Friday, March 09, 2007

The Long Journey Home

It all started the day before I left Melbourne.

I was scheduled to leave Melbourne on the 6th of March, which left me one day at the US Consulate to arrange for an emergency passport. I had called the week before, so I had printed and filled out the paperwork I needed to turn in. I stopped at the pharmacy on the way to get some photos done. They wouldn't let me wear my glasses or smile (not that I wanted to smile).

Went in to the US Consulate, located in a random office building. First I had to go through a metal detector at the security desk downstairs, and I left anything I didn't absolutely need upstairs in a little cubby. As the elevator opened, there was another security desk where I had to sign in and then go through another metal detector. They put my wallet and paperwork into a tray and x-rayed it in another machine. I took a seat in the area reserved for American citizens and waited for my number to be called. Ten minutes later, I was called to the window and handed them all of the paperwork and the passport photos. They spent the next half an hour researching me I'm sure. Then I was called back up to the window and was told that someone would have to give me an oath before I finished signing the paperwork. Another five minutes passed, and I was called up to the window again. I thanked the lady who was there to swear me in, and she said "Oh, no problem. I don't mind helping anyone who borders the Upper Peninsula." Turns out that she's a Yooper (what we Wisconsinites like to call anyone from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan)!! I convinced them to have my passport ready by the afternoon instead of having to pick it up on my way to the airport the next morning.

On my flight from Melbourne to LA, I get an aisle seat, but the TV screen doesn't work. This is a key factor in getting through a 14-hour flight... ON DEMAND MOVIES! The flight attendants do a little switching around for me, and I finally have a seat with a working TV screen. The flight goes pretty quickly. I get into LA and figure I have about 4 hours to wait before my flight to Chicago. After three hours, they start delaying our flight numerous times until they finally cancel it. Then everyone makes a mad rush to the counter nearest our departure gate where two ladies attempt to make us all happy. I waited over half an hour, and by the time I got to the front of the line there were no flights available to get me to Chicago in time to make a connection to LaCrosse by the end of the night. I started crying. Yep! I couldn't help it. I was just thinking that I must be cursed or something. Lose my luggage on the way there, spend 3 months filing paperwork to be reimbursed, lose my passport on the way home, and then have a cancelled flight. The poor lady behind the desk was trying to console me, "I know you just had a very long flight and are probably very tired, but I need to know whether you'd like to stay in LA overnight or in Chicago." OH, LADY... you don't even know!!! I did decide to stay in LA since I didn't have any clothes to keep me warm in Chicago. She was great actually... booked me into the airport Hilton and got me a bunch of meal tickets. As I stumbled out into the corridor, I walked right into Scottie ("cAn you imagine?") who worked in Fuels at McMurdo. He gave me a big hug. I felt kind of bad that the last time I'd probably ever see the guy I'm bright red, puffy, and my cheeks were covered in salty tears which I probably wiped on his jacket.

The next morning I was at the airport at 5am and finally arrived back in LaCrosse, Wisconsin to find both of my parents had taken off of work again that day to pick me up. It was a great reunion, and I was sooooo happy to be home! I think I figured I had been in 5 time zones in less than 2 weeks!

Posted by Katie from the Ice @ 8:04 AM