+ Getting back home was an absolute nightmare. After my first flight from Heathrow was canceled, I rebooked via the internet on another for the next morning. Well, that was very nearly a bust. Rather than fly to JFK, I was set to fly to Atlanta then to JFK and then to Syracuse. There were almost no flights leaving on Monday, but my plane boarded only an hour late, so we were all very excited. That excitement was premature, though. We sat on the plane at the gate for 5 hours. FIVE HOURS. They took 2 hours deicing the plane and because they took so long, they had to redo it. Then, it started to snow again. Our entire crew, including the pilot, was American so they wanted to get home too. After the initial five hours, we pushed back from the gate only to taxi and wait at the runway for an hour.
The flight was then 9 hours. I was on the plane longer than I was to get to Japan a couple of years ago. And we only had one meal. Suffice to say, by the time we got to Atlanta everyone had missed their connections. I called my mom on the whole 60 seconds of international calling my iPhone has once we landed and she had rebooked on a flight from Atlanta directly to Rochester. I had just over 2 hours. Customs was easy, but it took me half an hour to get my bag and another half an hour to get a new luggage tag so it would follow me to a different airport. In Atlanta, you have to go through security again. So by the time I took the train to my terminal and got to my gate, my flight was almost done boarding. I hopped on and two hours later I was in Rochester. It was midnight then. My mom and younger sister came to meet me there. We collected my bag and left for the 2 hour drive home.
By the time I got home I had been awake for a solid 28.5 hours, eaten one meal in that time and smelled horribly. I showered immediately and crashed. I slept for about 10 hours.
+ Since being home, I haven’t done much. My younger brother is also back for the holidays (he’s a marine and has been over in California). Tuesday, my first full day home, I slept a lot. My dad, mom, brother and I went to Outback for dinner per my request (I wanted a bloomin’ onion). Then we came home and I video chatted Bertie for a bit until my sister came home and the two of us went to Wal-Mart to get something for one of her friends.
Yesterday I slept even more. My dad and I went out for a snackish dinner, but that’s about it. Today, I’m getting my hair cut so it looks healthier, shopping for jeans and boots as my Christmas presents and running to Wal-Mart to stock up on American things I want to bring back. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, my dad and I are going to drive to Ithaca to see “Black Swan”, have Red Lobster for lunch, and then my family will play a game of monopoly, have Christmas Eve dinner, and tour our small town to look at everyone’s Christmas lights. Then Saturday is Christmas so we’ll do the Christmas things. Then I leave on Sunday to get back to the UK.
It’s a short trip home. I am not looking forward to getting on another plane, though.
Location: horseheads, ny
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