Welcome to Chicoutimi

Ok so here I am- Day 1. It might not be the best way to christen my blog but have you ever had one of those days where nothing seems to go right? Welcome to the first day of my Chicoutimi adventure.

I was up at 3:45 this morning to grab last minute items, say a few more good byes, jump in the car with Dad and Ben and head for the airport. Of course it was raining in the Passage but once we got on to the highway, it quickly turned to heavy snow (remember it’s May). So we made it to the airport, checked in, said final good byes and I headed for the security check point. Dad said they would wait until I cleared security to leave, but they didn’t and they probably should have. First I set off the metal detector, so the lady takes me aside to do a more thorough check. Apparently, I was hiding a large chunk of metal in my stomach, possibly lower rib cage. In the end it turned out that my shoes are lined with metal and they were making the machine crazy. With that solved, I walked over to the counter to collect my belongings but no, I’m not done yet. The lady at the counter asks to see my boarding pass and if she is permitted to swab the inside of my bag. Of course I let her and after a few more minutes, I am waved through.

Upstairs the airport was practically deserted so I found my gate, turned on my ipod and sat down. Boarding started promptly at 5:55, right on time, and the plane was ready to go at 6:25, or so we thought. First we had to wait in queue for the plane to be de-iced and apparently we were not first priority. When our turn finally came to move up in the line, guess what happens… our “auxiliary power” fails us, the lights flickered and everything stopped. We had to be towed back to the starting gate to get everything looked after before we could try the process again. At least the crew were very understanding and compassionate and to keep the mood up we were sprayed with fresh, cool air every 15 minutes. Finally, over an hour later, we made it back to the de-icer and were ready for take off, except that the plane was now filled with this really weird, possible burnt potpourri smell that was supposedly due to the de-icing fluid. So it was kinda exciting when we finally took off, leaving the drenched pavement and soaring off into the fog/clouds.

Due to the delay, we landed in Montreal just as my connecting flight was boarding so I practically walked right onto the cute 50 person plane that would take us to Chicoutimi. On Sunday’s, only three flights leave from this airport so right now it is just me, 12 other students and a security guard hanging out, munching on some pizza we had delivered. Today is our last day to speak English so I think we are all soaking it up while we can. As the flight attendant said as we were getting off, today will probably be the last day we hear English for the next five weeks. Wish me luck!