England and Scotland -- July 4, 2008

July 4, 2008
8:10 PM, Central Standard Time

Here I am on my first trip to England, the country I’ve read so much about and have wanted to visit so much all of my life, even though I have no real connection to it at all.
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I was never able to afford overseas travel before. I’m glad that Gary and I are able to afford it now, and that I’ll be traveling with him.

Our British Airways flight has currently been delayed for 20 minutes. Another BA flight is having mechanical problems and they’re going to transfer some of the passengers onto our plane. It’s annoying being delayed, of course, but I guess that’s one of the things that happens during travel and must be endured with patience. We can see fireworks displays from all the surrounding regions as we sit here on the runway, so that’s kind of entertaining. It’s ironic to be leaving for the “mother country” on the same day we celebrate our independence from them.

It was interesting to see how the bartender at the bar in O’Hare’s international terminal switched easily from English to Polish to Spanish as she waited on customers. I guess that’s almost a requirement for working at an international airport, and certainly a plus. I also saw a whole family (I’m not sure what nationality they were – it sounded like they were speaking Italian but I’m no expert) all wearing Chicago T-shirts as they carried their trays of McDonald’s food to a table in the food court. Another Arab family was all wearing Chicago Bears jerseys. I guess when in Rome, you do as the Romans do no matter what nationality you are. I’ll probably be doing the same when I get to England, if I ever get there . . .