Flight to New Jersey

6/18/2013 Unknown 0 Comments

Today is my very first morning here in New Jersey!

I'll share with all of you our very long flight. 
On Monday (Philippine time), we woke up at about 2 am and started preparing for the airport. My parents only had about an hour of sleep due to the many luggages they were packing. 
We were all quite groggy but excited for the flight ahead. 
We arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 at about 3 am. After saying our goodbyes to tita Ruby, we entered the airport. I have to say that it has been one crying palooza the day before we left.
Since we knew someone from church who worked in the immigration there, we practically breezed through the long queues. Absolutely grateful to her for that.
I was feeling quite sick, down with the colds. We waited for the plane and in a while, we boarded at 5.30am. 

It was a 5-hour flight. It all went well. Half of the time, we were all asleep. The other half was spent watching Safe Haven, which is an amaaaaazing movie! Josh Duhamel makes me swoon. 

We arrived in Nagoya, Japan at approximately 11.30am (Philippine time). 
It was quite amazing how my dad was back there again after many years. He used to go to Nagoya often for business trips with Toyota. He worked in Toyota before becoming a full time pastor. It's as if we're going back to our "roots" (ex: we passed by many certain, sentimental places in the Philippines) before going to the next chapter in our lives. It's like a reminder of how the Lord has been so faithful and gracious to us through it all and He's telling us that He still will be when we go to New Jersey.

After about an hour, we boarded the plane again for the long, dreadful flight to Detroit, Michigan. 
Besides the flight being utterly long, my family were all separated, sitting in different places. I was sitting in the middle, so it was hard to get up for the lavatory. Plus, my nose was down with colds. I pretty much sneezed every several minutes. 
Other than a few visits to the restroom, I was just sitting, indulging myself in all the movies. My legs were so numb. I tried to stretch every so often, although it wasn't that spacious. 

Halfway through the flight to Detroit, I remember looking at my mom, who was sitting behind me, and giving her the 'I want to die' look. I really couldn't take it anymore! I was too uncomfortable. I just wanted a comfy bed. 

I just drowned myself in more movies and I was thinking a lot. I was thinking of the new life ahead, a completely different environment. It all felt like I was in a dream. It was so surreal. 

I didn't think I could survive any more of the flight but amazingly, I did. I was so ecstatic that the long flight was over. The moment I stepped on American grounds, I was quite scared, quite intimidated. Additionally, my English was a bit rusty. I've stayed in the Philippines for about 6 months, only talking to Filipinos. 
The immigration officers were also scary but my dad says that it was just their technique for immigration. 
We were one of the last since we were processing our green cards, as well. We missed our flight, so we had to rebook for a flight which was scheduled 2 hours later. 
We had 2 hours to rest and finally, our last flight to Newark, New Jersey. We rode this small domestic plane, which only fits less than 50 people. It was pretty comfortable and the best flight among all three. It was only for 2 hours, ahahah. 
The moment we landed and waited for the cabin doors to open, the woman near us started talking to us. She was really friendly. My dad also had trouble getting to his luggage on the plane and so, some of the other passengers helped him. They started passing the luggage until it reached my dad. We were all so grateful and they were all very friendly. 
The people here in New Jersey were more friendly than the ones in Detroit. 
I was less scared because of that. 

I was in a good mood, surprisingly. Maybe, because of the amazingly good flight from Detroit to Newark. 
After retrieving back our many, many luggages, we met up with the pastor and made our way to their house. 
I saw the suburban houses, the wide roads and the vast lands. It was unreal. We only see those in the movies but now we're gonna live here for quite a long time. It's just unbelievable and I'm totally overwhelmed with God's grace. 

That was my whole flight story :) 
I'm sorry but I don't have any photos. We were too haggard and tired, ahahha. 

We're all still trying to adjust but I'll try my best to keep updating and taking pictures :) 
God bless, everyone.





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