The trip to LA was pretty wearying. At Arlanda me and Sean almost missed our flights just because the area we were sitting in (like 20 meters from the gate) didn’t have any speakers, and therefore we didn’t hear the final call for the flight. But thanks to some freakish luck, my father was also at Arlanda on his way to Chicago, and he heard the gate calling my name out on the speakers. We ran to the gate, and were able to board just in time for departure.
Well, at least that’s what we thought. After we got seated the pilot tells us that there is heavy fog in London (how’s that for a cliché) and we’re expected to be an hour and a half late. Fortunately enough the skies cleared up somewhat earlier, and the plane made good time when we finally got airborne, so we just ended up about 45 minutes late in total.
At Heathrow we didn’t have time for anything except to hastly make our way to the gate. We were flying with Virgin Atlantic and I must say that I am impressed with the level of service and entertainment they provided in economy class. Bit narrow seat spaces but great media centers and very good staff. Although these british flight attendants really got on my nerves because they ended every sentence with “at all”. “Can I get you anything to drink at all?”, “Can I get you any milk in your coffee at all?”, and so on. Weird.
We landed about half an hour late in LA, and that wasn’t too bad. But it wasn’t over yet, because then came the border control. It really was a breeze for me though, the officer who processed me was really friendly and we joked around a bit, the entire process was over within just a few minutes. Sean on the other hand…
Seans and my application are basically identical. The only thing that differ is our personal information. And Sean happens to be born in Iran. That earned him 2 additional hours of waiting and repeated questions. “What color are your eyes?” “What color is your hair?”
It was just so stupid, like it was only to provoke him into losing his temper. But finally they let him in, and we were able to exit the bagage claim and customs. Only 2 hours late.
Well outside we were lucky enough to find Kirsten, who not only was nice enough to pick us up, but also to wait the additional 2 hours it took us to get out. She drove us to our hotel, which in itself is a story worth telling (more on that later), and we checked in, brushed our teeth and fell to sleep.
I’m writing this blog post form my new workspace at The Groop, and so far it all seems great. The office is nice, my chair is comfortable, and somebody brought two dogs to the office, which also is great. It feels good to be here, and I’m looking forward to start working.