So after spending a last night at Tom's apartment, I headed off early on Saturday morning (about 9ish) back into New York for the last time. I had breakfast in the city, and then headed out towards Glen Rock, to Chris's house, where I was picking up all of my excess baggage that I had left there. I got there, cooked the rest of the noodles I had gotten the previous day, and then since Chris graciously offered to take me to the airport, I went and chilled with him at one of his mates' houses, before we headed off to the airport. I got there 5 hours early, just so that I wasn't hurried. Chris dropped me off at the terminal which said Continental Express, and apparently I was actually meant to go to the normal Continental terminal, but at least they allowed me to check in my baggage there. However when I got to the baggage counter, the lady said I had to pay $200 since my bag was overweight! There was no way my bag was over weight, I had weighed it at Chris', and it was 30.8kg. I was stymied. So I got all huffed up, and argued that it was the same weight as when I came in, and it said on my ticket that the limit was 32kg, not 23kg! Then she went on to say that if you have 2 items of luggage, both below 23kg, and with a total of not more than 32kg, then that was allowable. So I promptly took out my laundry bag, stuffed in a bunch of clothes and my sleeping bag, and took my books out and put them in my hand luggage (I have accumulated about 6 books while in the US). And this took my baggage into the non overweight area, for which I was greatly relieved! I then took the Airtrain (a monorail train that goes around the airport from terminal to terminal) to the terminal that I was supposed to be going to to check in. This all went according to plan, so I went for coffee at Starbucks, and then went and found an electricity outlet where I plugged in my notebook, and watched several episodes of The Simpsons, before embarking on my flight. The flight itself was fairly pleasant, the in-flight entertainment was excellent, with decent sized screens, and a large selection of good films/music/games to choose from. I watched Be Kind Rewind, which I have seen before, but this time I noticed that it was set in Passaic, which is a small town in New Jersey on the same rail road as Glen Rock, so I had been through it on the NJ Transit several times. I got to London at 10, without have slept much due to the good entertainment. I did have 9 hours between my flights, so I thought that that would allow for some time for me to rest in the airport itself. I got off the plane, and went through the security, but the guy told me I didn't need to take off my belt or shoes, so I went through, and the device beeped, so the next guys got all annoyed at me for not taking off my shoes, even though he could have stopped me, and I was told not to. I think this made him think I was a security risk, because he proceeded to give me a thorough going over after this. I had some papers and maps in my pockets, I had emptied all the usual stuff, wallet, cellphone, camera and Ipod, but the security guy felt me up and demanded to know what was in my pocket, and then when I took out the maps, paper and a notebook, and he demanded that it go through the xray machine again, I mean come on, it was paper, and it went through the arch without setting off the alarm, so I guess he had some real problem he decided to take ti out on me! Then after he felt me up, he got his wand to go over me again, and only after that did he grudgingly allow me to leave.
I then wended my way through to the food court, where I watched a bit of series, before I went and got a sandwich, and tried to get some sleep. I did sleep a bit, but not too much. Then I got on my flight to Johannesburg at 19:00, and was pleased to hear some authentic Afrikaans being spoken, and some decent South African accents! I got on the plane, and fortunately, while I did have a seat in the centre block, the middle seat was empty, so I didn't have to bother about anyone needing to go to the toilet. I sat next to a guy from the UK, who was going to Durban for business, he was a great companion, and we chatted a bit, I hope he has fun in SA.
The next day we got to Jo'burg at 7, and I was very disappointed, there were no biltong stands in the entire airport! so I eventually did find some biltong, but halfway through I realised it had obviously been there for quite some time, since it was incredibly hard, but at least it was a taste of home. I was also shocked, Jo'burg is an international airport, but the announcer was at first an Indian guy with a super heavy accent that I struggled to understand, and then some Xhosa/Zulu guy who I couldn't understand whatsoever! I guess they don't cater for foreigners in Gauteng! Fortunately, when I got back to Cape Town, we had the usual computer generated voice, which was very easy to understand. I got picked up by my little sister, who it was great to see, and I enjoyed the ride back, admiring my mountain, and being glad to be home!
Well this concludes my USA Adventure, all in all it was fun, but I am glad to be back!!!!
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