Heading North

The Aegan Airlines flight from Athens to Berlin is almost three hours, most of which I spent asleep. The stewardesses generally ignored me, except to offer and remove my meal and tell me to open my windows for take-off and landing. The airline claims to have won some European airline award for 2008/2009. They should be glad that i'm not giving out the awards: I waited almost an hour to check-in and stood on a bus for another 10 waiting to be taken to the plane.

It was disorienting to wake up in Germany: an orderly exit from the plane into a quiet reception area arranged just for our flight. As the bags unloaded onto the cargo belt, it began to rain, and my second bag arrived in almost-soaked condition.

I was met at the Tegel airport by J, a family friend. It was the first time on my trip where i'd been "picked up" upon arrival. The experience is decicedly differant, arriving in a differant country alone provokes certain cognitive processes which get suppressed when you are met (how is this environment differant from the last one I was in? What do I I like or dislike about the new environment? Are the people moving, speaking, and dressing differantly? Etc).

The change from Greece to Germany is noticeable and disorienting. There is something wonderful about being knocked out of one's comfort zone.