Sunday, April 03, 2011

Thankful for a smooth safe trip

146) Found a taxi right in front of my house when I left Thursday morning at 5am – I was not anticipating the idea of dragging my suitcase on a ten minute walk through the streets trying to hail one. 147) No mention by the lady at the check-in counter that my bag were 3.7 kilos over weight. 148) On my two longer flights there were only two of us assigned to sit in the bench of three seats, so it meant we could spread out and have a little more room.

149) I had to change terminals during one of my layovers; two strangers generously helped me lift my heavy bag up the steps onto the bus.

150) I stopped at Starbucks during my first layover… that is only a practial thankful thing - the price of Starbucks at the airport astounded me, I paid basically the same price that myself and two of my best friends can eat for when we go out for a nice dinner at home.

151) Fun movies to watch during the 12 hour flight

152) I made it through Canadian customs… I wouldn’t have thought that was a difficult thing, but when the officer saw how long I had been out of the country he made me scratch out my parent's address as my residence and fill in my address in Asia. He also spent a long time challenging the fact that after being gone for 19-20 months that I was really only bringing about 375 dollars worth of goods back with me. I was glad to get by the mini interrogation and be safely in my home country.

153) That first sip of a hot Tim Horton’s Coffee and a fresh Sour Cream glazed doughnut.


154) Making it home during Roll Up the Rim Season – although sadly neither of my first two coffees have won

155)My flights were all basically on time, I even got in a few minutes early.

156) My mom standing there waiting for me and waving enthusiastically, and the ensuing great big hug.

157) My bag made it back in one piece with nothing broken. I had packed three Uyghur tea pots, 18 tea bowls, and a cream and sugar all in my check in luggage. Each item was wrapped in tank-tops and other soft clothes to help protect them… and it worked.

158) A good night sleep in my own bed.

159) Cinnamon toast crunch cereal for breakfast.

160) Relatively little struggle with jet lag – I made it through a bridal shower for my soon to be sister-in-law without dozing off.


2 comments:

Beth said...

Welcome Home! sounds like you've been gone so long that you've forgotten about doughnuts.... :)

Britta said...

Welcome back home. Will sent you an email. See you soon! Best Wishes