Kali's trip home

Well, I had a pretty interesting trip home. Quinn woke me up at about 5:30 am (I think, but maybe it was earlier, I don't remember). I took a shower, finished packing, and had breakfast. The trip to the airport was pretty uneventful. Quinn and I talked about my time there and how excited she is to visit us in the US next year. When we got to the airport we checked in my bag, and then we just stood there, not really knowing what to do. So, we started saying our goodbyes, and of course Quinn bawled her eyes out. I didn't cry until I got on the plane. Once on the plane I didn't know what to do, and I was exhausted, so I leaned back in my seat and I was out before the plane took off. I slept the entire way to Paris, and woke up when the plane landed. My little nap was nowhere near long enough. I could barely see because my eyes felt so grainy! The plane was really small, so I didn't have my carry-on with me in the plane. It was stored below or something. So I retrieved my bag and ran to the bus. I was the last person to exit the plane, and the last one to climb onto the bus. It was a short bus ride to the actual airport, but once I got there I had to show them my passport and get on another bus. After the second bus ride I finally reached the part of the airport that I needed to be in. Before I could look for my gate, I had to stand in a forever long line of people waiting to go through security. It took a while, but obviously I survived. Once through security, I looked at my ticket to see where I needed to go. It said Gate 39. I looked at the signs and soon found where I needed to go. I took a seat and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. Before I left, Quinn told me to go straight to the desk and ask for a seating assignment. When I got there, no one was at the desk. My flight was scheduled to leave in ten minutes and still no one had showed up. I didn't get it. I had been listening to all the announcements, and watching the screens, what did I do wrong? So, I started trying to ask people. The first few people I tried to talk to didn't have time to help me, they had flights to catch. I had tried to ask like 5 people before a lady finally said she could help. She looked at my ticket and said, "Your ticket says gate 39, this is 39A. Gate 39 is that way. What time does your flight leave?" "In about 5 minutes!" I said, panicking. "HURRY!" she called after me. I ran as fast as I possibly could, praying with all my might that I wouldn't miss my flight. I finally made it to Gate 39, but no one was there. I was practically in tears! I looked at the screen. It said that the gate had been changed to 35. I had all of 2 minutes to make it to the other side of the airport and check in and board the plane. I didn't even know where gate 35 was! I asked someone who worked at the airport where gate 35 was. She asked me if I was going to New York and when I said no she asked where I was going. I said Salt Lake and she said, "Oh my gosh, honey, I don't know if you will make it! Hurry as fast as you can, it's this way." She pointed me in the right direction and I took off my shoes and sprinted through the airport. I reached Gate 35 and was totally out of breath. It was the last call for my flight. The lady at the desk checked my passport and my ticket and told me that I was cutting it very close. There was only one person who was checked after me. I was crying by now. I was so glad that I had made it! I went through a bunch of other people and had my passport and ticket checked 3 more times before I could board the plane. I was so mad! I had waited in the wrong gate for and hour and a half! Honestly, how are you supposed to know the difference between 39 and 39A? I didn't see a 39 anywhere, so I just assumed that the ticket meant 39A. Kaelei, ask AS SOON as you get there if you are in the right place, okay? I almost missed my flight because I didn't. Don't make the same mistake. Once I was on the plane I moved 3 times so families could sit together. I wound up sitting by a cute little French girl who asked me straightaway (in French) if I would be her friend. I took French for a year and a half so I understood what she was asking so I just said "Oui" and then went back to getting situated in my seat. Then she started talking to me again. She was talking so fast that I couldn't understand a word of what she was saying. She was looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to answer her. I didn't know what to do! Luckily, her older sister knew English and translated for me. She had been asking me something about where I was going and how I liked France and a bunch of other stuff that I don't remember. I answered as best I could, but she got bored quickly and talked to her sister instead. I was fine with that, I had spoken enough French for the day lol. My French teacher would have been so proud! So, about a third of the way through the flight a little boy came up to me and with a French accent asked me (in English) if I was American. I said yes and then he just walked away. I saw him go to two girls sitting a few rows behind me. I was a little confused. When they saw me looking, they tried to hide behind their books. It was really funny because one of the books was upside down. I started laughing and then she flipped it over and looked really embarrassed. I turned around and about 5 minutes later the little boy came again. I think he said how are you, but I don't know because he wasn't speaking very clearly. I asked him to repeat what he said and