IgloONotes

Ever had to wait?
I mean, really anxiously waiting. I arrived at Frankfurt about 3 hours earlier than I really needed to, just in case. I made sure my hair looked okay and that I was wearing the right clothing to be presentable.  I was wearing the right watch and my shoes had to be clean.

Today wasn't just another day to the airport, I was picking up my girlfriend.

The last time I saw her was about 4 months ago in Hong Kong. We had a wonderful time together, travelling to Macau, travelling all around Hong Kong, and eating some of the best food in the world. This time, we would be trekking across Europe and seeing some of the best places that Europe has to offer. But before all this, I had to wait.

Do you really have any idea what its like to wait for someone that you've been waiting for, for four months? Someone you always enjoyed being with when you were together, someone who makes you feel like nothing else could go wrong in your world. Its excruciatingly nerve-wracking. I've never been sky-diving but I guess that I would feel quite the same. Except that when you're skydiving, there's always that feeling that you might not make it to solid ground the same way you were expecting.

Anyways, three hours is a lot of time to kill when you're waiting. At Frankfurt airport, its nice that all the shops are open to the public, and not just the travelers. A couple stores were worthy (Porsche Design), but I had seen it all on my 1 hour stopover when I arrived in Germany 8 months ago. I walked around, and was pleasantly surprised to find a supermarket! This was the first time I had run into a supermarket in an airport. It was a tad small, but nonetheless, it had things you would need if staying in Germany for a couple days. I picked up a Spinach pastry which was quite  tasty. Not something you'd be ashamed to say you bought from the airport.

Due to my girlfriend flying in direct, her terminal was in one far corner of the airport,  Gate C. For a while, I was actually confused to where it was because on the screens, it showed that her flight was arriving at gate C1. In hindsight, there was only one 'C' gate, but when you're as anxious as I was, you want to make sure that everything goes according to plan.

At the gate, I just couldn't sit down. The seat was too hard and felt like I was confined to a spot. I ended up leaning against a column. When that got too uncomfortable, I ended up walking back and forth. And back and forth.

And back and forth.

I did notice a family, also waiting at the same gate, noticing me. Oh well...
I made constant trips to the arrival screen which was in the corner. As flights arrived, there would be a little green lights flashing beside the flight number, or so I thought. What I found odd was that flights that should of arrived an hour earlier, still had their little green light flashing. Okay, so it just tells you that the flight is already here.

Going back a couple more times, the little green dot appeared flashing beside my Girlfriend's flight. She was here. All my waiting, all my anxiousness would come down to these minutes. From my experience of arriving at Frankfurt, it would take no more than 30 minutes to get off the plane and get the luggage. The countdown began.

I paced back and forth, checking my watch, checking the screen, observing who was coming out of the doors. While waiting for her flight to disembark, my girlfriend called me and mentioned that the flight was full of Chinese people. Okay, I thought, that makes sense. So obviously, I kept a lookout of chinese people. But all that came out were Europeans. An hour passed. It was hard waiting. What if she got held up by customs? What if her luggage got lost? I rather not think of those things.

The family that had been observing me had a heartwarming reunion with one of their own. A man stepped out with a dog, and alas, an asian woman walked out. I spied her luggage tag, and I was hoping to see any indication that she was coming from Hong Kong...but I couldn't. As she walked around the barriers, a German man greeted her, as if they were ready to go to an important meeting. Possibly from Hong Kong...

And then, as I was looking down at my shoes, I heard an 'Ah!'

She was here. My Girlfriend had arrived safe and sound from Hong Kong. She walked in, tugging a long a single suitcase and a backpack. All this waiting, all this anxiousness had come down to this moment. We were together again. It was really awkward at first because she was really with me. For the past four months, I had always seen her on Skype. Even her voice was different. But there was no mistaking, this was the girl I love.

I was so happy I finally had my girlfriend that I actually forgot how to get back to my car. Then after I got back to the car, I had to pay parking, which got me lost on the way back, again. Its amazing what happens when your mind is taken off its normal course of thinking. It was just wonderful to have my Girlfriend beside me. All that was left was the long drive back. But I didn't mind because I had all the time in the world.