During the relaxed days of the penultimate semster's holidays came the news of my selection to the EURECA project(to my father's very despair.. hehe..). I was to come over to the ancient city of York, United Kingdom to do my final year project. Amidst the uncertainity of my passport processing and Dad's disapproval of travelling to a foreign land alone, things came together and I finally landed in York on January 29th, 2009 at 8.30 pm.
The travel to this city requires special mention because I had to wait in Heathrow airport, London for nearly 10 hours. My first flight of the day to Leeds-Bradford airport at 9.00am got cancelled due to bad weather. Being my first trip outside India and with no experiences of flight getting cancelled I had no idea what to do. So I followed the crowd to the British Midland Airways counter. To my despair, anger and irritation the woman in the counter said that we had to take our luggages back and that we would be booked on a flight to Manchester. Manchester????? How do I get to York from there??? So I told the person that I was new to the place and that they need to get me to Leeds. Well... they were helpful enough to book me onto the next flight to Leeds but that got cancelled as well. It was 2.00 pm and I was terribly hungry and worn out. Fortunately, my dad had activated international roaming on my mobile and I called him up and was almost to tears. And dad in his usual style said, "If the next flight doesnt take off you can definitely come back baby.No issues regarding that". Its nice to see how parents can be a very strong moral support even though they aren't near us. Although a flight getting cancelled is not such an issue that requires lot of moral support, it was to me being a first timer to a foreign land.
To my worst fears the BMI said there wasn't a confirmed seat on the next flight. I was so much pissed off and irritated that I started shouting at this guy at the counter telling him to call his manager. Finally, he managed a confirmed ticket on the day's last flight to Leeds. Passing this weird trauma on my first day I landed in Leeds airport and took a cab to York. But the personnel at the counter of this BMI airlines were so not helpful that I've decided to write a very nasty letter to them regarding the experience I had.
Although my initial day at UK wasn't all that cherishable, the days to come added to my academic & intellectual knowledge and added a new perspective to a student's life. When things happen the way we want without any struggle, we certainly are on the wrong track... hehe... :-)
The travel to this city requires special mention because I had to wait in Heathrow airport, London for nearly 10 hours. My first flight of the day to Leeds-Bradford airport at 9.00am got cancelled due to bad weather. Being my first trip outside India and with no experiences of flight getting cancelled I had no idea what to do. So I followed the crowd to the British Midland Airways counter. To my despair, anger and irritation the woman in the counter said that we had to take our luggages back and that we would be booked on a flight to Manchester. Manchester????? How do I get to York from there??? So I told the person that I was new to the place and that they need to get me to Leeds. Well... they were helpful enough to book me onto the next flight to Leeds but that got cancelled as well. It was 2.00 pm and I was terribly hungry and worn out. Fortunately, my dad had activated international roaming on my mobile and I called him up and was almost to tears. And dad in his usual style said, "If the next flight doesnt take off you can definitely come back baby.No issues regarding that". Its nice to see how parents can be a very strong moral support even though they aren't near us. Although a flight getting cancelled is not such an issue that requires lot of moral support, it was to me being a first timer to a foreign land.
To my worst fears the BMI said there wasn't a confirmed seat on the next flight. I was so much pissed off and irritated that I started shouting at this guy at the counter telling him to call his manager. Finally, he managed a confirmed ticket on the day's last flight to Leeds. Passing this weird trauma on my first day I landed in Leeds airport and took a cab to York. But the personnel at the counter of this BMI airlines were so not helpful that I've decided to write a very nasty letter to them regarding the experience I had.
Although my initial day at UK wasn't all that cherishable, the days to come added to my academic & intellectual knowledge and added a new perspective to a student's life. When things happen the way we want without any struggle, we certainly are on the wrong track... hehe... :-)
Good start! more to come i guess!
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