Heathrow
Today was bittersweet. We are not quite ready to go home because we have enjoyed our time here and want to stay and explore, but we miss our family and friends. We have grown into a family, and a few students are fearful that once we return home things will go back to the way they were before this trip - passing each other in hallways like strangers. I try to assure them that once we return home life will be different because we are different. After an experience like this, the group forms a bond and shares memories and laughter that others cannot understand. We will each be different because we have experienced a certain freedom and worldliness that our peers cannot imagine. I tried my best to prepare them for the transition back to "normal" life.
A wonderfully jolly man is our driver to the airport. We enjoy some interesting conversation as we drive through London for the last time. He reminds us of the brand new air travel law about being able to turn on all electronic devices at security. He told us of the story of a woman who could not and she either had to give up her phone or lose her spot in line to go back to the airport ticket lobby to charge her phone.
Check in was fairly easy. We scanned our passports at a kiosk and printed luggage tags for our checked bags. I am a little concerned that Mercedes' duffle bag (which she could easily fit a body inside) will be over the 50 pounds marks, but since she is carrying it without complaint, maybe it will be fine. Wendy changed her mind at the last minute about which bag she will check; it does not matter to me...but this is important later.
Now we wait in line to check our bags. We have to go separately, so I remind each of them to make sure that the agent prints a boarding pass for them - otherwise they cannot get on the plane!
After this, we meander toward security. London Heathrow security is more intense than Chicago O'Hare if you can believe it. It least that is our experience. A woman hands each passenger a small plastic bag and instructs us to place all liquids in this bag. That includes lotion, foundation, and mascara! I would never consider mascara a liquid, but a person does not argue with airport security - EVER! As a seasoned traveler heading home, I have one item in my bag - contact solution. That is all that I will need (to put my contacts in), and everything else is in my checked bag.
I notice that Wendy's small plastic bag is overflowing but am hopeful that they don't care if the bag cannot seal. There is only one full body scanner, and Wendy and Mercedes are in that line. Jacob, Gunnar, Elizabeth, and I were directed to the metal detector line. Everyone makes it through that part without incident, and we collect our bags. That is the moment I here, "Mrs. Helmick, they have to search my bag," from Wendy. Apparently her bag has been flagged for a thorough search. Once they start going through it, I can see why.
In this thorough search, they take every single item out. I instruct the rest of the group to sit on a bench not too far away while this search continues. Wendy chose the wrong bag as her carry on. She had WAY too many liquid items. This bag held all her toiletries (most of which are considered liquid here), and she had large maybe 16 ounce bottles of liquid cleanser that she bought here for pretty cheap. That sadly is taken away. It is too late to try to put that in her checked bag (who knows where it is at that moment. The very kind and patient security woman and I try to calm Wendy who is freaked out by this. We assure her that we just have to make sure everything is in order and we will not miss our flight (we have at least 2 hours).
Wendy has so many liquid items that will not fit in the small plastic bag, that the woman tells her that she will need to throw some of them away. At this point, I ask if I can take some of her items and put them in my near empty bag. This is approved, and they rescan the all the bags and wand them just in case. Now we repack her bags and search for her boarding pass and passport which have been buried in this process. We thank the very kind and patient woman and no head out to find our gate.
As we walk through, we find the Virginia group! Their flight was supposed to leave hours ago, but it has been delayed. We will actually leave before they do! We wish them well again, and continue to our gate.
A wonderfully jolly man is our driver to the airport. We enjoy some interesting conversation as we drive through London for the last time. He reminds us of the brand new air travel law about being able to turn on all electronic devices at security. He told us of the story of a woman who could not and she either had to give up her phone or lose her spot in line to go back to the airport ticket lobby to charge her phone.
Check in was fairly easy. We scanned our passports at a kiosk and printed luggage tags for our checked bags. I am a little concerned that Mercedes' duffle bag (which she could easily fit a body inside) will be over the 50 pounds marks, but since she is carrying it without complaint, maybe it will be fine. Wendy changed her mind at the last minute about which bag she will check; it does not matter to me...but this is important later.
