I'm enjoying the wonders of my new laptop and Takumi got me connected so that I can chat with Leiya. She came on right away and we had a great time chatting with her! I hadn't realized that my computer has a web camera and once Takumi connected that she could see us on the computer. No camera on hers but I don't know if this feature is necessary once the novelty wears off. I mean, how much action do you get just sitting in front of the computer keyboard.
The biggest news from Leiya is that her flight to Ohio did not go as smoothly as I had thought. I guess Grandma's information isn't really very reliable because when I had talked to her she had said that Leiya got off without any problems. BUT... When I talked with Leiya she said,
"Did you hear what happened to me?"
"No. What happened?"
"I missed my flight!"
After dropping me off at the United terminal I guess it took a while for Marcy to find parking and for Leiya to get to the check-in counter. Once at the counter the airlines informed Leiya that since there was less than the 45 minutes required for check-in that she would have to go on standby and wait until some flight came up. I guess Marcy and all waited around for awhile, but Leiya didn't get on the standby flight either. Between Marcy and Leiya they decided that having Leiya waiting in the boarding area while Marcy, Grandma, Kiana and Colin sat around twiddling their fingers at the check-in counter didn't make any sense so Leiya decided to tackle the situation herself (a lot of communication going on by cell phone between them all). Marcy promised to drive back to the airport if Leiya didn't get on some flight that afternoon.
Finally about four hours later Leiya got on a flight bound for Chicago but weather going in to Chicago was bad so her plane was late and she missed the connecting flight for Ohio. The airport suggested she go to a hotel for the night but she didn't want to spend her money that way and opted to spend the night in the airport. I think she kept in touch pretty closely with Marcy and her home stay mother by cell phone and some airport worker even brought her a blanket but Leiya said she felt like she was in a scene from Tom Hank's movie, Terminal. Maybe it's just as well that I didn't know about all this as I don't think an empty airport is a great place for an 18 year old girl to spend the night by herself. No problems however and Leiya finally flew in to Ohio and met her host mother at 9:00 the next morning. I have to say, Leiya certainly has learned to be independent!
10 comments:
Glad that Leiya finally arrived in Ohio. What a night she must have gone through..missing a flight and bad weather doesn't mix well. You sure do have an awesome laptop to enjoy. I am not a big fan of jetlag either, as we are 15 hours behind Tokyo. It took a couple of days for my body clock to reset after my trip to Japan in January.
I know yoou're glad to be home.
Oh, my! I'm glad Leiya made it ok through all her adventures. I was a good 10 years older when I spent the night in an empty airport--it was spooky!
I've spent the night at airports before. Reminds me of when I was young!
Glad she's okay.
I've spent the night at airports before. Reminds me of when I was young!
Glad she's okay.
Glad your daughter made it ok. Do you know about Skype? All you need is a camera & speaker. (ear phone mic works ok) I get to talk with my grandson across the country (and to Kiev, Ukraine when daughter & son-in-law were missionaries there) every day! I even taught him to sing a song with all the hand motions! It is like being there together. Wonderful technology. Go to www.skype.com and follow the directions. It's free!
I'm so glad you didn't know any of this until it was over!
n, np
I'm glad she made it safely. Sometimes it is better to just not know until it is over. And now she will have an airport story to tell.
Welcome home. I have been reading your blog for a few weeks, but thought I'd wait until you returned to Japan to comment. I can't remember how I found you, but I'm just starting a quilting class, so have been clicking on some quilter blogs. Anyway, have really been enjoying your postings especially about the differences between Japan & US. And your quilts looks so great - I can only hope ...
This is definately one time that you are better knowing what happened to Leiya after it was all over than being so far away and being able to do nothing other than worry!! She sounds like she has a sensible head on her shoulders!
I agree with brendalou about skype. It is just wonderful. The 2 years our granddaughter lived in Mexico we could visit back and forth. We would sit and watch the baby sleep!! Then he started making noises and that was so fun knowing how far away they were. We left the camera on at family gatherings so Em could watch all the goings on. I talk to our AZ daughter at least once a week on the comouter also. You would love it!!
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