I
walked into DFW International at around 1:00 in the afternoon. The
self-check-in terminal refused to let me check myself in, so I had to
wait for the desk attendants to come back from their lunch-imposed
exile. They were easier to work with than the plastic terminal at the
front. When I walked by them again, I noticed that the monitor showed a
Windows XP boot up screen. Go figure.
Then the TSA checkpoint came up. The hurried tempo and stripping of
belongings gave the impression that we were prisoners who were being
inspected before returning to our cells. “Make sure your pockets are
emptied!” the female guard reminded us. I felt so rushed. Alright, I
thought, let me get some bins to put my things in. Open the backpack so
they can see the laptop. Gah, why did I wear my boots? They’re so big
and take a while to get off. Ok, boots off, now for the jacket. Wait! I
have to take out my liquids. Crap, now there’s more people behind me.
Yes, I know, TSA Lady, my pockets are empty! Belts, too? Ugh. Now for
the scanner. Ok, cool. Done. Now to put everything back on…
Punctuality is a virtue of mine, so I arrived at my gate a full 3
hours before takeoff. CNN played over the speakers with a row of TVs
displaying news on the GOP debates and discussions about El Chapo. I had
little to do other than ride tall escalators and sit around with other
passengers. Some of their faces showed hope and excitement for wherever
their journey may take them. Others had faces as flat as a soda left out
in the summer sun. While I wandered around Terminal D, I remembered to
get some food, especially my incident several years ago. In that
previous spectacular moment, I had forgotten to eat or drink through an
entire transatlantic flight to Italy and promptly passed out upon
landing. Take it from me, you do NOT want to feel impending vomit while
touring the oldest art museum in Europe.
Upon boarding my first flight, I immediately thanked myself for
booking early because my chosen seat had plenty of leg room for my
nine-hour flight. My time on board consisted of the following:
Listening to music
Bringing up my laptop to watch movie
Being upset that said movie’s subtitle track didn’t work
Eating an above-average dinner provided by British Airways (chicken & dumplings)
Watching a different movie (The Raid: Redemption)
Trying to fall asleep to the sound of classical music
Failing to fall asleep to the sound of classical music
Our arrival in London at local time 7:30AM felt like my 1:30AM, and
after being herded like sheep through yet another security checkpoint
at Heathrow, I made it to my Copenhagen flight along with several other
DIS students to my delight. This much shorter flight only consisted of
listening to Drake and wondering what awaited me upon landing in the
city that I was to spend this semester in. Eager anticipation plus sleep
deprivation made for a seemingly eternal flight.
The first
thing I noticed upon landing was the snow. Everything is going to look
picturesque, I thought. After waiting at the airport Hilton for my bus
to my living space, I soon discovered that I was correct. All of the
historic buildings with their bright mint green copper roofs and red
brick exteriors made the drive into the city look like a winter scene
that would be printed on a festive Christmas popcorn bucket.
We came to my new living space at the Arts Living and Learning Community
on Skindergade 14, right in the heart of the city. I unloaded my scant
belongings from my two pieces of luggage; they were dwarfed by some of
the other students’ five or more bags that could carry multiple
life-size statues within them. Once my new roommates and I went out with
our RA on a small walking tour of our area, I immediately thought of
the novelty of my surroundings. The snow flurried as we made our way
down cobblestone streets. What amazing thing have I gotten myself into?
