Friday, January 11, 2013

Welcome, Wilkommen, Velkommen, Välkommen

These are all the languages I have been greeted with in the last 24 hours! It's kinda like that "change one letter game" or in the case of Sweden "let's just add an accent to be different."

I wrote this post yesterday while waiting for my third and final flight of the day.


Greetings from Frankfurt!



“I love days full of airports and planes”… said no one ever- until now! I LOVE planes and airports- and this is me typing after having woken up at 5am and spending 11 hours on a plane (with 2 more hours to come) so you know this must be a deep love. What do I love about airports and planes? I had just a little bit of time to think about this today and have come up with the following list (not exclusive and will probably be added to later)

     1. Meeting new and lovely people that you will probably never see again.
For example, between my flights I went from sitting with a graduate of UBC currently living and working in Frankfurt to discussing the Tunisian revolution with a gentleman from there now living in Chicago. In what other situation besides on a plane would these conversations arise? As my friends know very well and much to their dismay (coughemiliecough), I tend to be a bit of a chatty Cathy with random strangers. I enjoy talking to people for a brief period of time, learning something new from them, and leaving knowing that we will probably never see each other again.

Future Mireille conversation:

Other: Hey who was the dictator ousted in the Tunisian revolution?
Mireille: Funny you should ask, it was Ben Ali.
Other: Gee thanks. Ben Ali is my final answer, Regis. WOOO I’m a millionaire!!

You’re welcome, future millionaire friend. (yes I know it's not Regis Philban anymore but the point is there.) 

O'Hare, Chicago


2  2. Watching lots of movies, listening to music, and reading. 
           These are all things I love and I have an excuse to just do this for 11 hours straight. Get up for a pee/stretch break every few hours and get right back to ‘er. Sounds like the best way to spend my time.  


Could I have picked a larger book to lug around?


    3. Buying and consuming inordinate amounts of junk food and justifying it by claiming “at least it’s better than plane food” (of which mine was not terrible.) 
      On the note of plane food- on my flight across the pond I was served dinner and breakfast and complimentary wine before dinner and Bailey’s (or brandy) after. Other airlines need to sit down and take notes from Lufthansa. Although, this may be the standard for transatlantic travel and I just have no idea (this being my first time). It could be the standard is actually 3 meals, chocolate fountains and fondue and I was totally ripped off- I wouldn’t know.

***breaking update*** : a man just walked by, sipping on a big ol stein o’ beer. This is cool because a) this would never happen in Canada and b) it’s 8 o’clock in the morning. You go, Glen CoCo.


So far I would say this little adventure of mine is off to a winning start- and even if I were to turn around and come right back home tomorrow I could still say I had a great time. Because I love planes.

Because there are no pictures like this on instagram already

Tomorrow (or today's I guess) post: figuring things out in Lund (which is too freaking beautiful for me to define.) 

1 comment:

  1. It takes a special kind of person to enjoy planes/flying as much as you do. And by special, I mean deranged. But I'm glad you got a good meal out of it and quality time with the books and movies! I would like to point out that I, too, find your ability to chat with strangers cringe-worthy but as Emilie pointed out, she hates it more. Anyway, we both love and miss you and hope you're having a great start to your adventure!
    - Riana

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