It is done, we have managed to pack and move to Dublin. Thursday was the big flight day and it was an adventure getting to this date and an even bigger one getting through it. In the weeks that followed my hiring by Microsoft there was a lot of waiting around, filling out forms, answering questions, etc. The companies that Microsoft has outsourced its relocation services to do a wonderful job of getting every last detail handled. The problem is you fill out all the questionnaires near the start of the process then you sit and wait for the Visa/Green Card process to complete before any of it can happen.
That can lead to a lot of frustration as you never actually have a travel date. You are given a window when it could happen, but never know for sure. This results in a lot of good bye’s with friends prematurely as you don’t know when you will really see them again. But when the green card process is complete, let me tell you the time is short between approval and pack, load and fly day. For me the official word came on Thursday August 21st and by Friday they had booked the movers, hotel for us in Regina once the house was packed, a rental car for use in Regina, flights, an apartment for me in Dublin for the first 30 days, a rental car in Dublin for 30 days, a chauffeur to pick us up at the airport, contact the tax consultant in Dublin to schedule an appointment and a relocation specialist to start our home search and school search. That was in 24 hours!
The pack happened on the Tuesday and Wednesday, we cleaned the house and touched up paint, final renovations, etc until 2:00 AM Wednesday night and then flew to Dublin on Thursday afternoon/evening. We flew Air Canada the entire way and they had a great set of times. We left Regina at 2:09 local time to Toronto, had a 2 hour layover in Toronto and then direct to Dublin over night arriving at 9:00 AM Dublin time on Friday morning. This is where the Air Canada thing fell apart. I did some research and based on my previous travel experience with good old Air Canada had told the kids there would be movies and TV on the planes to watch. This was going to make my life my easier as we would not have to enterain them for the entire flight and avoid them making every passenger on the flight hate us. Well……
Flight One – Regina to Toronto
They have us seated like this (we are the x’s):
00 x0
00 xx
00 xx
Not so good for looking after 3 kids under 8! Luckily someone switched seats and I was able to sit beside the 2 older girls. The problem is there are NO TV’s on this flight. So with some coloring books, Polly Pocket’s, a craft gift from Emily’s very good friend Sachia we were able to make it most of the way without the kids screaming. The baby was real good. We let her walk the isle way between the 2 seats and she had fun. She made faces at the other passenger and they seemed to enjoy here laugh so it was all good. We get to Toronto with no scars and everyone in one piece. A short layover to get a meal in (they didn’t even give us a cookie on the flight!) and we are off to board the other flight.
Flight Two - Toronto to Dublin
So we arrive with enough time to spare before the pre-boarding is to begin. Sarah decides to take everyone to the bathroom first since they have not made the call yet. In the 5 to forever minutes they are off going to the washroom the call is made for the people with children (that one down), the call is made for the elite card patrons (another one down), and general boarding begins for the rows back to 27. Then they all show up and we are in a long line to board. Let me tell you carrying 8 carry-on bags, pushing a baby stroller and trying to keep 2 kids from running through security is no easy task. We managed to get on the flight and not have our pictures hung worldwide terrorist threats.
We get on the plane and it is the oldest 767 in Air Canada’s fleet. From my reading there are 2 that have not been upgraded with the new leather chairs and individual TV’s….and we have one of them! Great, 6 ½ hours with no TV to keep the kids amused. We are dead! The flight is completely booked. 5 minutes to departure and the pilot comes on saying they need to remove some bags from the flight as they people have not arrived for the flight….that equals a 15 minute delay.
My 4 year old Elizabeth asks me about the “remote control” in the back of the chair. “If this is the remote, where is the TV?” I explain to her that there is no TV’s again and that Kung-fu Panda is not going to be played and that remote is a phone. She then asks “What is Finley’s (her best friend) phone number?”
Sarah gets the kids their blankets and stuffed animals and the 4 year old falls asleep waiting for the bags to get removed. Now Air Canada has again seated us in the best possible manner:
0x xxx 00
00 x00 00
Perfect with a baby, mother 2 more kids and a dad. Luckily another passenger changed seats (for his own protection I believe) and we had 5 across. Then we get a visit from the flight attendant asking why the baby wasn’t sitting on Sarah’s lap or in a car seat. We explained that Celeste had a ticket and that we were told to put the car seats in the cargo with our luggage as she would not need one. After some checking they confirmed her as having the seat, but Sarah needed to hold her during take-off. Sarah cuddles the baby through take-off and 15 minutes into the flight we have another sleeping child. 2 down and 1 to go, we can deal with that!
Now this 1970’s plane comes equipped with a great entertainment system. The old school 2 pronged headphones and a projector hung from the roof the size of a small car. I am sure it was playing VHS as they fast forwarded one of the in-flight commercials. As for the movies, the first was a period piece bank robbery movie with Michael Cane and Demi Moore that sucked and then “What Women Want” with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. Wholly Crap! The 7 year old isn’t gonna watch this.
The meal was good and Emily ended up going to sleep about 90 minutes into the flight. Sarah and I stay awake for the whole flight and arrive in Dublin with about 9 hours sleep in the last 60 hours.
Arrival – Dublin
We get off the plane on the tarmac (international airport with 1.1 million people in Dublin and we exit onto the asphalt!) and head to the Irish Immigrations booth before we get to our luggage. The lady at immigration reads my scanned copy of the green card and letter from the lawyer who filed for it ….a quick head shot for the computer system file and off we go to collect our bags and then to customs. Now, I am arriving with 8 carry-on and 9 checked pieces of luggage, 3 trolleys worth of luggage plus a jogging stroller just so you get a picture of me in the airport with Sarah and the kids. We are heading off to customs they have 3 lines:
Red: Came from Ireland origin flight
Green: Came from EU, N.A. or other origin with nothing to claim
Blue: Came from EU, N.A. or other origin with something to claim or unsure
You are kidding me right! So we head to the Green line. It is very long and there is a reason for it……you don’t get checked! This is the honor system of international customs, you walk through the door and there is the lobby to the exit doors. I kid you not, no checking. I am use to entering the USA and returning to Canada from the USA and being asked detailed questions and even searched in very inappropriate ways to try and find 1 extra beer in your possession. Here….walk on through sir….good day!
We were shocked in disbelief and tired from the travel but we had made it to Dublin unscarred, and then we somehow lost Emily who was pushing the baby stroller with the baby in it. When we walked through this magical tunnel that is customs someone had cut in between us and she turned left instead of right. Well this was a great scare. Sarah stayed with the bags and Elizabeth and I looked for her in the airport lobby. 5 minutes later and I had found her by the door trying to finds someone who worked at the airport to report her problem to. She was calm and did exactly what we had trained her to do. Everyone was safe and she was rewarded for a good job instead of talked to angrily for loosing us. A long 5 minutes, but they turned out fine.
Our chauffeur was waiting and we managed to fit everything into his Chryster mini-van and off we went to the apartment. We unpacked and walked down to the local grocery store for some supplies to make chicken and spaghetti for dinner. We were surprised at how reasonable the food prices were and amazed to find organic vegetables and fruit was about the same price as the other. We had our dinner, walked back for some ice cream and then it was an early bed time as everyone was tired. We woke this morning and felt refreshed and everyone seems to have adjusted to the time change OK. We took a train today to the mall to get some more supplies and have a bit of an adventure.
All in all life in Dublin is good so far. Monday will be the real test as it is my first day at work and Sarah’s first day with 3 kids in an apartment in a new country, but I know she will do great.
Will
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