06/06/2010 - 20:00

It is a beautiful day in Frankfurt, or so it seems through the thick glass panes separating me from any real state-level society. I am in the slightly warm, yet still climate controlled terminal 1, gate C14. I am only half way through my initial arrival into South Africa and already I have blisters on my feet, dirty clothes, and bad breath. I have long since lost all concept of time and space. I am... somewhere and it is... sometime. That is really all I know. Only those that have experienced budgeted international travel can know what this feels like. it is somewhere around the 20th hour of never existing outside of an airport or airplane that one really starts to become what I can only describe as a travel zombie. Shaking limbs, tingles all over, if you stare at one spot for two long your vision beings to vertigo. you are both tired of sitting and standing but laying down on the hard marble floor or those four adjacent armrest-less chair s just seems impossible after hour after restless hour of attempting to sleep that way. The frustration is compounded by the fact that I have had bad neck pain recently and it is worsened with stress. This will surly be something that will plague my trip, and my pain killer supply is thinning...
I'll start off the story at the Atlanta airport; just after I passed through security because that is when a trip really begins. My flight was slightly delayed due to thunderstorms but that was good because I had some last minute phone calls to make and e-mail arrangements that I had procrastinated on. In fact, those tasks took all the way until the plane was fully boarded and I had to hop up quickly to be the last one on. Lufthansa is a pretty nice airline I suppose... I had a good seat in the back of the plane with no seat behind me so I didn't have anyone kicking my chair. The girl who sat next to me didn't speak very much English so I didn't talk to her too much. She did give me her cheese at dinner though, I guess she saw me eyeballing it when she dug into her brownie desert before every touching it. I'm a sucker for Tillamook cheddar.
The flight was much shorter then I thought it would be. I was thinking 12 hours, but I think I was remembering my past Asian flights. Now that I remember it, 6-8 hours is normal for most places in Western Europe from Atlanta. Mine was roughly 7.5 hours. The flight left around 7:30pm Atlanta time and arrived at 9:30am Germany time. The good news is that Germany shares a time zone with South Africa so I can already begin the adjustment without worrying about another big time change. On the plane I did a crossword and read. I watched the movie Invictus on demand at my seat as well as listened to the Gorillaz and Four Tet on demand. Other then that and my dinner and breakfast I just tried to sleep. I was very uncomfortable most of the time though and very thrown off by the experience of watching the sun set at 8pm and then seeing it rise again at 8am and having only 5 hours pass in between..
When I landed I already had my boarding pass for my next flight but I had 12 hours to kill. My original plan was to go out and explore Frankfurt but I was so tired I could barely walk straight. I wondered the airport at a sluggish pace. Disoriented by being suddenly thrust into a place where the shocking lack of English encompasses your whole reality. I began to make friends with the information desk people and kiosks with maps and information. I killed a few hours by finding the restroom, exchanging some dollars into Euro's (rape!) and exploring the airport. I kept considering leaving and finding something to do but I was already a travel zombie at that point... finally, with hurting feet and a dizzy head I collapsed onto a secluded row of chairs at an abandoned gate. It was only me, save for the German news reporter on the screen above me. I woke up almost five hours later, laying across four chairs, most definitely snoring, at a new busy gate. Crying babies and rushed businessmen all around me. Mostly Chinese. Apparently I had awoken to the beginning of an Air China boarding for a flight destined for Hong Kong. The first thing I noticed was that my sparkling apple juice was gone. I had only taken like two sips. Maybe a janitor picked it up? Maybe a child stole it/ Either way... who takes a sleeping man's drink? I felt pretty self conscious about sleeping so rudely in a busy gate so I got up and moved on. Feeling refreshed slightly I decided to go ahead and clear customs and immigration so I could at the very least obtain a Germany stamp on my new passport. My old one was stolen along with 11 unique stamps including Germany. I hope to one day recollect them all. This is #1. I never actually left the airport. I spent forever tracking down this elusive casino that I had read existed in the Frankfurt airport. I was so sad to find it was merely a small booth with some slot machines and a roulette table. Not more then a truck stop game room. I decided that the exchange rate alone screwed me enough, no point in donating more Euros to this airport, they are obviously out to get me... even my apple juice.
Having quenched my desire to locate the casino, the journey being the only important thing, I set out to find some German food and German beer without having to go too far since I was still extremely tired and zombie-like. When you have a full day to kill at an airport the smallest task becomes a well calculated adventure. The objective is to accomplish the task in the most amount of time possible without getting too exhausted or bored. I eventually settled on a little restaurant/cafe that sold me a frankfurter in curry sauce and two large beers. They were both unique and yummy and extremely German in flavor. I felt satisfied. I consumed slow and read my book some more. Made a little idle conversation with the waitress but for some reason German people always seem very adverse to small talk. There were Croatians speaking in broken English behind me and some Turks across the way but they spoke too fast for me to decipher the words. I paid and re-entered the terminal. The immigration official laughed and said "short trip!"
I stopped by the duty free shop and bought some gifts for the people who are hosting me in South Africa. I won't say what it is but it is edible, sweet, and I hope it doesn't melt in my bag.
I finally made it to my gate about 2 hours prior to departure, which seems a reasonable time to wait. I am surrounded by the whole world here. International terminals are cool like that. Lufthansa, El Al, Air Indonesia, Emirates Air, U.S. Airways, Safi Airways, Air Namibia, Air Canada, just to name the ones within eye site of me currently. My plane just rolled in and it is a Boeing 747. This will be my first time on this plane, the biggest one used commercially I believe. I am already exhausted thinking about the looooooong flight I have ahead of me. I think I'll go see if I can bump up to business class... doubtful but I'll try.