Arlanda

December 22, 2006 4:44pm

Well, I’ve seen the sun rise and set from Arlanda Airport in Stockholm (well, almost – the sun actually began peaking through the clouds on my train ride to the airport this morning). And, yes, I am still here at the airport. According to my original flight plan, I should almost be landing in Iceland. However, due to inclimate weather at my layover destination, currently no planes are leaving from or departing to Keflavik. My flight was supposed to leave at 1:20pm, but then was delayed until 6pm. Just recently, the flight was further delayed until 6:55pm. How do they figure 6:55pm instead of 7pm?! After the initial disappointment of not arriving home at the expected time, then I thought maybe I would get to spend the night in Iceland! Well, I went to the info desk and they told me that everyone on the Iceland Air delayed flight to Keflavik should make their connecting flights because all of the flights (in and out of Iceland) have been similarly delayed. So, I guess I’ll still be getting to Boston today, just not as early as I once hoped for. Maybe though it’s better this way, for perhaps my parents will get to spend a fun evening in Boston together before coming to pick me up!

I feel most unproductive today, but I guess we all have those days once in a while. To keep me busy, I have packed only an Andalucía travel book and my Bible. I know that I will be returning to Europe with so many books (I ordered a whole bunch for myself for Christmas), I thought I should get to the U.S. as light as possible. Instead of reading, I’ve been playing around on the net (which always makes me feel like I’m wasting time… except when you get to talk to friends!). So, had some good little chats going, followed up on some needed-to-get-to emails, and watched a movie. I only have access to the internet in the main lobby area, as now I am without internet as I sit close to my departure gate (in hopes we might leave just a tad bit early?!). I watched the movie “Baptists at the Barbeque” (or something like that). It was a comedy I downloaded off some movie site. It was about this Mormon guy from Utah who was an almost-30-year-old, unmarried, park ranger who transferred to Arizona for a change from Utah. The population of the small town to which he moved was perfectly split between Baptists and Mormons. He tipped the scale towards Mormons. Anyway, the movie showed a funny story about the small-town conflicts that arose between the two different religious groups. People were so biased to thinking that they knew everything and the other group was clueless. As you can guess, the moral of the story had something to do with loving your neighbor despite specific differences in beliefs that may be held. It was entertaining enough (parts being quite funny) and it helped me get 2 hours closer to departure.

If the flight is not delayed again, then I have close to two more hours to wait. At least the flight wasn’t canceled. I talked to a couple people today who’s flights (U.S. domestic) were cancelled! Hopefully the next time I post here I will be at home, sitting by the fire, curled up on the coach by the Christmas tree, and listening to Christmas music. Ah, yes. Soon enough.