Now we wait in line to check our bags. We have to go separately, so I remind each of them to make sure that the agent prints a boarding pass for them - otherwise they cannot get on the plane!
After this, we meander toward security. London Heathrow security is more intense than Chicago O'Hare if you can believe it. It least that is our experience. A woman hands each passenger a small plastic bag and instructs us to place all liquids in this bag. That includes lotion, foundation, and mascara! I would never consider mascara a liquid, but a person does not argue with airport security - EVER! As a seasoned traveler heading home, I have one item in my bag - contact solution. That is all that I will need (to put my contacts in), and everything else is in my checked bag.
I notice that Wendy's small plastic bag is overflowing but am hopeful that they don't care if the bag cannot seal. There is only one full body scanner, and Wendy and Mercedes are in that line. Jacob, Gunnar, Elizabeth, and I were directed to the metal detector line. Everyone makes it through that part without incident, and we collect our bags. That is the moment I here, "Mrs. Helmick, they have to search my bag," from Wendy. Apparently her bag has been flagged for a thorough search. Once they start going through it, I can see why.
In this thorough search, they take every single item out. I instruct the rest of the group to sit on a bench not too far away while this search continues. Wendy chose the wrong bag as her carry on. She had WAY too many liquid items. This bag held all her toiletries (most of which are considered liquid here), and she had large maybe 16 ounce bottles of liquid cleanser that she bought here for pretty cheap. That sadly is taken away. It is too late to try to put that in her checked bag (who knows where it is at that moment. The very kind and patient security woman and I try to calm Wendy who is freaked out by this. We assure her that we just have to make sure everything is in order and we will not miss our flight (we have at least 2 hours).
Wendy has so many liquid items that will not fit in the small plastic bag, that the woman tells her that she will need to throw some of them away. At this point, I ask if I can take some of her items and put them in my near empty bag. This is approved, and they rescan the all the bags and wand them just in case. Now we repack her bags and search for her boarding pass and passport which have been buried in this process. We thank the very kind and patient woman and no head out to find our gate.
As we walk through, we find the Virginia group! Their flight was supposed to leave hours ago, but it has been delayed. We will actually leave before they do! We wish them well again, and continue to our gate.
We have plenty of time to sit, so they go off in pairs to get coffee or snacks or books or other souvenirs at the near by shops. As we wait, Wendy sits down to repack her bags in a more organized way.
Finally we are called to board, and we are some of the first ones on the plane. We are in the back again, but we store our bags and wait for take off. Right after they announce that we will be taking off, my nose starts to bleed. I did not even touch it, but blood starts pouring out. This happens occasionally but this is not the best time, as we have just been instructed to buckle up for take off. With one hand I clumsily unbuckle my seat (the other is holding my nostrils shut) and get into the lavatory for tissues. A flight attendant opens the door to scold me for being out of my seat, but once he sees the blood, he retracts his comments. He hands me a stack of paper towels and a trash bag to collect the bloody waste and instructs me to go back to my seat. No one can be up at this point. I sit back down and suffer through take off. Once we are coasting, my nose is fine thankfully.
Finally we are called to board, and we are some of the first ones on the plane. We are in the back again, but we store our bags and wait for take off. Right after they announce that we will be taking off, my nose starts to bleed. I did not even touch it, but blood starts pouring out. This happens occasionally but this is not the best time, as we have just been instructed to buckle up for take off. With one hand I clumsily unbuckle my seat (the other is holding my nostrils shut) and get into the lavatory for tissues. A flight attendant opens the door to scold me for being out of my seat, but once he sees the blood, he retracts his comments. He hands me a stack of paper towels and a trash bag to collect the bloody waste and instructs me to go back to my seat. No one can be up at this point. I sit back down and suffer through take off. Once we are coasting, my nose is fine thankfully.
Chicago
Touch down in the United States about 8 1/2 hours later! It felt good to be in our home country, but we still had a few hours before we would be in our hometown. For now, we settled for being in the state of Illinois.
