Blogs from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, North America - page 14

The following is a direct transcription of a page dated 6/19/08 bearing the title "Truth in Advertising" and was written somewhere between Minneapolis and London. I have an idea. NWA should change it's name to GFYPA, or Go Fuck Yourself, Passenger Airlines. For starters, there are children, CHILDREN in bulkheads and the (I assume) lonely Asian lady at check in basically ignored me when I asked about exit rows. First things first though. So, my flight lands, does all the taxi bullshit for WAAAAAYYYY TOO LONG and left me less than 30 minutes to reach my plane. No biggie, because they have tan attendant at the gate to tell me where my next gate is, right? RIGHT? They have that, don't they? Not so much. It appears that the basic customer service is too much to ... read more

Study Abroad Preparation 2 weeks to go and I am very anxious at this time. It is a critical time to limit my activities and spend as little money as possible because I will be going out everyday when I arrive for sure. I have no money of my own right now and I am worried about my Wells Fargo loan. The University of Minnesota is not verifying my fall semester enrollment because it is too early. I have told them I need this now but they do not think it important that I leave in two weeks and start school in August. What am I to do if they want to hold out just because its not September? Why do people not use logic any more? I'll be o.k. That's not to get me down. ... read more

In just four hours I'll be heading to the airport. It will be an 8 hour & 20 minute journey to Amsterdam, a 2 hour & 30 minute layover, and then a second flight of 2 hours & 35 minutes to Madrid. When I finally arrive, it will be Tuesday around 4pm Spanish time. Crazy!! I plan to stay in Madrid for the evening at a hostel on the Gran Vía, one of the neatest streets in the capital city. When I get settled there, I will write again so that you know I am safe and sound. :)... read more

Fully paved streets, unexciting but standard chain restaurants and stores, Target and Wal-Mart, people looking seemingly distinctly "Midwestern", skyscrapers - what's old is new again. As you have likely now guessed, I am home! I know I have not written much in the last few weeks, and there is some reason behind it. Some of you who already know I am home will be aware but the reality is that my drive to keep exploring had started to hit a wall. This is, of course, on top of the reality that I was running out of things that I really wanted to see and do before I knew I was originally heading home. That said, I investigated the cost to change plane tickets and discovered that especially in light of what I would spend to be ... read more

Amongst other things the solemn promise of 80 degree sunshine and cloudless skies every day lured me out to Minneapolis to visit Sky, a friend met travelling back in Santiago. Unfortunately, (especially given my frailties and love of hot weather) I arrived during the middle of an unusually cold snap with temperatures virtually identical to those I had left behind in England! If the weather wasn't quite what I was hoping for the rest of the holiday certainly was! I found it a fantastic experience to be visiting a "real" part of the USA, rather than the frequently touristed areas of Florida or San Francisco that I had been to before. I was looking forward to finding out what America is really like for twenty-somethings, rather than relying on half-baked cliches from the latest teen movie! ... read more