Let the adventure begin!
The time has come, and I was waking up in the morning to go to the airport and leave everything I’ve had at home behind. I’d love to say I was still perfectly calm but that wouldn’t be completely true. Before I went to sleep at home for the last time, I checked my flights again. And guess what! Of course, there had to be a problem right from the beginning. My flight from Munich was delayed which would make me miss my next flight as well. So as I was falling asleep I was already a little bit stressed about how I’m going to get where I need to. However, it wasn’t as bad in the end. I said my goodbyes at the airport not only to my family but also a few of my friends who I didn’t know were coming. It was a very pleasant surprise, I’m glad I got to see them once more before I went through security and headed to my gate.
Everything went as planned at the Prague airport and then during the takeoff i even finally realized where I am and what’s happening, so I spent the whole flight crying while looking out of the window in disbelief. Everything seemed to be going alright, as planned. Munich is where the trouble began. Nothing changed since the evening and my plane actually was delayed. By two and a half hours. So I spent a whole lot of time sitting in front of the gate before the delayed plane from Chicago arrived and was able to take me and many others to the other side of the ocean. Meanwhile I realized there’s no way we’re going to arrive before my next flight from O’Hare leaves. Anyhow, I made a friend – another Czech exchange student, going to Texas – while waiting at the airport, so we got to meet up again once we landed in the America and help each other figure out how it works there. What scared us a little at the very first sight was the amount of people waiting in lines or just wondering around but once we found out bearings, we found the line we needed, went through immigration and customs where they only asked us for a few papers and a passport, then we picked up our luggage and rechecked it right afterwards. The next task was to get from Terminal 5 at one side of the airport to Terminal 1 on the other side of the airport. That was easier than it seemed though. We only had to find the train that took us there in about 10 minutes. As we walked around the airport, we couldn’t stop admiring how pretty it is and how cool everything and everyone looks. We entered a new world, and we were stunned. Everything just felt so different in some way and we loved it.
We went through security again and were ready to find our gates. That’s where we thought we’ll separate but turns out they changed the gate from which the plane to Dallas leaves to a gate right next to mine. So we grabbed some hella expensive muffins and sat at our gate to wait for our flights. She departed an hour earlier than I did and honestly, I started questioning my whole existence while sitting there by myself. 😀 We had such a great time together but once I was left alone it got boring and felt like eternities. All in all I’m very glad we had each other at the O’Hare airport because we were both quite terrified of it and would probably panic for no reason if we were there each on our own.
The last flight wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. I honestly don’t even remember it because I slept through it whole. I didn’t notice the takeoff and then woke up somewhere in the middle of the air and had no clue of where I am or when I’m going to be in Omaha and if my host family will be there. However, I was too tired to worry, so I went back to sleep and woke up by the time we landed. Unsurprisingly, my host family did not forget about me and was waiting for me in front of the gate. We exchanged our greetings, picked up my bags and headed home. We spent the whole 2 and a half hours in the car talking before we got home. They gave me a tour of the house, my adorable newly redone room, introduced me to their lovely dogs and then we all went to bed, relieved that I have arrived safely.
It took me almost 30 hours to get from home to my new home on the other side of the world, I was exhausted and jetlagged but happier than ever. Although I was still processing that I’m actually starting to live my American dream, I already knew I’m going to feel at home even 8 000 kilometers away from where my whole life was.
