Dad drove me to the airport and, after checking in and killing time until it was time to go through security, I thought that I would get on a flight without some kind of incident. Standing in front of the x-ray machines, laptop in the plastic tray and the customs officer holding my passport, I hear, "Jessica Couper, would you please check at the Air Canada desk." ....Well, dammit. I gather up my stuff and walk back down to the counter. The ticket officer must've seen the look of panic on my face because before I even got there, he asked if I wanted to be flown, first class, back to London.
Hell. Yes.
My original itinerary was Fredericton-Toronto, Toronto-London. Turns out, my flight to Toronto was overbooked and passengers were asked to volunteer their seats. After nobody did, the agents looked at my flight plan and figured that they could fly me to Halifax on a later flight and, to make up for the "inconvenience," I would be flown first-class to London, have access to the Maple Leaf Lounge in Halifax, have a voucher for food at the Fredericton airport and have a hired car waiting to drive me home when I landed in London.
Hell. Yes.
Dad waited with me for about an hour more before heading home and I had a few hours to kill at the oh-so-exciting Fredericton International Airport. Turns out, a 3-terminal airport has very little to offer in ways of entertainment. I met a young guy heading to Montreal and we chatted until it was time for me to go through security and head to Halifax.
After I landed in Halifax, I found the Maple Leaf lounge and immediately felt under dressed in the company of many suit-clad business people. Whatever. The free alcohol & food helped me get over my concerns pretty quickly. Enjoying my last tastes of great east coast beer, it was soon time for me to get my Halifax-London flight. I walked onto the plane, found my seat and I never want to go back to flying in coach again. It was a fully reclining chair that stretched out into a bed, a 12" flip-out tv, a real (yes real) blanket and...so on. Before we took off, we were offered a drink and asked if we wanted a wake-up call for breakfast later in the flight. Even though I was tired, I didn't want to sleep and wanted to enjoy the whole experience. It was awesome, from take-off to landing. Good thing I got the upgrade...I certainly needed the extra leg-room.
When I landed in London, I checked at the desk and they arranged my car. Soon, I was picked up and driven back to Northampton, all on Air Canada's bill. Really, Air Canada, feel free to upgrade me at any given opportunity. Trust me...it's not an inconvenience. (Actually, come to think of it, it's a nice pay back for being put on a NO FLY LIST when I tried to leave England back in July. Thanks for that, by the way.)
Wednesday night, I went out to dinner with some great friends to celebrate my one-year anniversary of living in England. It's been a great year and I'm looking forward to the next. The roommate has headed off on his holiday, so I have the apartment to myself for a few days. I went to school today with Nikki & Kate to do some tidying and get my classroom ready...only to find my classroom in the middle of being re-done...here's hoping it's ready for the start of term. The summer rehearsals scheduled for WWRY have been cancelled because of the renovations at the school, so I was able to extend my Norway trip :). I head to Norway next Tuesday to celebrate my birthday with friends & family...very excited :).
Roll on vacation #2!
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