Never fly NorthWest airlines

So I just finished the 30 or some odd hours flight and I have to say that already it's been an experience and I've met some crazy people.

I was pretty prepared for the trip and so far it's gone off without a hitch. The only thing that I hadn't expected was that once I checked in I had to go to customs immediately. Geof and I were going to go for lunch and hang out but the woman said I had to go right now which was a bit unsettling but sometimes it's good to just go and get it done with.

Never fly NorthWest airlines.

After I go through customs and walk for 2km to what I think is my gate, I realize that it is only the shuttle area that drives you 5 minutes to some remote gate at the Toronto terminal that you can't reach by foot. Already I was thinking it wasn't a good sign. Then finally they call us and all 30 of us walk out across the tarmac (sp) and up the stairs to the smallest plane I have ever seen. I felt terrible for anyone who was 5'7 or taller because you couldn't stand up straight. I wish I had taken a picture but it was too cramped for me to stand. We all sit down and then some guy comes on board and tells us that we all have to get off the plane. The generator is broken and it will take 45 minutes to fix.

I had planned to sleep on New Zealand time all the way through the trip and it was 5am NZ time so I went back to the airport and put on my eye mask and had a nap - a 2 hour nap. They didn't fix it in 45 minutes but after 2 hours they told everyone that the plane could not be fixed and we'd all have to be put on new flights. So everyone lines up at the gate to get put on a new flight and one of the personnel tells us that anyone flying to Nadi should come with him and we would need to go back to the NW ticket booth and get new tickets. Strangely, there were 12 of us so we all start walking back to wait for the shuttle bus and as it arrives a girl from NorthWest comes running and says that the plane is now fixed.

So once again everyone boards the plane and everyone is panicking/freaking that they are going to miss their connecting flight. Because who flies to Minneapolis anyway? We have one flight attendant - Tyeasha (I looked at her ID card, it's pronounced tie-ee-sha) who informs us that she's only the flight attendant she doesn't know if we'll make our flights. Finally the same guy who told us to get off the plane tells us all the flights will be held for us.

So let's get back to Tyeasha. She's a very nice girl who is getting married in 4 weeks, but I don't really need to describe her. Her names says it all. Picture what you think a Tyeasha would look like and you've got her. In fact, when the plane lands and everyone gets up (as they always do) before the seat belt sign is off, she scolds us "I told y'all that you couldn't get up before the sign said, so sit back down." Yes, she said y'all.

We finally land and they tell everyone that Nadi passengers have to get off first so they can run to their connecting flight that has been waiting 45 minutes for them. I get to the new plane and it's much much bigger. I sit next to two 25-year old fraternal twins, Dusty and Pete, who are straight out of Borat - but only sober. They just went to Vegas for New Years and met two girls from LA who they are going to visit. I think Vegas was the biggest trip of their life and they're so proud that they're going to LA for the weekend. They are very friendly and amusing and make the four hour flight go quickly with conversations that include, if you were only going to eat one form of meat for the rest of your life what would it be? They both conclude it should be hamburger because it's the most versatile. I also wish I had taken a picture of them, but picture two middle American frat boys who went to the tanning salon before going to LA so they didn't stick out. They denied that they went tanning but the only other alternative was frost bite and that wasn't likely.