Murphy's Law

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

As I've learned today, it's best to operate under this assumption.  Pessimistic? Maybe. Necessary? You betcha.  When I arrived at O'Hare, all flights were on schedule.  As soon as I boarded my plane, all hell broke loose.  I sat at the gate for two and a half hours with a screaming baby before we were cleared for take off.  

Once we finally made it to Amsterdam, I had missed my connecting flight.  I went to the transfer gate and asked if I could be put on the next flight to Frankfurt instead of Cologne as it would shorten my journey by a few hours.  The KLM agent I spoke to said no and gave me a voucher for a meal and 50 Euros off a future ticket.  I asked how much it would be to just purchase a new ticket to Frankfurt, and he directed me to take a number and wait in another line to find out.  When I got up to the second KLM transfer desk and explained what had happened, the agent told me that she could switch me onto the Frankfurt flight without a problem.  This is where I started to seriously doubt the competency, and with good reason.

After I got my new boarding pass and made it to my gate, I realized that the gate agent and I had never discussed my luggage.  As a precaution, I trekked back across the airport and asked the agent if my bags would be on the flight to Frankfurt with me.  She assured me that there would be plenty of time for them to get on the plane, so I left feeling slightly better.  When it came time to board, I asked the agent at the gate to check if my luggage had made it.  I watched her type in my name and pull up my file, at which point she told me that my luggage was, indeed, loaded on the plane and ready to go.

I arrive in Frankfurt and go to the baggage claim.  The carousel goes around for a while, everyone gets their luggage and leaves, and the carousel stops.  Where are my bags?  I go to the baggage claim desk and hand the agent my boarding passes.  He looks at them and says, "You're supposed to be in Cologne." No, sir, I assure you I'm supposed to be in Frankfurt, as are my bags.  I try to keep my cool and explain the situation to him, including what the other agents had said.  He looks up my information and suddenly the story has changed.  They have no idea where my suitcases are.

He hands me a receipt with a claim number and sends me on my way.  Despite being exhausted, smelly, panicked, and furious, I hold it together and purchase a train ticket.  The train ride to Koblenz followed the Rhine and was gorgeous, but I unfortunately missed most if it as I was passed out face down into my neck pillow.  Once in Koblenz, my original plan to take a taxi to Vallendar and get a nice dinner was a thing of the past, so I marched into McDonald's and ate a Big Mac and fries.  

I finally got a taxi, moved into my apartment, and got a tour from the house manager.  He's pretty nice but speaks an interesting mix of German and English (Germlish, if you will), so I'm grateful for the German skills I have.  Speaking of which, in my sleep-deprived delirium, I got unnaturally excited about my ability to read the McDonald's packaging and tray paper, which was something about kids' birthday parties.

So now I'm settled into my apartment, or as settled as I can be with nothing in my possession but the contents of my backpack.  I just contacted KLM again and as of now they still have no idea where my luggage is, so I will likely not be receiving it tomorrow either.

One good thing did happen today: I started making friends!  It just so happened that the guy sitting behind me on the flight from Chicago to Amsterdam was from U of I and not only going to WHU, but also living in my apartment building.  He stuck with me for the entire trip, including waiting in all the lines and dealing with my whining.  We also met up with two other girls from U of I (who are also living in my building) by chance in Frankfurt, and the four of us became a traveling group from there to Koblenz to Vallendar.

Despite the series of unfortunate events that transpired over the last 24 hours, I am grateful to have gotten here safely and excited for what's to come.  Tomorrow will be orientation from about 9am to 9pm, so it's time to finally shower and get some sleep.  I'll report back tomorrow with how things are going and maybe some pictures of my apartment.  Goodnight!