The Journey

On Saturday I left for Ukraine. I was so nervous about missing my plane that I had my Dad drop me off at the tiny little airport in Pasco 2 hours early. I was so early that I had to wait an hour to even check in for my flight (thus defeating the purpose of that extra hour). At security, having already humiliated me by stealing my shoes, decided that I look the type to make bombs or drugs or something because they decided to swab my shoes for residue.I had no more sat down in my seat on the plane when the captain told us to leave the plane, there was to be a two hour delay...

Upon arriving in San Francisco, I was upset to realize that I had to go through security again. This time, instead of swabbing my shoes like I was some kind of criminal, they decided to create a 3D image of my entire body. Kind of a neat idea when you do it for fun, not when they are looking for shanks and guns though.I think that is was quite the breach in privacy! Call me old fashioned, but I think that the only one who should know what my guts look like is my surgeon, just saying... Once past the full body scanner I was allowed to wander the international terminal for a few hours before my flight. I found the best way to waste money on a trip, airport souvenirs. I spent $5 on a freaking pen! I wasn't looking for a souvenir either, I just needed a pen. Worst of all is that I bought what I thought was a pen, but it was a mechanical pencil. Then I had to convince the woman to let me exchange it for a pen of equal value, not easy to do when I had grabbed the cheapest thing I could find. I can only imagine how much something from the Best Buy vending machines might cost. That's right, Best Buy has vending machine at the airport, stocked with tablets, iPads, headphones, and more... Freaking Best Buy....

Anyway, the flight from San Francisco to Munich was eleven hours long. I was amazed by the speed we traveled. According to the inflight display, we traveled at over 600 mph most of the time. By 2 hours into the flight we were over South Dakota, 4 hours we were over Quebec, 6 hours we were over the ocean south of Greenland and north of Newfoundland. After that I fell asleep and woke up over Germany, 1 hour out from Munich. It was amazing to travel on such a plane. I had traveled in large planes before, but this one has individual touch screen for everyone. I was able to choose my own movies, volume, and stop, start, and rewind it whenever I wanted. Truly impressive was the service. The flight attendants were kind, bringing drinks by every few hours (apple juice, orange juice, and water) and two meals (I slept through the second but I woke up in time to see them pick up the trash for it).

I was worried about landing in Munich. I didn't realize that English was the international language that it is. I mean, I know that is is called the "international language of business" sometimes, but I had no idea that it went beyond simple business interactions. I walked off of the plane, and as I expected, could not read a single sign.That is, until I got past the boarding gate and into the terminal. Then everything was either in German or English. I was astonished. The urinals were fancily shaped, but that is to be expected of any high quality place. I walked up, started to go to the bathroom when I was startled by a fly in the urinal! I waited a second, but it didn't move. Being a guy, I thought it would be funny to pee on it, so I did. It still didn't move! It was only at this point that I realized how dimwitted and tired I was. The fly was a sticker, and there was the same sticker in all of the other urinals. Man did I feel stupid when I realized that...

The flight to Kiev was uneventful, mostly because I passed out for most of the two hours. When I arrived, it was time to travel through customs. Again, I was nervous because of the stories I had heard. Again, I was relieved at how easy it was. God was making the process quick for me. When I was about to leave the building I was stopped by a Customs agent. She had a fancy police-like uniform and said something I didn't understand. I responded with "excuse me?" and she was surprised and said "oh, English?" and asked me a few questions. I started for what I thought was the exit when she redirected me to the wall... at least it looked like the wall at a glance. See, the wall was made of grey glass with metal frames, so the low profile, sliding grey glass door blended together with the wall. In my defense, I had only a few hours of sleep and the door was the same color of glass, I mean come on!

Outside I met a man named Alexander who had been sent to pick me up and put me on a bus. Up until now I had been able to read signs, tickets, or get some sort of translation. Here is where the international language gave way to local language. I sat in my seat, not sure of where I was of what was happening, for about 7 hours. Luckily there was someone waiting for me in Dnepropetrovsk (my destination city) or I would have never known that I had arrived.