I'm home. It's fabulous to have a life now that I feel is worth coming back to.
My flights went smoothly. Air Canada is definitely the only way to fly. They absolutely rock. Just as we were boarding at SFO, I heard my name being paged. The reason was that I was currently seated next to an infant and they wanted to move me as far away from it as possible. Would I mind moving up to the first row behind first class (more leg room and quicker to deplane) and have it all to myself? Then on the Calgary to Ottawa flight someone goofed and I wound up with a free meal which was a step up from tuna and carrots (surprisingly faboo veggie stuffed panini with a side of tortilla chips and salsa).
The last two weeks (okay, thirteen days) are already starting to be a bit of a blur, but I have to say that my favourite thing about the whole trip is something I haven't mentioned yet and something that is going to sound absolutely inane:
My last name is fairly common there.
Every place I stayed or made a reservation, I got a strange look when I started to spell my name, as if I was telling them how to spell Smith or Jones. Even people whose native language is not English knew exactly how to spell the name. How refreshing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The best part of coming home was, of course, Tabitha's reception, followed by coming back to a keyboard with accents. My French correspondents are going to be thrilled. :-) And French, of course, I can't wait to go run a few errands tomorrow, if anything's open, just to hear my mother tongue again. Running into French people twice in SF and then into a group of québécois in LA.
Speaking of québécois in LA, the best part of the whole traffic jam on Friday was coming onto a station that boasted that it plays every kind of music imaginable and began to list it: hip pop, hard rock, classical, country, rap... on and on and then... "And québécois! " I couldn't believe it!
*glances at the clock* It feels like only 21:45 while it's 00:45. I think the jet lag is going to be pretty brutal since I don't imagine myself in bed for a couple more hours!
Great trip and I'm thrilled to say in full honesty that, when I tally it all up, the best part was coming home.
