On a New Continent:

At 9:10 PM local time, LOT Airlines flight 007 [JFK, New York, USA to Warsaw, Poland] turned its tail to the last of the North American continent, bound for Europe. While perhaps not as poetic a moment as Samwise Gamgee’s furthest departure from the Shire (seen in the movie, I can’t remember if the book actually portrayed that moment), it was a milestone for me as well; finally leaving North America for the great beyond. Unfortunately, I am located at the furthest possible position on the plane for taking photographs, seat D on a Boeing 767-300 ER. If you aren’t familiar with aircraft layouts, this is square in the middle of a 7-seat row. I can barely see a window, let alone see out it. But alas, the middle of the plane, the back of the plane, the cockpit, they all get there at approximately the same time, so all is well that ends well (and if I get around to posting this, you can guess it ended well).

Dinner was surprisingly good for airline food, but reminds me of (no offense meant here, just a practical observation) of a noisy Church of the Brethren Love Feast. Everyone is crowded into extremely cramped seating arrangements, trying to eat a meal without causing a minor catastrophe, and not everyone is entirely sure how to approach the whole exercise. I must count myself among those who feel more than just a little bit out of place, but pleasantly so. I have known all along that traveling to another country means trying to get used to unfamiliar customs and struggling to keep up with the language, but I really didn’t expect it to start before I even left the US. The primary languages on board are Polish and Russian, with English clearly taking second fiddle to the nationality of the airline’s origin. Mind you, I know the world doesn’t revolve entirely around Americans and speakers of the English language, but short of a few passing incidents with French Quebec, this is my first major exposure to signs that read in another language first, then English. At the very least though I must get used to being in the minority of people who actually understand what is going on. Fortunately, however, when I get to Vilnius, I will be reunited with my translator whom I have dearly missed, for reasons besides understanding one language (Russian) that I barely get by in and one language (Lithuanian) that I have hardly a clue in.

A few hours and brief catnaps later... During these morning hours, we have flown over Scotland, Denmark, and as I write this paragraph, we are just turning southeast from the Baltic Sea into Polish airspace. One convenient little attraction that is displayed when movies aren’t being shown is a map with travel statistics showing progress overall, time remaining in the flight, and a live update of your precise location over Halifax, Edinburgh, or Copenhagen. It certainly would have been nice to have seen the real view, but alas, it will suffice. I should also mention that it’s a chilly -56 degree Celsius outside here at 10.7 kilometers above the earth’s surface. Next stop: The Center of Europe…well, one of them.

p.s. I had to go through security AGAIN: 3 for 3

p.p.s. This is NOT going to be my usual schedule for posting updates.

Posted from: Chopin Airport, Warsaw, Poland