Travel trouble

I had totally forgotten to talk about the actual trip here.  everything started off well.  got to the airport on time, flight left as scheduled, AND i got to sit in the very front seat and had amazing amounts of leg room!  but, as the plain got closer to newark, there were tons of clouds, and i noticed that we were late.  It was then that they made the announcement that the weather had come 5 hours early, and that we weren't going to be able to land there, and that we were going to be landing in Cleveland, Ohio.  I had been the victim of a Nor' Easter storm.  We went to cleveland, and since i was the first to get off, i was one of the first to talk to customer service.  At first, the lady was telling me that i could stay the night, take a plain from the airport to Franfort Germany, then to somewhere else, and then to Copenhagen.  No.  haha.  No no no.  So i asked her if there were any flights out of chicago.  lucky me, there were.  after hanging out for an hour at the desk, she was finally able to secure me with a ticket to chicago and a seat on the next plain to copenhagen-- i just had to wait 6 hours in O'hare.  Not a huge deal.  I hung out in the international terminal for a long time.  For about 2 hours, i sat at a gate where all the people were going to Abu Dhabi, so I kept getting that Garfield song stuck in my head.  The actual flight wasn't too bad at all.  I got a warm meal and some seriously needed sleep.  Navigating the airport at copenhagen wasn't too bad either.  i couldn't figure out how to use the pay phone there, as it had no clearly marked price on it, so i didn't call ahead to tell them i was coming.  I was able to exchange my money fairly quickly after i got my luggage as they had a place to do it next to the baggage claim.  They have everything in the airport marked in english as well as Danish, so getting around wasn't a big deal. A lot of the people here speak english fairly well, or know just enough to help you. 

train station at copenhagen airport

Buying a train/bus ticket wasn't so bad either.  The station is directly attached to the airport.  I had to wait a little over a half hour to catch the train.  While i was waiting, i met my first Danish person, who was wearing an old school metallica sweat shirt.  he tried to ask me which train was coming up, and i couldn't tell him, then he said he had tickets to see metallica a long time ago, missed it and cried for a week.  he was very serious about his metallica. 

the train ride was a little over an hour long, and when i made it to my stop, i missed my bus.  I couldn't read all the signage because the letters were too small.  it drove off right when i realized it was what i needed.  So, i had to wait almost an hour for the next one, and met a funny surrealist artist while i was waiting.  he was carrying an empty picture frame, and had to hang it off a part of the bus stop so that his hands were free to eat his food.  he was very friendly, but he didn't seem to speak english.  i found out later that he does speak english, but not very well. 

slagelse bus station/train station

A 20 minute bus drive later, i arrived at the skaelskor bus station, and it was very dark outside, and very cold.  there was no one around, and the bus driver did not know the way to where i needed to go.  i got very lucky that one of the locals that got off the bus with me took pity and tried to lead me part of the way.  he really couldn't speak english very well, but we tried to talk.  he ended up drawing me a map since he didn't know the words to direct me.  it was when i was following his map that i ran into the artist man again, and he started to speak english and walked me the whole rest of the way to the main building.  i'm sure my grandma and dad would be horrified to know that i entrusted my life to total strangers, but it was fun.  Strangely enough, it seems like strangers here are actually people and not like the strangers of the US.  People here use old school baby buggies and leave them outside of stores (with the baby in them) while they do their shopping, and when they come back, the baby is still there!  gasp!


I was sooo happy to be in a warm place when i finally got here...  And there was the smell of food wafting around the house.  they settled me into my room, and offered me dinner.  i showered to get the travel off of me, and sat down with the group and had a wonderful dinner.  I felt so homeless the entire day, bouncing between states and airports, living off of $8 sandwiches and $2.50 pepsis.  it was just a total relief to be able to be warm, where i needed to be and safe.  The erotic window treatments were a total plus too.