Rangers Sabbatical, part 2 - Pants on the floor, and shoes in the basket
I’m writing to you today from the back of a bus in Vancouver, Canada! It’s 7:20 a.m. here, though my clock and body insist it’s 5:26 p.m. This is the first of two buses and a train I’m currently taking to get to the Microsoft offices—quite the contrast from my usual sit in Johannesburg, South Africa, traffic! What’s going on?
Last year, I joined the Rangers project, and as part of that (an unexpected and enjoyable part), I took a three-week trip to Vancouver, Canada, and Redmond, USA. The purpose of this trip was to finish, polish, and deliver the TFS Integration Platform adapters I’ve been working on. At the same time, this gave me the chance to see what life is like at Microsoft and, more broadly, in North America!
I’d never heard of the "shoe bomber" before this trip, but this has ruined flying to America for the rest of the world—at least in my opinion. That’s my belief after going through airport security. While at OR Tambo Airport (or Johannesburg International), I’d never had to take off my shoes or belt for any flights within Africa. However, being on an American inbound flight, there was an additional check before boarding—the first of many times I would take my shoes off.
The trip itself was from Jo’burg to Atlanta, USA (red line below), then a connecting flight from there to Seattle, USA (blue line), and finally a bus to Vancouver, Canada (yellow line).
Map from http://www.oera.net/How2/TextureMaps2.htm with pins and lines added by me (not accurately).
The first flight was interesting, mostly for the in-flight entertainment, which was brilliant—I was able to watch a bunch of classic movies! Post-Christmas bomb scare, security had been heightened, which meant I missed my connecting flight to Seattle. This gave me my first chance to experience the service-driven culture that many leave South Africa for. Delta Airlines were great and got me on the next flight!
This flight to Seattle was interesting because it was the first time I tried American-style "Coke", aka Coke with high-fructose corn syrup instead of sugar—the kind the cast of Major Nelson’s Podcast has mentioned before. Now I completely understand why people sneak it over the borders: it’s way too sweet.
Later, at SeaTac Airport, I grabbed a Cherry Coke (which we don’t get in South Africa), and that was much better!
However, the most interesting part for me was the bus ride from Seattle to Vancouver. During this trip, I saw the Space Needle (which I’d imagined would be bigger) and the huge harbor that is Seattle. For some reason, I’d never thought of Seattle as a harbor town—it’s inland, after all—but the fjords and rivers in this region make it very impressive. This was also the first chance I’d had to check my email in over a day since the bus offered free WiFi.
Oddly enough, crossing into Canada didn’t require me to take off my shoes, so I guess it’s only America that’s at war with people concealing bombs in shoes and underwear. Finally, after 28 hours of travel (16 hrs flight to Atlanta; 3 hrs for customs and waiting; 5 hrs flight to Seattle; 4 hrs bus to Vancouver), I met Willy-Peter at a very rainy Vancouver bus stop.