On The Road Again

My 35-hour odyssey from Canada to Sri Lanka involved two long flights and a lot of waiting around at airports. I left Vancouver on Sunday evening and reached my destination in Colombo in time for the Tuesday evening traffic. The trip was a bit of a blur, but I’ve managed a few recollections:

- I now have a theory that airlines intentionally select movies that induce sleep or at least enable passengers to nod-off and not feel like they missed much when they awake;
- Terminal 4 at Heathrow is really just a shopping mall. However, regardless of how much time I have to kill my capacity to shop expires after about three-minutes;
- Standing in a line behind a group of Africans travelling home to Kenya for Christmas I was able to surprise them by speaking a few sentences in Kiswahili;
- At the Starbucks in Terminal 4 (£1.90 for a venti coffee) I chatted with a university student I recognized from my Vancouver flight. Anna has lived in Slovakia and Russia and is now studying political science at UBC. She thought that my poli-sci professor friend Barb was an excellent instructor even though political theory was not her favourite subject. She hopes to study for her masters next year in the UK and plans to earn a law degree and a doctorate in political science before eventually working in international law. I didn’t disclose that my biggest aspiration is to win my hockey pool;
- The stewardesses on SriLankan Airlines wore beautiful traditionally-styled dresses. I smiled to myself with the thought that I was definitely not on a flight to Pakistan.

Things were quite civilized upon my arrival at the airport in Colombo. My visa was inspected by the immigration officer with little fanfare, which seemed anti-climatic given the drama involved with obtaining it. Then before picking-up my luggage and clearing customs I had the opportunity for some duty-free shopping, which I was able to complete within my three-minute window. I got a taxi and we found my new home with only minor difficulty. My journey was finally over and although I had just travelled more than half-way around the globe, I knew that my adventure was only beginning.