Well technically that's actually Friday, 28th March. But close enough.
I flew from Copenhagen to Toronto, with Air Canada-- it was actually a really nice flight. There are so many security checks before you get on the plane, good job America! Left Copenhagen about 11am, arrived in Toronto 8 hours later at 2pm. Quite comfortable, full entertainment access, spent most of the time watching movies and TV shows. It was good. I then had a three hour stop over/transit in Toronto before going down to New York. Because of the way it works, I was officially entering the US in Toronto, and then flew down on a domestic flight into La Guardia, New York. The transit system in Toronto is strange-- you follow the signs to 'TO USA', which is easy enough, then scan your boarding pass in a machine. Then you sit down and wait for your name to come up on a screen. This took ages for me but eventually AST/N to New York came up-- and then you join the big line again. I don't know how they control it, but it was nice to sit down for a while rather than wait in line, and there is a very limited space there, so it works out. My flight was at 5.20pm or something and by this stage it was about 4.50. At 5pm a lady keeping control of the line (who reminded me of the Clash Manager at Zone athletics carnivals) said in her lovely accent 'ANYONE ON THE 5.20 TO NEW YORK?' to which my fellow travellers and I scrambled to the fast lane.
So I'm used to people looking at me funny when I tell them I play Quidditch. But there is a certain terror to it when that person is a US Border Control official, wanting to know what my purpose was in South Carolina. So I just said "it's a College sport thing, there is a tournament" and he was like "right, whatever" and stamped me through. Phew. Then because we were late, we were told to tell the desk who sent us to the front of the security line-- "I've got another one! Yeah, it's the transfers, they're all late!" So went through, rushed down to my gate, and boarded as one of the last people.
My impressions of Canada-- well I only saw the airport and it was raining. Got passport checked when we got off the plane, which was curious. Quite a nice airport though, when you disembark you go through glass walkways upstairs that you can look down on people waiting in the terminal to depart. Then since I was running late didn't stop to buy anything to commemorate my time. Also they had free WiFi, which naturally meant I liked the airport more. Which was great considering the amount of waiting time!
Naturally since by now we'd missed our landing window in New York, so we sat on the runway for an hour. The guy next to me was cool-- he nearly bought me a beer before I mentioned I was underage and he was like "oh, doubt they'd check anyway, but okay". Had the same entertainment system as the international flight, which was nice, and eventually we were on our way to New York.
It was raining when we landed, so I didn't get much of a look at the city. I found my way off the plane, picked up my bags and boarded a shuttle for my hostel, sharing with a bunch of people about my age going everywhere. (LGA Airport doesn't have free WiFi. Boooo.) Immediately I was reminded of the whole "you're welcome" thing the US seems to have, by which I mean if you say "thanks" to someone, you will very nearly always get a "you're welcome" back. Also most of the people I met were crazy polite. Example: "Excuse me sir, can we have some circulating air please sir?" "Sure." "Thank you, sir." "You're welcome." How quaint.
Made it to my hostel-- didn't have to tip the guy because I'd included it in my booking -- and dragged my bags downstairs. Then realised that reception was upstairs. So I went back upstairs. Found my room (single private, shared bathroom) and it was super small but suitable. By this stage it was about 11pm, so I made use of the WiFi to send a few "I'm here, I'm alive" messages and crashed out, ready for the next day...
Copenhagen to New York
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| Waiting, waiting... |
So I'm used to people looking at me funny when I tell them I play Quidditch. But there is a certain terror to it when that person is a US Border Control official, wanting to know what my purpose was in South Carolina. So I just said "it's a College sport thing, there is a tournament" and he was like "right, whatever" and stamped me through. Phew. Then because we were late, we were told to tell the desk who sent us to the front of the security line-- "I've got another one! Yeah, it's the transfers, they're all late!" So went through, rushed down to my gate, and boarded as one of the last people.
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| Glass walkway things. | I can't remember exactly what this said, Sorry you can't see! Something about the percentage of road accidents caused by moose. It was funny. Laugh. |
Oh, Canada! |
Naturally since by now we'd missed our landing window in New York, so we sat on the runway for an hour. The guy next to me was cool-- he nearly bought me a beer before I mentioned I was underage and he was like "oh, doubt they'd check anyway, but okay". Had the same entertainment system as the international flight, which was nice, and eventually we were on our way to New York.
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| Somehow don't think I'm in Copenhagen any more. |
Made it to my hostel-- didn't have to tip the guy because I'd included it in my booking -- and dragged my bags downstairs. Then realised that reception was upstairs. So I went back upstairs. Found my room (single private, shared bathroom) and it was super small but suitable. By this stage it was about 11pm, so I made use of the WiFi to send a few "I'm here, I'm alive" messages and crashed out, ready for the next day...
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| My street in Chelsea. With a three-wheeled NYPD... something... |
Ta daa! |
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| Epitome of cool. | I don't even know. |
This post was originally going to be an intro to the first day. But it got really long, so it isn't :) Have a few Americanisms to keep you going! More to come soon! Heading to Eurovision tonight!! :) :)
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