Still Travelling...

Greetings from Heathrow Airport...still!

As my last post clearly showed, I was pretty excited to go home. However, I still have a bit of time before I can.

Yesterday I left at 2:00 for my flight at 7:15. I wanted to make sure I got there on time, and I was getting anxious sitting around an empty flat (everyone had left, I had the latest flight of my building). I does also take a while to get to Heathrow on the tube. Sure enough, I ended up at the airport close to 3:45. I checked in, went through security, and waited. And waited. My flight was originally delayed to 8:30. Coming to England, my flight was delayed for 2 hours, and I have had numerous delays on other European excursions. So it seemed like no big deal.

I got on the plane, sat down, and it seemed normal. The flight attendants were helping people with bags, people were already trying to sleep or watch movies. Ironically enough, out of the entire flight, I ended up sitting next to a boy who goes to Hamilton! It was really nice to know someone and talk about how excited we were to go home. Most of my flight was students, very noticeably so. Some studied in London, but many were from all over Europe. One was actually from India-so she had been travelling a lot.

But it came to 9:30, and we still hadn't taken off. It seemed a little weird, but I was watching a movie so I wasn't paying too much attention. They made an announcement that engineers were looking at something, but it seemed like no big deal. This sort of thing went on for a while, seeming like no big deal. But then it got to 11:00, and people were calling their parents to let them know they'd be in late. I don't have a phone, nor service for my laptop, so I hoped my parents would see the delay online. Turns out it had said we departed at the normal time online! I finished my movie, and then a stream of announcements was made.

First, they told us we would take off in 10 minutes. That did not happen. Then the engineers looked at more things. And more things. And finally, at about 12:00, they told us the plane would be unable to fly tonight. A bunch of people were crying, and understandably so. Some people had connections to make, some had travelled already to get here, and overall, it was pretty rough. There were two girls near me who had been through this exact thing before on their way over!

The official problem was a piece of the right engine wasn't working, and wouldn't be able to operate in cold temperatures, which is necessary when flying, especially overseas. So, overall, despite it all, I am really thankful we didn't take off. The plane wasn't safe, and that's a scary thought.

I know this is really cliche, but it's true; when things like this happen, people really do help each other out. The flight attendants were really nice, and brought us all water frequently and talked to people who were upset. Since most of us were students, we talked about our experiences and bonded over how much we wanted to go home.

When we exited the plane at about 12:45, they gave us a bunch of vouchers and information. They let us know our departure time (1:00, but it later was changed to 3:30). They also gave us a voucher for ten pounds for dinner, breakfast at the hotel, and a hotel stay.

The hotel was actually the nicest I have ever stayed at. There was a queen size memory foam bed, a huge flat screen, a bathroom with a tub and shower. I had a pretty great dinner and dessert from Marks&Spencer, which is a really nice British grocery store. I was able to thankfully contact my parents and let them know what was going on. I slept well, missing breakfast but I had tea in my room. At the airport, it was a bit of a drag to go through security again, but they gave us another ten pound voucher to spend on anything we wanted. I purchased some snacks and magazines.

So here I am, waiting a little bit more to finally go home. It did stink to go on the computer and see all of my London friends posting about home and thinking I really have just one day before Christmas. And of course, I really wish I was home! But I am hoping everything goes smoothly today; I expect it should. Plus, this does make for a pretty good story.

Cheers (one last time, I hope!)

Liv