he was like "excuse me?" and then he repeated himself but I still couldn't understand him. "Uh...one moment," he said and he hurried back to the girls to ask them how to say it again. I was laughing, but then I saw the little boy's older brother sitting one row in front of me. He was really cute! I stopped laughing and just stared for a minute. He was reading some French book. The little boy didn't come back to talk to me, instead he went and talked to his brother. His brother had an awesome accent and he said something in English for the little boy to say to me, but he was too shy. He never said it. I was really tired and took a little nap. When I woke up it was time to eat. I had the same pasta dish that I had had on the way over. It was really yummy! Especially for airplane food. Kaelei, make sure you get the pasta, not the chicken. The pasta is really good! After I finished lunch I watched "Nim's Island." It was a cute show, but I got a little bored. It was too predictable. When it was over I read my book a little bit, but reading was making me airsick so I just went back to sleep. I woke up again just in time to eat some more. I think It was a sandwich...but it didn't taste good at all. I managed to stuff some down though, because I was starving! I watched some funny TV shows and can you guess what I did next? That's right! I took another nap. When I woke up the stewardess handed me a customs form to fill out. Kaelei, it was just like Quinn said. Check all the No's, write your passport number, your signature, and a few other things. It was really easy. At that point I looked at my watch. I still had 5 HOURS to go! What was I going to do? The people I was sitting next to were horrible! When they were awake they complained nonstop. When they slept they snored so I couldn't sleep very well. They drove me CRAZY!!! I thought I was going to die. I tried to fall asleep again, this time using earplugs, and I killed about and hour. When I woke up, there was another TV show on, so I watched it. It was the stupidest thing I have ever seen! I went back to sleep after having another Coke. This time I only slept for about twenty minutes before waking up. I had nothing to do, so I tried to go back to sleep. I did that over and over again for the next 2 and a half hours. Sleeping, then waking up, then going back to sleep, then waking up again, etc. I still had an hour and a half to go before we landed. I was in the middle aisle so I couldn't look out the window, so instead I got up and walked down the aisles until I had to sit down so the stewardess could take the cart down the aisle. I had another Coke and then listened to my iPod. I was still listening to it when the pilot came on the intercom and announced that we were over Salt Lake and would be landing in about ten minutes. I felt like jumping for joy! I swear that was the longest 10 hours and 12 minutes of my life! The plane finally landed and I was able to go get my bag and exit the plane. When I got out of the plane I had to wait in a long line to go through Customs. It was a VERY long line. I was more than ready to be out of the stupid airport and see my family. It was finally my turn in line. I went up to the desk and showed them my passport and customs form. The lady told me I had made a mistake. Kaelei, you know how Quinn said we didn't need to fill out the back? Well, she was wrong. Luckily the lady took pity on me and let me stand off to the side to fill it out. She didn't make me go to the end of the line. On the back I just put t-shirts and chocolate and souvenirs. I just divided the $100 I had put into three sections and put it next to each. When you fill it out you will see what I mean. Once the lady checked my passport and asked me some questions about the form like "Did you pack your own bag? Are you going to sell any of the things you brought with you? What countries did you visit? Why were you in Paris, was it your connecting flight? Why were you in Germany? Did anyone ask you to put anything in your bag for them?" And some other ones I don't remember, but those were the main ones. I got through there, got my bags, went through another place and had to show my passport again and give them my customs form, then I walked through a long winding hallway, pushed through some doors and got mauled by two over-eager younger siblings, racing each other to see who could hug me first. I had my arms full, so Kyle and Kira had to wait for their hugs from me, but they got them. I had quite the reception at the airport. Max and Pauline and Tori were there, my mom was there, Kyle and Kira were there, and Lisa and Lisha were there, and my cousin Kensi was there too. I was so glad to see them! The airplane had been freezing cold but as soon as I stepped off I started sweating. It was really hot when I got out of the airport! When I got home I talked to my mom, and unpacked my bags. That night I had Max and Pauline and Eli and Kaila and Becca Mills over to play rock band and watch a movie. It was really fun. We watched "Jumper" and it was about 11:15 before Max, Eli, and Pauline left. (Kaila didn't get to stay for the movie, and Becca had to leave as soon as it was over.) We had a blast. After everyone left I climbed up the stairs, changed into my pajamas, and crawled into bed. I was asleep within seconds.

Well, thanks for reading my last (?) post, good luck on your flight home Kaelei. I miss you, Anna and Quinn and Laura and Benny and Katharina and Dirk and Kaelei and Niklas and Jeffrey and even you, Tyler. Love you!

-Kali