Blog #1: Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone [AKA the US]

It's been two days since I have left the United States and I have already been 'WOWed' in so many ways. The first ' wow,' though, came when I was still in the U.S. Leaving Cincinnati, the plan was to meet Berta in Chicago for a layover, after which we would be sitting next to each other on the plane to Frankfurt, Germany. Upon arriving at Cincinnati's airport around 3:15p and checking in for my 5:45p flight to Chicago, the American Airline Worker mentioned that there was an earlier flight heading to Chicago and that it would be boarding soon. At first I was a little weary, not wanting to stray away from the scheduled norm right off the bat; however, after some convincing from my Dad, I opted for a ticket on the earlier plane [which was boarding in 10 mins]. I bid farewell to Mom and Dad, safely and quickly made it through the security check [luckily not having to strip down and put on a free show for the rest of Terminal 2], and walked right to my gate and directly onto the plane without pause. The flight to Chicago was a quick and painless one, yet also uneventful [other than the several times the blonde 2 rows ahead and to the left "discretely" glanced back over her shoulder at me [not exactly what I'd call 'my type' though]. Upon landing in Chicago I wanted to first find the Gate that Berta and I would be leaving to Frankfurt from, therefore I scrambled around the airport until I found several 'Departure' and 'Arrival' screens listing the numerous flights coming to and from Chicago. I found Berta's coming from San Franciso..."[On Time]" it read, flashing in yellow font. "Good," I thought to myself, knowing that I would not have to worry about meeting up with her in time. Now that I was a little more relieved, I took a second to pause and glance, again, back up at the 'Arrivals' screen. It read, "Cincinnati: Scheduled 5:45p [Now Delayed]." It was then that I almost chuckled aloud when my eyes fell upon the large, red blinking [7:28p] new scheduled arrival time. I was so lucky! It had to have been God's Christmas present to me. My flight to Frankfurt started boarding at 6:50p and departed at 7:30p! Had I not been convinced by my Dad to jump on the earlier flight, I would've missed my connecting flight overseas to Germany! Thus leaving Berta stranded by herself [though, I'm not so sure she would have minded too much]. It was at that point that I knew my trip abroad was off to a great start; with a little bit of luck, help from the big guy upstairs, and of course, my stunning good looks [I'm assuming that the Airline Attendant wouldn't have offered that earlier flight free of charge to just anyone].