Among annoying announcements and random people ...

Part I: First Departure Destination

At the airport. Tired and wide awake. Annoyed and yet excited. One announcement after the other, all not important. I am sweating and maybe even a bit anxious, because flights to America are always portrayed as dangerous by the media.

I entered the airport and obviously ran to the Lufthansa counter, which was located at the far left hand side of the airport, because it said "Lufthansa" on my ticket and not "Swiss Air". Only to find out that I had to actually go to the far right hand side of the airport (50 check in counters further right) and check in at the "Swiss Air" counter. Huffing and puffing did I reach the counter, where the guy told me that I needed my Visa Waiver and he wanted to see it. He took a look at my print out (all written in German only). He read it intently (as if he actually knew what was on that paper, for all he knows it could have been an invitation to a new years eve party), nodded and handed it back to me. I had full 4 seats to myself, which meant I could fully stretch out on my first 9 hour flight *strike*.

I moved my bum through security check and continued to get annoyed at announcements, such as "This is the last and final boarding call (for the 7th time already) Iqbal Khan" and "Mr. Deshpandee, please come to gate 4, Mr. Deshpandee".

I just went to use the bathroom and on my way back to my gate, I heard yells coming from behind me. I turned to see what was up, only to find two guys fighting at the security check line. I picked up things such as "back off" and "I said I'm sorry I didn't know that there was a line". I mean sorry, what? At the security check and no line? In 21 years, I haven't come across ANY security check that was "line-less".

Other than that? Since no monuments were around to sightsee, I looked at people and obviously was surrounded by "Chakra Hotels". The airport was stacked to the roof with the very very VERY annoying Chakra Hotels! FYI, Chakra Hotels (I decided to call them that. This is not an official term *hihi*) are people who travel to India only to go to Ashrams and meditate and what not. They all seem to have this idea how "The Indians" run around, clothes- and hair-wise, when in reality no Indian would ever dress like that. It seems like they wear whatever "Indian clothing" they can find all at once.

Intermediate Verdict:
Wow, what a seemingly "exciting" start to my 1 month holiday..... .

Part II: Transfer Departure Destination

A full 9 hours later and I was at my transfer airport. I didn't sleep much at all, because every time I thought of TDH I was wide awake again. I sat there in the cheaper cafe next to Burger King, with my Butter Brezel (pretzel) in one hand and a hot chocolate in the other. Please note, I ordered the stuff in German *yay*. Guess what sits opposite me? Right! Another Chakra Hotel. This time it was a Chakra Hotel UNCLE, which is quite rare. Usually they are all female. I felt stalked. I find it necessary to point out, that the entire time while I was there eating my Brezel, Chakra Hotel's son of about 8 years, had his pants down and was investigating his "area"! Err, manners anyone?

Please be aware that there still no monuments around, therefore I people watched. Just so you have a clue of what this Chakra Hotel uncle looked like,

• Bright green Tshirt with Ghandi's head printed on it, in full glory.
• White long sleeved shirt underneath
• Long grey hair and black nerd glasses (die Haare wie der bei Frauentausch)
• Dark green, wildly patterened Patiyala's (or the equivalent for men), which were obviously way too short, because they were made for a short Indian wala, not some tall Western dude.
• Black socks pulled up high to cover the gap between the pants and shoes
• Bright pink crocs

Fashion Go!

[Tune]
George Levin: I Got Somebody New