I'm home...and sluggish, haha...

So here's the story of my trip home.

The night before I left, I barely slept at all because my heart was racing the whole time in expectation of the next day. It was strange... I was sort of in a half-awake-half-asleep state. But my heart never stopped beating hard, for some weird reason. So the sleep I got wasn't worth a single grosz, heh heh.

Then I woke up an hour before I had set my alarm. And I couldn't fall back asleep. So I got up and got ready. Then I spent an hour and a half on the internet (during which time I wrote my previous blog post). Then, after some waiting for everyone to be ready, we headed to the airport.

I felt a little sick to my stomach on the way...partly cause I had to pee. Then we got there, and the place was PACKED. We finally got in line for the check-in desk...only to discover 10 minutes later that it was the wrong desk. We were on the wrong end of the room. So we threaded our way back to the right desk and waited. We talked, took pictures, and laughed. It was fun.

The thing I was most worried about was my bags. But when I got to the desk, she said I could take the pottery AND my laptop as carry-ons for no extra charge! What a relief!

So we said our goodbyes and gave our last hugs at the spot right before where I had to show my passport and walk through towards the gates. And as I left the desk and headed for the gate, all my friends let up a loud cheer and said "GOODBYE MATTHEW!!!" And everyone in the airport looked at me like I was some kind of famous person, hahaha, it was great!

It was sad to leave them. But it really didn't truly hit me until I was on the plane from London to Chicago. I ALMOST cried... But I'm a manly man, so I didn't... heh heh...

Anyway, the flight to London was ok... I was already surrounded by a ton of English-speaking strangers! It was great! The crappy thing is that there was a baby behind me who screamed the ENTIRE way. From take-off to landing, he/she never stopped. But it did give me a chance to talk to the girl next to me about how much we hated little screamers. Haha...

Then, in London I had to wait in a HUUUUUGE line for customs... Then I had to go to the baggage claim and get my bags. I had two bags that weighed about 50 pounds each (I weighed them) and then my laptop (which weighs FAR too much) and the bag of pottery which was heavy too. For a time, I was carrying ALL of those bags at once, lol... It hurt SO BAD. Then I realized that those luggage carts were free! Haha... So I was running around trying to find out where the check-in desk was for United. It was in another terminal and it took forever to find it. I had to go up elevators, down elevators, down ramps, outside on a sidewalk, etc. Finally I found it, and they told me that I could only have ONE carry-on this time. So I had to check my laptop. I was nervous, but it was ok. They told me I had better RUN or I wouldn't make it. I still had to go through security!

So anyway, I barely made it. My seat on the plane was smack-dab in the middle of the middle row of seats. And not only that, but my row was strange... it was only 4 seats across instead of 5 (it was almost the very last row). So in front of me was the crack between two seats instead of the back of one seat...if you know what I mean. And the TV screens are on the back of the headrests. So since I didn't have a headrest in front of me, I had to lean to the side and watch the TV to the left, haha. Just my luck.

But it was all good. I watched 3 movies. And I never got too bored or uncomfortable.

Then I got to Chicago O'Hell. I hate that place. They ALWAYS have delays. This time it was a good thing, cause I would've missed it if they hadn't. That's because it took like an HOUR to get my bags! The plane was delayed for like an hour and a half. And then the flight was not very fun cause it was like an ice box in there. I was so freezing. I felt sorry for the flight attendant. There was only one! She must get bored a lot.

Anyway, I made it back, and only two of my bags came through. They told me they will deliver the last one to me today. So we'll see... I'm not too worried....yet.

So it's good to be back. I still haven't had Taco Bell cause I got back so late... But I'm gonna go suck in the American air now... I'll update more later!

Love,

Matthew