that is actually how I referred to my first day of vacation when I texted my mom. what was so good about it? let me tell you...
so I wake up at 4.15, after only two hours of sleep. shave, shower, pack the rest of my stuff and get ready to go to the airport. my flight's at 7.10, and I arrive at 9.05. slept an hour on the plane.
my wish was to be able to visit the resting place of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, as I had a 6 hour layover. I had two problems however:
1. it would take me about 2 hours to get there by train
2. I had no idea how to get there
but luckily, I got picked up (go facebook!). and oh how happy I was. not surprisingly, it was raining. after all, it was london. but it didn't matter, going by car there, without traffic, it took us only 45 minutes. so I got to say prayers for a while, and took a couple of pictures. I was smiling pretty much during the entire time prayer session, as I was feeling so happy and grateful to be able to be there. here's a picture of the entrance:
click here for the other pictures of my london day.
so once we were done there, there was still some time left before my flight, so we decided to go visit a friend. he was sleeping (look here), so we got the honor of waking him up. needless to say, he was quite surprised to see me, as we both live in sweden and he was just there for a few weeks to visit family. good fun though :)
we hit up the grill, had a bit of a barbeque, and then it was time for me to get going. got a ride to the airport, and there's a bit of story what happened there too. but first there was something in the kitchen that I really enjoyed, which inspired me to do the same. there were different quotations from the Baha'i Writings up on the cupboards, the fridge, etc, and I thought that'd be really nice. so tonight I decided to do my own, and these are the ones I'm going to print:
And if thou art overtaken by affliction in My path, or degradation for My sake, be not thou troubled thereby.
Rely upon God, thy God and the Lord of thy fathers.
Let deeds, not words, be your adorning.
Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.
True loss is for him whose days have been spent in utter ignorance of his self.
How couldst thou forget thine own faults and busy thyself with the faults of others?
so, london heathrow... first of all, I don't like it. being such a populated airport, I was expecting it to be a whole lot fancier and flashier. well, it wasn't. in the waiting hall, you could see the fans in the ceiling, and it was generally just looking unclean. not too nice...
anyways, in the security check, they had tv screens informing us passengers that they've started with random x-ray scannings of people. as I was standing in line, I see a security guy walking around checking the line for people to choose. I just knew he'd pick me. sure enough, I was "randomly selected" and got a full-body x-ray scan. had to stand in some weird positions, 3 scans done, but in return I got to skip through the whole security line, so it was good :)
this is where I sent a text to mom and said that everything was just perfect. I hadn't even known if I'd get picked up in the morning, so everything beyond that was just excellent. in addition I got to have some barbequed chicken, and got to meet good friends. and also, I found out that I'd actually be on the same flight back to sweden with my friend. yay! had something to look forward to :)
plane was late about an hour and a half, information was quite bad, but got on the plane and no problems there. during the flight I saw two movies, 300 and blades of glory. reviews of those will come later.
got to toronto, and here's some interesting stuff... I was asked to go into a special line/place a total of 3 times before I finally got out. off the plane, everyone was asked to show passports to police standing and waiting. showed mine, and I was asked to step aside. show my passport, and was asked why I am in canada. answered wedding and showed the invitation (good thing to bring it with me!). then it was okay, and I could move on.
again more border control, and I was asked to go into the immigration office. answered same question about why I was there, showed the invitation, was asked where I was staying (no idea, was getting picked up!), and then if I had tickets for leaving the country (great way to make me feel welcomed...). had the ticket information on a printed paper, so that was no problem either. then he asked me what I do and stuff. after a while the guy was quite nice, and even asked me what I thought of stockholm. naturally I told him he should come visit, it's really beautiful, especially in the summer :)
I get out, and right there another police woman is standing checking the paper I had with me all the way from leaving the plane (some info about me and stuff). she makes a big blue mark on it, and I have no idea what it means...
go get my luggage, and another control, tells me to turn right. get there, show my paper to another police, and they say that the woman wanted to check my luggage, no idea what or why.
so I go sit down, listen to some music, and see the police come with two guys in handcuffs. a bit scary...
