Of Airports and Airplanes

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Pearson Int'l (YYZ) Toronto, CANADA
1 July 2004 (Canada Day)
Our gateway out of Canada.

Check In
Checked my bag and managed not to give sarcastic answers to the check-in girl.

"Did you pack these bags yourself?"
-No, a middle-eastern guy did. Funny he knew exactly what to bring...

Departures
Saying goodbye to my family was painless and surprisingly devoid of saddness. I wondered if I was dead inside but soon enough I had to pass security. I think I was the only one not patted down - maybe you had to pay extra for that.

If we were hoping for a good omen (which is unlikely) we'd have been dissapointed by the diabotical thunderstorm. Aparently flying a giant metal plane through lightning doesn't deter the budget airlines from timely arrivals becuase there was no delay.

In Flight
They managed to fit three films into our flight. Laws of Attraction, Walking Tall, 50 First Dates - none any good. One of the radio stations played Funk though.

I was queing for the W/C (despite the latest security measure of no queing) while everyone else watched the movie, when the whole plane started laughing! I love it when that happens.

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2 July 2004
Gatwick, South Terminal
London, UK

Arrivals
Landed at the ungodly hour of 04.20 (am). I always wonder if the customs officiers who have to work at this hour have done something terrible and are being punished, or if they're just miserable because they got the early shift. I endured more questions than ever before - they were worse than my mum.
"What's the purpose of your vist?"
-Visiting family, toursity stuff
"What family do you have here?"
-nearly all
"are you traveling alone?"
-yes ...
---Why would I lie? I'm terrified and it's early
"Is someone picking you up?"
-i hope
"where are you staying?"
...
"Occupation?"
-student
"how did i pay for this trip then?"
-worked in summer
"where, doing what?"
...
"where else am i going?"
-europe
and posters everywhere about arrivals from turkey - seperate line-ups and special questions.

At this point I should point out that I am a polite young white man from a rich country. I nearly mentioned I was also a British Citizen but thought it would just get too complicated.

Eventually got through and compared interagation notes with Ted. Apparently we both lied about travelling alone - dispite Ted's early admission to customs that he was staying with my family...

Gordon, my Uncle, met us at the gates and we were off to King's Lynn, Norfolk. I got a run down about how wrong speed cameras are and how bad truck drivers from europe are (a combination of drinking, driving on the wrong side of the road, and not knowing some british rules it seems)

King's Lynn
Had a Fish & Chip lunch - heard how much my dad loved Fish & Chips when he came to England. Then headed into the old town. George Vancouver (The Capt'n who discovered Vancouver, BC - some coincidence, eh?) was from King's Lynn and there's a statue of him down by the sea.

Read the papers and discovered that there's a lot of crime for such a nice town - resolved not to go for a stroll at night.

Introduced to a Norfolk delicasey. Some sort of seaweed. You douse it in vinegar and butter - so that's what it tastes like.

Slept well.

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