Arrival

Dear travel diary,

Thursday, April 8, 2021

The night before departure was short, very short. I finally received the negative test result only six hours before check-in. I had been waiting for it the whole Wednesday and almost didn't expect it to arrive in time. The relieving message came at 11:45 PM. Stirred up and yet relieved, I could finally enjoy my bed for 4 and a half hours, the last time for a long time.

Now everything should work out! So Chantal and I boarded the first plane headed to Amsterdam and hardly took off, we were already landing again. After passport control and traversing the seemingly entire airport, we already arrived at the next gate. There was no short break; no, they already wanted to put us back on the plane. Anyway, these few extra minutes of sitting, on a flight time of over 11 hours, don't matter anymore.

Fortunately, the plane was not full, so I moved one row behind Chantal so that we both have enough space. During the whole flight, I spent most of the time sleeping, reading, playing quizzes, looking out the window, and eating. So the hours somehow passed by quite quickly.

Arriving at the empty airport in Los Angeles, in broad daylight, now came the moment of truth whether we would be allowed to enter or not. With good spirits, I walked up to the counter ahead of Chantal, handed over my passport and the form I received from the school, and had to step back for a moment. Then a police officer came and took me away. So, now I was sitting in a room with about 30 other people and waiting. Every time the door opened again, I thought Chantal would also come. She has exactly the same plans as mine. But that was not the case. After a few minutes, I accepted that I have to wait here alone, but for what? What have I done wrong or what have I done incorrectly that I was put in this room? Were there any complications with my previous travels or because my passport expires at the end of the year, or did they just see the wrong visa? Questions upon questions. After an hour, I asked an officer how long one usually waits here. She only said: "It can be 5 minutes or 8 hours." Well, I thought. Now I'm sitting here, not knowing why, with an appointment for the COVID test in 15 minutes, which we absolutely need for the onward journey the next day, and I can't even inform Chantal, who was waiting for me somewhere outside. Apparently, she didn't even see me enter the room, as it turned out later. At the beginning, I took it quite lightly and thought it would soon be over. But after the second hour, I started counting down how many hours I still had to wait until 8 hours remaining. Ah, only a maximum of 6 hours to wait, easy... Obviously, my appointment for the COVID test is already over, and I wondered if Chantal has already taken it.

I had plenty of time to think. No wonder when you're really just allowed/forced to sit there. Slowly but surely, my patience was hanging by a thread, and a mixture of anger, uncertainty, sadness, and tiredness built up in me. How I would love to know what's going on right now. How I would love to finally be next. How I would love for all seven available counters to be occupied and not just two. How I would love to know the order in which they call people.

New people enter and can leave after 5 minutes, while others, like me, have been waiting for two hours already. I fear they don't find my red passport or my name so appealing, which is why I haven't been called yet.

Only 5 hours left to wait...

"Diane Regli," the hopefully relieving two words were spoken. I quickly went to the counter and answered the questions asked of me. My date of birth, the name of my school, the program end, my reason for travel, etc. With my answer, "to improve my English," he was somehow not satisfied. He said, I already speak English well... Oh, Officer Smith, one never stops learning, I thought and then said. I couldn't resist teasing him a little. To satisfy my curiosity, I also asked him why I had to wait here. He said that since I had two I-20 forms (from the old and the new school), they had to make sure that I enter with the correct one. So once again, problems due to changing schools or organizations.

Finally, freedom! Slowly, I rushed down the stairs as I was relieved after more than 3 hours and saw Chantal waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.

We quickly made our way to the COVID test center. When we arrived there, they advised us to take the test at another terminal as it would be faster to receive the result there. Said and done. We canceled the existing appointment and booked a new one, and returned to Terminal 6. Luckily, the test itself went quite smoothly, and we could finally make our way to the hotel.

It took a few more minutes until we were in the right shuttle bus. Arriving at what we thought was our hotel, we were told that it was the wrong one. There are about five different Marriott hotels on this street. All with a small name difference. So we walked to our real hotel and checked in.
The next problem occurred: My credit card didn't work... Fortunately, Chantal was still there!

For dinner, after being on our feet for more than 24 hours, we had a salad from Target and a negative test result. Hurray, the journey can continue. But for now, it's time to say good night!

Friday, April 9, 2021

My night ended already at 4:30 AM after a good 8 hours of sleep. The wake-up time was supposed to be at 7 AM. So I used the time to keep the blog up to date.

After a relatively long waiting time at the check-in, we received our violet party wristbands, which symbolized that we are free from COVID. These made our entry into Hawaii much easier.

The flight itself was okay. Definitely more crowded, louder, and slightly more turbulent when it came to landing. However, the entry process was much more pleasant! Well, we didn't have to show our passports again anywhere and could go directly to the baggage claim.

Equipped with our luggage, we went to the exit and waited for our respective pick-up persons. For me, it was my host family (Debbie and Tony) and for Chantal, someone from her accommodation, the student residence. Unfortunately, she did not receive any further information about who will pick her up, let alone where. Shortly after, I was warmly welcomed by my host parents. After a short chat with Chantal and the parents, we both got into the big car. They were so upset that Chantal was informed only two weeks before her arrival that she cannot stay with her host family and now has to stay in the student residence. So they decided on the spot to accommodate Chantal as well. After a few phone calls, it was official, and I even got a host sister. Now the six of us live in a cozy and spacious house near Kokoheads, along with five dogs. The youngest son (Kaeo) also lives here, but in the separate apartment above us. In addition, Debbie's mother with her three dogs has been living with the Lee family for about three weeks since she can hardly see due to an illness.

Hungry and tired, we unpacked our suitcases and looked forward to being able to lie in bed freshly showered after dinner!