she finally comes, x-rays my suitcase and bag, and says thank you and lets me go. all in all it took me about an hour and a half from leaving the plane until I got out (it took 30 minutes in israel...), and I get picked up here too :)
about 45 minute ride back, absolutely beautiful sunset. wish I had taken pictures of it... socialize a bit, introduce myself to pretty much everyone, and mingle a bit with the people that are already there. I'm quite tired though, and at 11.30 I go to bed, after being up for about 26 hours. but I'm happy :)
so I wake up at 4.15, after only two hours of sleep. shave, shower, pack the rest of my stuff and get ready to go to the airport. my flight's at 7.10, and I arrive at 9.05. slept an hour on the plane.
my wish was to be able to visit the resting place of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, as I had a 6 hour layover. I had two problems however:
1. it would take me about 2 hours to get there by train
2. I had no idea how to get there
but luckily, I got picked up (go facebook!). and oh how happy I was. not surprisingly, it was raining. after all, it was london. but it didn't matter, going by car there, without traffic, it took us only 45 minutes. so I got to say prayers for a while, and took a couple of pictures. I was smiling pretty much during the entire time prayer session, as I was feeling so happy and grateful to be able to be there. here's a picture of the entrance:
click here for the other pictures of my london day.
so once we were done there, there was still some time left before my flight, so we decided to go visit a friend. he was sleeping (look here), so we got the honor of waking him up. needless to say, he was quite surprised to see me, as we both live in sweden and he was just there for a few weeks to visit family. good fun though :)
we hit up the grill, had a bit of a barbeque, and then it was time for me to get going. got a ride to the airport, and there's a bit of story what happened there too. but first there was something in the kitchen that I really enjoyed, which inspired me to do the same. there were different quotations from the Baha'i Writings up on the cupboards, the fridge, etc, and I thought that'd be really nice. so tonight I decided to do my own, and these are the ones I'm going to print:
so, london heathrow... first of all, I don't like it. being such a populated airport, I was expecting it to be a whole lot fancier and flashier. well, it wasn't. in the waiting hall, you could see the fans in the ceiling, and it was generally just looking unclean. not too nice...
anyways, in the security check, they had tv screens informing us passengers that they've started with random x-ray scannings of people. as I was standing in line, I see a security guy walking around checking the line for people to choose. I just knew he'd pick me. sure enough, I was "randomly selected" and got a full-body x-ray scan. had to stand in some weird positions, 3 scans done, but in return I got to skip through the whole security line, so it was good :)
this is where I sent a text to mom and said that everything was just perfect. I hadn't even known if I'd get picked up in the morning, so everything beyond that was just excellent. in addition I got to have some barbequed chicken, and got to meet good friends. and also, I found out that I'd actually be on the same flight back to sweden with my friend. yay! had something to look forward to :)
plane was late about an hour and a half, information was quite bad, but got on the plane and no problems there. during the flight I saw two movies, 300 and blades of glory. reviews of those will come later.
got to toronto, and here's some interesting stuff... I was asked to go into a special line/place a total of 3 times before I finally got out. off the plane, everyone was asked to show passports to police standing and waiting. showed mine, and I was asked to step aside. show my passport, and was asked why I am in canada. answered wedding and showed the invitation (good thing to bring it with me!). then it was okay, and I could move on.
again more border control, and I was asked to go into the immigration office. answered same question about why I was there, showed the invitation, was asked where I was staying (no idea, was getting picked up!), and then if I had tickets for leaving the country (great way to make me feel welcomed...). had the ticket information on a printed paper, so that was no problem either. then he asked me what I do and stuff. after a while the guy was quite nice, and even asked me what I thought of stockholm. naturally I told him he should come visit, it's really beautiful, especially in the summer :)
I get out, and right there another police woman is standing checking the paper I had with me all the way from leaving the plane (some info about me and stuff). she makes a big blue mark on it, and I have no idea what it means...
go get my luggage, and another control, tells me to turn right. get there, show my paper to another police, and they say that the woman wanted to check my luggage, no idea what or why.
so I go sit down, listen to some music, and see the police come with two guys in handcuffs. a bit scary...
she finally comes, x-rays my suitcase and bag, and says thank you and lets me go. all in all it took me about an hour and a half from leaving the plane until I got out (it took 30 minutes in israel...), and I get picked up here too :)
about 45 minute ride back, absolutely beautiful sunset. wish I had taken pictures of it... socialize a bit, introduce myself to pretty much everyone, and mingle a bit with the people that are already there. I'm quite tired though, and at 11.30 I go to bed, after being up for about 26 hours. but I'm happy :)
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