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The plan for today was to finish my laundry, pick up some Danish pastry, and then head to the airport. I did not want to transfer between the metro and the train, so I decided to take the train all the way to the airport. This meant that I had to walk a little further to the train station, but I figured that I would gain in time because I would not have to wait for the train during the transfer.
Well, that was the plan.
It all started well, I picked up some pastries, got to take a look at the strange balls (they were apparently some sort of technological exhibition) and had a bit of lunch. We then headed to the train station, and we arrived at the platform just as the train was pulling away. That was quite annoying since the next train would not arrive for twenty-three minutes. My flight was at 14:55 and the train was supposed to have left at 12:45 but apparently it left at 12:41. So we waited.
The train was late. It was three minutes late, but any time a train is late, it tends to set the whole system back. So I was a little worried about it, but since I was not transferring, and since the train was mostly empty, I shut it out of my mind. I put my luggage away, sat down, and relaxed. We would arrive at the airport at around 13:34.
The next stop was the central train station, where there was an announcement made over the intercom in Danish, and then in English:
"This train is now stopping. This train will not go beyond the central station."
What?!?
I was already worried about cutting it close, but now I knew that I might be hitting the one hour cutoff time! Fortunately, there was another train waiting on the same platform, which I assumed went to the airport (since all of the other passengers were flocking to it like flies to.. flypaper). Unfortunately, this train was completely packed, and with the extra load from our train, it meant that the train had to sit at the station for even longer to allow the passengers to board the train.
We did eventually leave, but because of the extra load, each following stop took a bit longer to get people on and off the train. I started worrying about the cutoff time again.
We arrived at the airport at around 11:40, and I rushed inside. Dangerman was telling me about the self service kiosks at the train station, and I found them pretty quickly. However, I noticed that the line up was really short, so I got into line. I stood in line for a couple of minutes before I realized that I was in line for Thai airlines! Whoops! I looked around for my airline and saw that it was on the other side of the room. The lineup was ridiculous! I knew I had no way to get through it all in ten minutes so I went up to one of the self service kiosks.
There was a cute attendant there who showed me how to use the device. She pressed the keys for the booking number and.. uh oh. It did not work. She then told me to get into line for the people who had trouble with the self service kiosk. Fortunately, this line was very short. Unfortunately, because the self service method did not work, it probably meant that there was a serious reason why, and each person in line took quite some time to get through.
I stood in line for fifteen minutes before getting up to the counter. By then it was already past my cutoff time, but the guy took my e-ticket, punched in some numbers, asked if I had anything to check, and gave me a ticket. Off I went!
The rest of the flight went by fairly quickly. I knew my way around enough to get out of the airport, and onto the right bus to MJO's place. Unfortunately, I did not know where to get off. I was lucky enough to overhear another man (who looked like some homeless bum) who was getting off in the same city, so I waited until he got off and got off on the same stop. Lo and behold, it was the right stop! (Or close to it at least.)
I walked around a bit, and recognized a couple of landmarks, but after walking around for a couple of minutes, I decided to call MJO just in case. Apparently I was close, so I did end up walking the rest of the way to the house.
After dinner, we picked up an 'Xbox 360'. Let the games begin!
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During the boarding call at the airport, I decided to stay seated outside as the waiting area seemed to be more comfortable than the stuffy airplane. I was sitting right next to the line up so I could jump in whenever I was ready. While the people were moving past, this boy (who was maybe three or four) started looking at me funny. He then started running between his parents, laughing at me and trying to hide.
"He's just being shy."
the mother said. Sure, but why the heck was he laughing at me? Did I have something on my face?
But his attention turned to other things after they walked by my position. Kids.
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