than my flight to London. I watched tv, journaled, and listened to music. Raeni and I met up in Chicago to go through customs, pick up our bags, recheck our bags, and take a shuttle to our terminals. Everything went smoothly. Sadly, we were at different terminals, so I exited the shuttle before Raeni and went to find security. Security is so much more intense in the states. I prefer flying in Europe. They were a lot nicer than the Chicago staff. Once I got through security I was able to call my mom and find the gate. It has been almost two months since I have been able to talk to her on the phone.

Here is where things get interesting. My layover in Chicago was only supposed to be an hour, but then the rain started. My flight was delayed two hours due to rain. Then, it was cancelled. I walked to the front of the terminal and found there was another United flight to Salt Lake. With the help of an airline staff guy I befriended, I made my way downstairs and was put on the standby list for this flight. It was supposed to leave before my original flight, but had also been delayed. I really did not see myself making it onto the plane, but I did! I carefully stowed my carry-on (with my teacups) and then started to drift into sleep. The pilot had mentioned we had a small window of time to take off after the rain subsided. I was awoken maybe twenty minutes later by the pilot's voice. The crew had hit its maximum time allowed to fly and we would not be able to make it to Salt Lake. We turned around from the runway and went back to the gate. I thought they would switch pilots or something, but instead we were kicked off the plane and told to go to Customer Service. I waited in line at Customer Service for over two hours. By the time I reach the desk it was 12:30. Several flights had been canceled that night due to the storm. I was finally able to get a standby for a 9:40am flight and reserved a seat on the 2:45. That left me with nine hours to kill before I even had a chance of getting on a plane. There was no way I was going to find a hotel in Chicago in the middle of the night in the rain. I stayed in the airport and began to wander. 

I was told there was food in Terminal three. I started to journey over there and met hundreds of cots. It looked like a war zone. After I found something to eat I made it my goal to find an empty cot somewhere and try to fall asleep.

That's pretty. *Around 1am*

Dunkin Donuts, McDonald's, and Starbucks were the only places open in the middle of the night. I was craving a cinnamon roll. I was surprisingly chipper for being stuck in an airport in a city I had never been to. Mom thought the scary part of flying home would be getting into the country. Obviously, she was wrong. 

I slept from 2-4 on a cot close to terminal three. I didn't sleep well though. I was paranoid someone would take my stuff and awoke every thirty minutes. I had awful dreams too about being lost or not knowing where I was. In one I was running to the Museum of London (plated in gold) with Alli, Lindsay, and Jessica, but we could never make it before the building melted into the earth. The man next to me, who was probably my father's age, gave me the airport blanket at 3:45. It was way nice of him since I was freezing. He had been stuck in the airport just as late as me and didn't think he would be able to get out until 8pm that night. 

At 4am a security guard walked up and down the terminal screaming for everyone to wake up. I hate this man. It was not morning and I am pretty sure we would have been just fine laying there for another two hours. He was totally rude. He actually might not have been that bad, but I was on hour ten of being stuck in the airport. Airport staff walked around handing out these hygiene kits to those who had stayed in the airport overnight. You're probably right airport staff, I do need to brush me teeth and put on deodorant.

I had snacks from London for breakfast as I went to the US Airways terminal. This is the part of the story where my good mood starts to falter a bit. A girl from US Airways arrived at the desk at 5am. She was not able to check me in since the flight was being run by American Airlines AND she said United had not booked my ticket properly. WHAT? She printed me out another ticket and said it should work. I walked to the American Airlines terminal to try to check in again. Representatives arrived at the desk at 6am. The lady was so annoyed when I showed her my two tickets and explained my situation. There was no room on the flight. It was overbooked. She said United did this a lot. She could not get me onto the plane or the American Airlines 8:15am standby. She told me to return to Customer Service at United and chew them out. At least she was supportive.

I waited in line for over an hour again to speak to a United assistant. I remained pretty bright as I recounted my story to an employee and man behind me in line. I was fine with the rain, but this little bit was completely unprofessional. The morning staff at the desk was much more competent than the employees last night. There was nothing she could do about the loss of my 2:45 flight. At least my 9:40 standby was still good. Here was the plan: if the 9:40 standby did not work I was going to be rolled over to the 1:30pm standby. If I could not get onto that flight I had a reservation for the 3pm to Denver and then 5pm to Salt Lake. She said I would be in Salt Lake, worst comes to worst, by 7:30pm that night. I took it and went and found a smoothie. I was so tired walking between terminals two and three. I must have done it at least six times that night.

Where is the 9:40 flight? In butt-freakin-Narnia! Terminal one is much farther away than the other two terminals. Not to mention it has these cool rainbow lights over the moving sidewalk for most of the journey. I was starting to lose my mind.

 

Number eight on standby? There was no way I was going to make it. I fell asleep several times on the chairs in front of the gate. I was praying and praying I would finally be able to get out of this airport. I knew it would be fine if I didn't this time, but I had run out of things to do. I wanted to be home. I decided that I was stuck in this airport to make me want to go to Salt Lake. I had been so frustrated that I had to come back the last few days, and now that was all I wanted.

With two seats left on the plane and my name still fourth on standby I was near tears. One seat left and they called up the next person on the list. It was the wife from the Eastern European couple I had seen a few other times that day. She told the woman at the desk that she and her husband wanted to stay together and would try the 1:30 flight. I was boarded. HALLELUJAH!

I was only able to sleep for an hour on the three hour flight. Seeing the Salt Lake Valley was beautiful. My eyes automatically found the highway and followed it down to Provo. I was so close.

Shoutout to all the people I met in Chicago who were also trying to escape. I hope you made it home too! Also a big thank you to the employees of airlines and the Chicago airport that were kind, understanding, and helped me out. I'm not sure I would have been so sunshiny without you.

I was so emotionally unstable by the time I reached Salt Lake. There were two or three missionaries coming home just a few minutes behind me and I started crying I was so happy they were home... I do not know these people. Thank goodness Sheri was there so soon to get me. I arrived in Salt Lake around noon and was able to stay up till seven. I crashed and woke up at three. Oh jet lag. I was only up for a half hour and then was able to sleep another five or six hours.

This day was over forty hours long. At least twenty eight hours of traveling. Sixteen hours stuck in the Chicago airport. Three hours of sleep. Three airports. Six tickets. Three bags. One trip home. Should have stayed in London.