Fank You Veddy Much

DFW Airport, Sept 10, 3:30 PM (Dallas time)

I’ve made it kind of a tradition in the past to write letters home while sitting in airports, so I figured this is the technological continuation of that tradition. Though I don’t know how soon I’ll be able to post this (I’ve connected to the “free public wifi” but it’s pretty useless).

In an hour I’ll get on my flight to Gatwick Airport. I should be more excited right now but maybe it still just hasn’t quite sunk in. It probably won’t until the plane takes off.

There’s a pretty interesting international mix of people all around me already. The man sitting next to me was just on the phone…I’m not sure if it was Spanish or Italian. I can usually understand a lot of Spanish but didn’t really understand much of this, which makes me think it was Italian…yep! He’s on the phone again now. Definitely Italian. I guess there’s probably a lot of different connections from the flight to London.

I guess I’ll find something else to do now.


London Heathrow Airport, Sept 11, 11:20 AM

Here are some important lessons I’ve learned today from traveling with British Airways:

1. “Fank you!” is actually not an insult, but a way of expressing gratitude.
2. Driving on the wrong side of the road is also conducive to walking on the wrong side, sometimes leading to collisions with unaccustomed foreigners.
3. Being called “love” by cranky old ladies who work for British Airways can sometimes have the opposite effect than that of making one feel loved.
4. Kilts and cowboy hats should never be worn at the same time.
5. Just because it’s ridiculously inconvenient to get off a plane, stand in four different lines with your baggage in tow and ride a way expensive bus to a completely different airport on the other side of London, and stand in another line to check your baggage again before you can finally use the bathroom…doesn’t mean that British Airways gives a care for your inconvenience.
6. On the outskirts of London there are lots of trees, sheep, and quaint little fences.
7. Spikey hair is very prominent on british heads (male as well as female). Also pink ties.
8. British accents in person are even cooler than in the movies.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. I thought it was cool when I first got on the plane and there were tiny british kids running around and yelling with polite little accents, saying things like “Mummy, look! I found a biscuit! Would you like it?”

It was “quite a lark” to have a crazy bus ride on the wrong side of the road and catch a glimpse of a few pride-and-prejudice-esque houses and random sheep, but I don’t think it was worth the hassle of switching airports. Next time I’m picking another airline. However, I am still very excited to come back to London next month and see something besides the airport, which should definitely be a much better experience.

I think there must be a kilt convention going on today because I’ve seen like 40 or 50 of them, no joke. There go some more now. It appears that men in kilts travel in groups.

I guess I’m gonna wander some more now and maybe listen to the Bend It Like Beckham soundtrack, as it is so exceedingly appropriate for today.