Prework

So I was going to the United States. Not that I had never been there before, but this time I was going to have a whole week of my own time instead of the odd day or two after work like before. This was also going to be a two-week trip -- as long a trip as I have ever done (which naturally sounds totally ridiculous to you world traveler types but hey this me) -- so I needed to pack a bit more stuff with me. (Un?)fortunately I have two suitcases to choose from: one is a small carry-on-sized soft one, and the other is a huge Mr. & Mrs. size job -- quite inconvenient for any short-time solo travel. My mom does have one between those sizes, but she apparently has made a point to arrange herself a holiday trip somewhere to the Mediterranean whenever I would have use for that suitcase. The small one being too much of that quality, I ended up with the 40-ton model. I would just have to fill all the empty space with something.

Futile attempts at packing

I did manage to fill half the suitcase with clothing. I even took two ties just in case even though I suspect most people have never seen me wear one (and that did not happen on this trip either). I had to actively keep in mind the weather difference though; whereas we were having some slightly subzero (Celsius) numbers in Finland, the forecast was proposing between 20..30 degrees for my destination -- that's like the Finnish summer, on a nice day. No heavy drapes needed. A suitable filler for the missing half was obviously more room for any possible acquisitions made on the trip, in form of two bags. Earlier experience had shown that it is always wise to have some extra space available. Once in Heathrow airport I actually bought a proper bag to get rid of the plastic one I was quite inconveniently using to haul several kilograms worth of books.

I had realized that I should have a little piece of Finland to offer to my generous host, so a few days beforehand I went rummaging the book stores in Turku. Already in the first one I found quite a nice picture book about Turku and another one of the whole Finland, so I bought them both to give a more complete image of my country. In the process I also noticed that there was a nice 15% discount campaign for all traveling books so I browsed those shelves as well and got attached to two Vegas books. In hindsight it was a smart move to get to know a bit about the city beforehand, there being *so* much to see. The souvenir books went into the suitcase and the Vegas books into my carry-on for reading in the plane.

Finally, having finished the packing by midnight, it was time for a nap before the alarm would go off at 5:30 in the morning to wake me in time for a quick breakfast before the taxi ride to the airport.

Monday

I have heard stories of taxis not finding the right address (of home that is; most taxis seem to have a clue about the location of the airport) and people missing the plane because of that, but luckily this has never happened to me. The ride was just as boring as normally, and I got to the airport in good time. I checked my luggage for the final destination, Dallas, to avoid having to haul them around Copenhagen. The check-in lady kindly notified me to please remove my foot from the conveyor belt/luggage weight measurement device; apparently I had put it there in an unconscious attempt to be in control of the world. This lead to a conversation about luggage weight limits, and I was quite surprised to learn that I was actually allowed two pieces of checked-in luggage, 32 kg each -- much more than what I had expected. This varies somewhat with different airlines as I did notice later...

The flight to Copenhagen was also delightfully uneventful. We arrived quite in time and I took a taxi to the office. The meeting was fairly successful, we managed to handle most US visit issues, and after lunch it was back to the airport, joined by my colleague, Teemu, from Oulu. 

Originally we were not able to get adjacent seats for the long leg, coming from different cities and not having remembered to secure that beforehand. However, at the gate it occurred to us to ask whether the seating still could be changed. Yes, that was possible, but that would have to be done at the flight service desk (or whatever that was called), which was before the sealed secure area of US visitors that we had already entered. So we asked kindly to be let out momentarily, causing only minor confusion, and really got a new seat for me. Upon entering the plane we did notice that the seemingly adjacent seats were on different sides of the aisle after all, but we managed to lure the owner of the coveted seat to trade places. Now we could work a couple of hours with the business presentations that were not yet finished; there has been so much to do the previous week that the deadline had been next to impossible.

The Finnish delegation aboard the flight to the Big World(TM)

The plane had a personal touch-display on the back of each seat, capable of showing one of two cameras located in the front of and under the plane, general flight information, several interactive games like poker, reversi and such. And of course a number of movies, independently selectable -- way cool! I just wish I had had a set of noise canceling earphones because using the standard model the loud spots practically hurt my ears and the soft ones were still unintelligible under the background roar of the airplane. Not a very optimal setting for enjoying a movie, so I watched one, and after that resorted to an old-fashioned book instead.

The dinner (or whatever meal you would call it) was a bit of a surprise -- never seen pizza in a plane before! A slice, served in a cardboard box. Weird.

Got also some nice shots of Canadian turf from the window. Greenland I unfortunately missed though we did fly over that as well. Maybe next time.

Eventually we landed in Chicago. The sun had outrun us; it was twilight already, and the long day was starting to weigh on us. There was a minor funny episode with the boarding passes; Teemu already had his from the morning's check-in in Oulu, whereas for some reason I had not received mine at that time in Turku. We walked blindly over to the security check (one more of those) and only right upon entering I realized that I had only my flying ticket, not the boarding pass. The officer kindly let me go check in at the closest point, which was check-in for irregular and oversized baggage. :) For that pleasure (or just being statistically suitably positioned) I did pay a full special security screening though.

Somehow I managed to stay awake until boarding the Dallas plane but soon thereafter I gave up fighting and most of that leg was spent sleeping. After some two hours, when starting to land, I finally came around enough to notice the Dallas sea of lights from horizon to horizon. Everything is big in the America.

Another notion was that immediately when touching the ground, people already seemed to have mobile calls up and running -- in Europe you're not supposed to do that before the plane has been parked. I was once even harassed by a hostess for listening to a CD when the plane was still standing, before leaving for taxi.

Teemu got his luggage first and went out to exorcize the nicotine ghost while I was still waiting for mine. By the time I got out, he had already found a taxi for us -- one that did neither bear any markings nor even seem to have a meter. The driver claimed to be valid though and drove us to the hotel for the price he quoted beforehand, instead of taking us to any back alley getting shot. After getting paid at the destination he also finally legitimized himself by giving a receipt and a calling card of a taxi company.

A suitable epitaph for the day, very descriptive of the country; Teemu was starving and asked the check-in clerk for a McDonald's. There was one right around the corner, she said. Teemu wanted to know how to walk there and the response was, not possible on foot, you'll need a car.

I finished off the evening (without a hamburger) by hauling my luggage to my room and taking some pictures of it -- I have this annoying habit of documenting the hotel rooms I stay in. As implied by the name of the hotel chain, this one was really a suite: a front room equipped with a TV, table, sofa, refrigerator (empty) and a microwave oven, and a bedroom in the back, with a separate washtub in addition to the one in the bathroom. Before the camera dance, however, I had to find a way to turn on most of the lights, and it took me several minutes to figure out that the switch for the lamp over the kitchen table was indeed at the bottom of the lamp, highly unusual in Finnish ceiling-hung lamps.

Time for bed.

Last modified: 2004-06-12
Thanks to MA for proofreading and punctuation notes!