Poland April 19-24, 2008

I had been invited to be the guest of honor at the Swedish Small Press Expo in Stockholm. Since I would be in that part of the world, Egmont Polska, my Polish publisher, invited me to return to that country for a few days of signings and interviews. In the 5 or 6 years since Usagi was first introduced in Poland, all 21 books and Space Usagi have been published. Tomoe's Story comes out in the US in July, and it is already scheduled for November in Poland. My last trip to Europe was about six months ago, and much has happened in terms of air travel. Three airlines had declared bankruptcy, security had tightened, and, just last week, American Airlines had canceled about 2,000 flights. I had traveled a few days ago to Vermont, then on to Oregon, and back to Los Angeles. The Vermont/Oregon leg took me 29 hours to complete because of weather, so I was not looking forward to flying again so soon. I would be taking a United Airlines flight from LAX to Frankfurt and would have 40 minutes to rebook at Lufthansa-Frankfurt, get to my gate, then continue to Warsaw. I was told this would be no problem. No problem at all. There would be plenty of time.

Day 1-2: In which I miss my flight
I left LAX early Saturday afternoon. The flight to Germany went smoothly. I received my seat assignment at the gate at LAX. They did not have aisle seats, but I was given a seat next to the aisle in one of those extra-legroom rows, a $200 value on one of these flights. I had to write two stories on this trip--an 8 pager for Dark Horse Presents, and a 60 pager for a special project. I started on the longer story, and had most it it written by the time we landed. I don't sleep much on planes.

I had never flown to Frankfurt, so had no idea of the airport layout. I thought it would be a matter of walking over to my gate, checking in at Lufthansa, and flying out. The reality was, I had to go through passport control, check in at Lufthansa in the main lobby, and go through security. It took me an hour to get to my gate, and, of course, my flight had already left. I rebooked on the next flight, leaving three hours later. I tried calling Tomek, my editor, but could not get through. I hunkered in for a long wait, hoping someone would meet me at the other end.

The flight arrived at Chopin Airport at 7 pm Sunday. I exchanged some dollars for zlotys. When I was here almost 4 years ago, I had gotten almost 4 zlotys per US dollar. Now I got 2 for 1. I bypassed passport control, because I flew in from another EU country. Tomek was waiting for me outside of baggage claim. When I was not on my original flight, he inquired if I had rebooked for another. We went to his home for a delicious home-cooked meal with his wife, two children, and friends.

I got to the Campanile Hotel at 10:30, brushed my teeth, and fell asleep.

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