I woke up early Thursday morning to make the 40-minute commute to Grenoble and then take the hour bus ride to Lyon airport. Besides coming France (where I had my parents to see me off and Nani to meet me halfway), this is the only other time I’ve traveled by myself. I was quite nervous so I got to the airport super early and waited what felt like forever for my first flight at 10:30am. The flight was incredible. From my window I saw the most beautiful views - the Swiss Alps, a small river of clouds that flowed in and out of the mountains, and an expansive sea of clouds. It was absolutely breathtaking. I just couldn’t get over the fact that what I was viewing were like surreal images from a movie. It’s just amazing the way our society has progressed – the fact that flying is mainstream is crazy! Fun fact: when we got close to the clouds I couldn’t stop thinking of sewing lessons with Aunt Coco. The clouds looked exactly like pillow stuffing! Good times.
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| Swiss Alps and river of clouds couldn't stop staring |
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| sea of clouds - breathtaking |
When I arrived in Zurich, Switzerland I made my way to the gate and waited for a long time. After a while, I rechecked the screen and realized that my flight had been canceled. So, I asked the closest airport employee what I should do. They sent me to a transfer desk, where I was told the plane had “technical problems” and I could take another flight in 4 hours. Since I didn’t have Kaitlyn’s phone number and my phone can’t call internationally anyways, I rushed off to the computer lounge to send her an email and fb message to let her know I’d be late. I was super worried because she was meeting me at the airport so if she wasn’t there when I arrived I wouldn’t know where to go! Later in the afternoon she called my phone through skype and we made plans for me to meet at a metro stop near the dinner spot.
7 hours after arriving in Zurich, I finally made it to Copenhagen. I took what I thought was the metro to Nørreport station. It seemed like a super nice metro, which I later found out is because it was actually a train. I arrived at the station so so so excited to see Kaitlyn. I couldn’t stop smiling. I wandered around back and forth on the platform in and out of the building searching for her. I waited 10 minutes in case she was late and then decided I needed to do something. I literally couldn’t do anything without her. I didn’t even know where she lived and I had no idea where I was! Luckily, I was smart enough to write down her telephone number when she skyped me, but unfortunately my phone couldn’t call outside of France. After searching for her a couple more times, I found an information desk outside and asked the man where the nearest payphone was. I found the payphone and then realized I only had euros not Danish kronor. So, I went back to the info desk and asked the man where the nearest bank was. I searched the station one more time for Kaitlyn and then rushed off to find an ATM. I took out the smallest amount I could – which was 100 kronor. I went back to the man to ask him for change since this was in paper form and he told me I had to ask at a business. So, I went to a hotdog stand (which is one of the Danes’ most classic food item) but the seller didn’t have change either. I wandered back down the street to find a coffee shop and finally got some coins. Then, I searched the station one more time before trying the pay phone. I still didn’t find her and knew something was wrong because it was 45-minutes later and I knew she wouldn’t be that late! After some confusion with the Danish instructions on the phone I finally got in contact with her and we realized that I was at the train station and she was at the metro station, which was literally directly below me. So frustrating! After literally an hour of us both waiting nervously and impatiently, we finally found each other. This definitely taught me the importance of back up plans because if I didn’t happen to write down Kaitlyn’s number I would’ve have been completely screwed. Although figuring out how to handle both the flight issue and the mix up with the stations made me feel a lot more confident in my ability of being independent. I was also so thankful I got to talk English for this debacle.
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