Across the Atlantic

 The Airbus I took from Chicago to Stockholm

Today was the day I left.  My parents dropped me off at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, and I was on my own from there.  I did just fine.

My flight from Chicago to Stockholm, Sweden was departed late due to a very long taxi between the gate and the runway, in addition to a traffic jam of jetliners waiting to take off.  The time passed quickly, as I was able to watch what was happening on the live feed from the plane’s nose-mounted camera to the personal monitor in the headrest in front of me.

Each seat came with its own personal media center: a touch-screen monitor in the headrest, and a remote in the armrest.  Each passenger could personally choose from a good selection of in-flight movies (including Just Go With It, Limitless, Rango, and Unknown), each of which played on a continuous loop.  If you didn’t happen to tune in at the beginning of the film, it would restart later in the flight.  Also available were music channels from various genres, and games (solitaire, Tetris, poker, etc.) played using the remote.  Finally, each media center could access the plane’s “nose camera” and “down camera” for a live look outside the plane, as well as a channel showing maps of the flight’s progress and other pertinent flight information (ETA, cruising altitude, etc.).  The down camera was especially interesting as we first took off from Chicago, and as we began our approach into Stockholm.

I tried sleeping multiple times on the flight, but it didn’t work out.  All the seats were full, and though I was seated on an aisle, I had little to no room to make myself comfortable.  My first attempt ended with the arrival of the in-flight dinner: chicken, green beans, rice, cheese, a roll, Grecian salad, and apple pie.  Everything was very delicious, but the portion sizes matched the leg room.  We were also served a light breakfast (sandwich, orange juice, and yogurt with granola and oats) right before landing in Stockholm.

Due to our late departure from Chicago, and the lines at the Stockholm Arlanda airport checkpoints, my layover in Sweden was very brief.  There, while waiting to board, I met a fellow USAC Lüneburg student, and we helped each other through the baggage claim and airport orientation process after we landed in Hamburg.  We took a much smaller plane from Stockholm to Hamburg, a flight lasting just over one hour, but still received a light snack of milk over oatmeal and dried fruit.

Claiming my luggage was far less problematic than I had been expecting/dreading.  Both my checked bags arrived with me (having made it through the short layover in Sweden) and were undamaged in transit.  Though I’m writing this in the terminal as I wait for my ride to Lüneburg to arrive, this probably will not get posted until I find a free Internet connection (the service at the airport is charged per minute).

P.S. – Sunrise over the Atlantic: gorgeous!

 A view of the aisle showing the personal media centers.

A view of Sweden from the window of my flight from Stockholm to Hamburg.