Welcome to O'Hare International Airport - now go stand in line. It was about 3:30 pm when we landed, and our bus would leave around 6:00 pm. There was an earlier bus that left at 4:30 pm. but I knew that there was no way that we would be through customs by that point...and we were not. We waited in line for over 30 minutes to get to the passport scanner check point. The machine took my picture, and then I scanned my passport. I then answered questions on the touch scene. After receiving a print out receipt, we all go to stand in another line.
This line took us to two US Customs agents. Yes, I said two!! Luckily this line was only for US citizens so that cut down quite on the number of people. This line seemed to move faster, and we did not have any problems with the agents or their questions. Now on to find our luggage!
After claiming our luggage, we made our way to the Shuttle Bus Center where the bus would pick us up. We ate some greasy food at the snack shop and waited for the bus. Once on the bus, we had about 4 hours until we reached Champaign. This bus made a few stops in Chicago to pick up other passengers, but I have found that it is the easiest way to get to and from O'Hare for only $60 round trip (which is probably cheaper than the gas cost of driving ourselves).
Welcome to O'Hare International Airport - now go stand in line. It was about 3:30 pm when we landed, and our bus would leave around 6:00 pm. There was an earlier bus that left at 4:30 pm. but I knew that there was no way that we would be through customs by that point...and we were not. We waited in line for over 30 minutes to get to the passport scanner check point. The machine took my picture, and then I scanned my passport. I then answered questions on the touch scene. After receiving a print out receipt, we all go to stand in another line.
This line took us to two US Customs agents. Yes, I said two!! Luckily this line was only for US citizens so that cut down quite on the number of people. This line seemed to move faster, and we did not have any problems with the agents or their questions. Now on to find our luggage!
After claiming our luggage, we made our way to the Shuttle Bus Center where the bus would pick us up. We ate some greasy food at the snack shop and waited for the bus. Once on the bus, we had about 4 hours until we reached Champaign. This bus made a few stops in Chicago to pick up other passengers, but I have found that it is the easiest way to get to and from O'Hare for only $60 round trip (which is probably cheaper than the gas cost of driving ourselves).
Champaign & then on the Tuscola!
Most of us were out as soon as the bus pulled away; it was a busy trip. Luckily I woke up when we pulled off of Interstate 57 into the Champaign area. I woke all of my kids up since we would be at the Amtrak Terminal very soon. Our arrival time was 10 pm, which each student texted to the parents, but we were early! it was about 9:45 pm. Upon disembarking, Gunnar's parents are the only ones there! By the time we grabbed our bags, Jacob's parents had arrived, and he just walked straight to the car (he was so tired)! The girls were disappointed that the boys ducked out without hugs or goodbyes, but they are boys - so I was not surprised.
My husband arrived and had the cutest card for me!!! He is so super cute! As we waited for the other parents to arrive, the girls and I used the toilet together for the last time. It was rather sentimental. By then, Elizabeth's parents were here to pick up her and Wendy, and Mercedes parents brought some friends to greet her. One was my niece, who hugged Mercedes before she hugged me! I took just a little offense to that.
With the students in the care of their own parents, I needed some food. My darling husband was kind enough to take me to Steak and Shake which was absolutely deserted! After sustenance, we headed back to Tuscola!
London, I love you, but it felt so good to be in my own home, in my own bed, using my own pillow!
My husband arrived and had the cutest card for me!!! He is so super cute! As we waited for the other parents to arrive, the girls and I used the toilet together for the last time. It was rather sentimental. By then, Elizabeth's parents were here to pick up her and Wendy, and Mercedes parents brought some friends to greet her. One was my niece, who hugged Mercedes before she hugged me! I took just a little offense to that.
With the students in the care of their own parents, I needed some food. My darling husband was kind enough to take me to Steak and Shake which was absolutely deserted! After sustenance, we headed back to Tuscola!
London, I love you, but it felt so good to be in my own home, in my own bed, using my own pillow!