The Journey Begins-The Flight to Kazakhstan

The 24-hour trip from St. Louis to Newark, Newark to Frankfurt, and Frankfurt to Almaty, Kazakhstan, begins at noon on Sunday, November 8, 2009. The first 2 legs are familiar enough as I have made the trip to Europe many times. In Frankfurt Airport, Monte and I window shop the expensive stores and people watch. One zealous maintenance worker cruises by on a bike carrying a ladder through the airport (join the circus) while another one walks his bike slowly as if contemplating his next move (milking the clock). We make the mistake of asking a Lufthansa ticket agent about our gate number. She tells us but then decides our carry-on luggage "appears too heavy" (a scale in her eye-balls?). We try to retreat, realizing our innocent question was an invitation for scrutiny. "Ma'am, we appreciate your concern, but we were really just asking for the gate information..." However, it is too late. We cannot escape the field strength of her authority on the matter. She forces us to weigh-in. Indeed, her eyeballs are right - we are way over the 8kg limit. We think this is going to cost us in terms of extra luggage fees and the aggravation of getting stuff out of the checked luggage that we need on the flight. While we are rifling through our bags with half of the contents on the floor, something amazing happens. The rigid German attendant has a softening of heart. She informs us that the flight isn't very full and that she will allow us to carry on the luggage after all. We shut our mouths, salute, and head for the gate where the scenery changes from familiar looking Germans, the skinnier brethren of the Waterloo/Columbia residents where we live, to Kazakh Asians and Russians heading to Almaty. We stick out like sore thumbs and realize we are not in Kansas anymore.