Snow Storm hits = Crazy Flight Home

Post first published on January 6, 2010.

So I went home in December and I have already returned back to Japan. First, I would like to post about my flight home.

I left Miyazaki on the 19th of December and because of the time difference, I was supposed to arrive on the same day (the 19th of December) at night in Jersey. It didn't quite work out that way because of the snow storm that hit the East Coast of the US.

Let me start from the beginning. I went from Miyazaki to Osaka Itami. From there, I caught an airport bus to Osaka Kansai airport, which took about 70 minutes. Then, I went from Osaka Kansai Airport to San Fransico airport. Once, I reached San Francisco, I was tired and couldn't wait to catch my last plane, which would take me to Jersey (home sweet home). However, it didn't quite work out that way.

In San Francisco, they basically told me that all of the flights going to Jersey and New York were canceled because of a snow storm. WHAT??? Then, I was told that the next available flight for me would be on the 21st. Remember, this was on the 19th. Oh dear! I was then given a list of times and gates for flights that I could wait on stand by for and I was told to take some clothes that I might need for the 2 days out of my luggage and then check in the bags. I couldn't believe it. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my family for the 2 weeks we had together before I had to return back to Miyazaki and I was already being cut by 2 days. On top of that, I had just arrived from Japan, so I was already so tired.

I decided to wait for the stand-by flights, which of course is what most people were doing. The first one was at like 10 something at night. I ate, walked around the airport and tried to entertain myself. The flight was of course full and I had no chance to get on. Crap!

I ended up going to one of the gates that was empty and sleeping there. Truthfully, I could only sleep for a couple of hours. I was using my backpack as a pillow, but I was still afraid that someone would steal my things.

The next morning (December 20th) , I waited for the next stand-by flight. I was tired, sleepy, running on coffee, but I still had a bit of hope that I would make it home before the 21st. When I looked up on the stand-by list, my name wasn't there. Your name is supposed to automatically go into the next flight, but what I didn't know (and apparently many others didn't know) was that it refreshes the next day, so you have to put your name back on every day. I went to customer service where I saw many familiar faces from the day before. Each one was asking to put their names back on the list and asking if there were any flights to Jersey or New York. Of course, the answer was always "No".

I was lucky enough to get a man working there that instead of saying "No", like everyone else, he tried hard to find me a flight. He couldn't find anything, and then he told me, " I found one that leaves today". I was so happy. I felt like crying. I walked away with a smile on my face, but when I looked back down on my ticket, the name on it wasn't mine.

When I went back to him, he was helping out a boy with a ticket he had. He saw me and asked me what was wrong. When I told him, he realized that he had booked me for the day before's flight at 1 PM, which is what I originally was supposed to go on. As this was going on, he unlocked the kid's ticket and was able to help him out. He also realized that the kid was going to NY Laguardia Airport and there was another seat for me.

He told me if I was ok with NY. When I said YES, he told me that I was taking the same route as the kid before me. He gave me a bunch of tickets and an itinerary. He said you are going to Bozeman, then Chicago and then NY. I also had to run to the gate because they were boarding. I was so happy. I didn't even care that I had no idea where Bozeman was.

The plane I went on was tiny. We had to get on by going on the runway and getting up stairs. My backpack didn't even fit the upper compartment. I starting wondering "Where the heck is Bozeman?". I was too embarrassed to ask anyone, so I just kept quiet.

Once we arrived, I was surprised to see just snow and mountains. It was literally a tiny airport, snow, mountains and that's it. It was beautiful. Stunning! I just didn't know where I was. The airport has a small gift shop, so I decided to go there for clues to where I was. That's when I saw all of the Montana souvenirs. I thought, "Wow, I'm in Montana!". lol.

This is a picture I took from the airport in Bozeman.



Next, I went to Chicago. In Chicago, it was also chaos because of the snow storm. There were tons of people waiting on stand by. I felt bad for all of the people who were waiting for seats, but I also felt relieved that I finally had a ticket home. The flight from Chicago to NY Laguardia was super full and there were 120 people on stand- by. Wow! I was hoping that those people could get home somehow before Christmas Eve. It's a really sad sight to see people and families praying for a way to arrive home for the holidays. It broke my heart.

When I finally arrived at NY Laguardia, I was so happy to be in my mom and dad's arms. I hadn't seen them in a year and the trip home to see them felt like it took forever. I was really thankful that I was able to arrive home when so many people were still stuck in airports.
We drove from NY Laguardia to Newark Airport in Jersey because my luggage went there. Then, we finally went home.

It was a long trip, but I'm so happy that I was able to make it home & see my family.

Song I'm Listening to At the Moment: "Sign" by Brown Eyed Girls