2017.07.11: We are safely home!

We have arrived home safely. We were notified by text that our flight out of Minneapolis was an hour delayed, which gave us a little time to get one more dinner for Anya of her favorite Chinese fast food and bubble tea. It was a bit of an ordeal getting to a gas station to fill up the rental car, as my GPS was sending me on a wild goose chase. Yet, I managed to drop off Anya at the ticketing level and get the car to the rental check in with 5 minutes before the deadline!

I thought I had done a thorough search clearing out the rental car, but in the ticketing area, I couldn’t find my phone. However, we had to wait in line to get re-booked for a later connecting flight in Amsterdam. We got a later flight but not boarding passes for it. But there was enough time for me to head back to the car rental. I give a big thanks to Alamo at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport for finding the phone under the seat. The guy who found it said it was difficult, as it went forward and backward when the chair was moved. What a relief!

During the 8+ hour flight, I only got 1 movie in (Anya recommended Moana) while Anya got two done before we slept. I haven’t slept so long (but so poorly) on a plane in a long time.

In Amsterdam, we couldn’t get boarding passes from the automated kiosk, so we waited in line to talk with the customer service. We walked away with priority boarding and business class seats! How nice! We enjoyed a nice meal!

I splurged on a taxi ride home, as we were tired and loaded with maximum free baggage (and a heavily loaded ScottE vest!). However, in the taxi, I searched through every big ScottE vest pocket (11) and my backpack to try to find the keys. I was getting a bit worried that they went to the trash with the bag of things from the rental car, but then I thought I remembered that I put them in the rolling-carry-on that was in the back of the taxi. Whew! I had. We were home in our apartment, and after showers, we started to unpack.

Now, after a vacation from Swedish lessons, I’m back trying to work on vocabulary, thinking, listening, and I even talked a bit of Swedish with the taxi driver (a nice guy from Iran).

There was news today that according to the US News and World Report Sweden is ranked number one in the world for immigration. I believe this American and Iranian would corroborate that! Yes, this is even with the challenges from Sweden taking in twice as many refugees than Germany. Way to go Sweden!

Pictures and stories of travels to the USA coming soon!

With blessings,

Beth