Descriptive Essay - My Suitcase Dragged Against The Tile

This is my first plane ride since my mom and I moved to the quiet and boring Covington, Louisiana. My mom forced me to go on this school trip to New York City. And I thought the school year couldn 't get any worse. On the 3 hour flight I had to sit next to Pizza Face Pete and Stinky Sally. But hey, at least I’m not sitting next to Mr. Swanson, I heard he went to prison for drug distribution before he became our assistant teacher. The flight attendant said we were starting our descent into JFK, right as I went in the bathroom to get away from Sally’s vile stench.

Traveling is one of my family’s favorite things to do. The family has visited numerous places throughout the United States, however, none are as memorable as Atlanta, Georgia. In Atlanta, there are many places to go and sights to see such as: Cola-cola factory, Cabbage Patch Kids Factory, Under Ground Mall, the Zoo, Atlanta Braves Stadium, Six Flags Over Georgia, Stone Mountain Park, and the Atlanta Aquarium, are all in or near the city of Atlanta. The three that we visit on every trip to Atlanta are Six Flags, Stone Mountain, and the Atlanta Aquarium.

In the months, weeks, and eventually days leading up to my flight to Germany the panic was gnawing away at me. Despite the fact that this wasn’t the first time I was venturing out without my parents or even my first time on a plane, it was my first time for a myriad of other experiences in my life. My first international adventure, my first time living with a family that wasn’t my own, and my first time being surrounded by people speaking a different language; all of which began with a simple decision to cross the threshold between the jet bridge and the plane.

It was still about five hours until our flight and Alfred looked starved after going without food for an hour. We found a parking spot to abandon his car in until we came back from the trip. The bus to the terminal took a while, but it did not justify waking up so early for the 11 o’ clock flight. It wasn’t until we got inside that I found out just how much the airport has changed. We checked in our luggage and printed out our tickets at this machine that scanned our passports. We went up an escalator to find our gate, but before we could get to it there was this huge line we had to go through.

8 hours. Finally, over, of painstakingly mopping rugged floors of the crowded international terminal. Not how a regular 21-year-old woman should spend her time. Now, just cramming myself in my old Volkswagen and driving for hours under the dark and eerie atmosphere to a spine – chilling home ...

“She would ride in slow motion across our street, Murdock Avenue in the St. Albans section of Queens, the only white person in sight as cars swerved around her and black motorists gawked at the strange, middle-aged white lady riding her ancient bicycle” (McBride

It was almost 4am and we had slept in the cold LAX airport on black and while marble floor. Very comfortable and accommodating. At this point a cardboard box on a heating grate in New York would be the Ritz Carlton. Jamie and I stared at each other coldly, hating each other, damp sweat and anxiety poured over us. Silence. We just want to get out of here. "This sucks." Was a common response to our deliriously back and forth conversation as we tried to keep our spirits up.

As the new-comers feel alienated and lost in the Californian landscape, they also find familiar landmarks and conventions. The incorporation of multiple languages in the airport’s intercom system is revealed by the speaker as they say, “Above them in the terminal, voices are repeating, over and over, in Japanese, Spanish, and unintelligible English.” (Iyer 102). Everyone in this airport is coming from all different types of cultures. Each person’s unique perspective on the airport, what they find familiar and what they find foreign, is determined by their own culture.

Three days after my high school graduation, Randolph and I spent a day in a whole new city. Being from Roselle, I had never really been to one of the most beautiful city such as downtown Chicago. Spending the day in Chicago was like discovering a new way of living life that I had only heard from siblings and the news. I checked my bags to make sure I didn’t leave anything essential behind and I checked them five more times. we were sleepy during the flight as we arrived at the airport and made our way to the gate. The streets are filled with an atmosphere that is like a child on a shopping spree in a candy store. I was thrilled as I realized that I was in one of the biggest airport in the United States. watching the Chicago Cubs win the World Series was the most amazing feeling.

The floor rumbled fiercely beneath my feet. A cold jet of air brushed against my leg. My head was push against the window, viewing the taxi line filled with airliners. The roar of the engine grew violently. I could feel the acceleration tuck me back into my seat. The runway seemed to slip underneath my feet, briskly increasing in speed. Then, with a sudden lurch, the nose banked upwards. Liftoff. A sudden thrust of gravity spiked across the cabin. The vertical speed rose steeply as the tail plummeted sharply. The airport slid out of sight as the aircraft approached the lush cerulean Gulf of Mexico. I glanced back at the albicant, old cabin. I looked back at the window. The waters of the gulf of Mexico darkened along with my nerves.

Kevin grit his teeth. His hands strangled the arms of his blue leather seat that were embroidered with white thread. Fear oozed from every pore within his body. His body tensed as we felt the engine roar, saw the turbines spin, and runway come to life. As the plane’s thrusters kicked in, Kevin shut his eyes, but I didn’t. I stared through my window and watched the runway lights gradually merge into a single line of fluorescent orange. Before I knew it, I was gazing upon Philadelphia, hundreds of feet in the air, illuminated by the light of an afternoon’s sun. Our destination, the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot.

As soon as the door opened, the heat hit me. It was like putting a hot iron in front of my face. But it felt even worse as there was a slight wind which pushed the heat towards me. My body was surrounded in a blanket of heat and I even started to sweat slightly. My uncle told me to wait by the lift as he went to collect the car so I wouldn’t have to walk as far and drag my suitcase along. While I waited, I took time to look around at the surroundings. I could see mountains which stretched towards the clouds and the airport behind me. There were a vast number of people walking around from their flight looking drowsy and with no energy. The frequent red double-decker bus also came and a few planes flew above my head. I didn’t even have to look, but I could hear the planes departing and arriving. The planes all looked the same in the sky, big and white with some sort of logo. During the wait, I took a few steps to take away the cramp. Although I had trainers on, I could feel and see that the floor was new. The concrete looked

The airport in Los Angeles was crawling with travelers, dragging their luggage and scurrying across the terminals like ants in a massive nest. Jackson, my nephew, had no idea that he was meeting in Los Angeles; he thought we would be meeting in Seattle, just as we usually did. I wondered if he would notice the palm trees and the stifling heat in the middle of December and know immediately. With these thoughts wandering my head, I sat impatiently by the terminal where his plane was supposed to land.

I am forced out of bed before the sun gets the chance by the high-pitched screaming of my alarm. Working against the clock, my brain fights the last-minute task of arranging all my clothes into a suitcase. The taxi ride to the airport is all but a tired blur. With a long hug and a bittersweet speech from my parents, I am off on my own to break new boundaries. The airport and I are no strangers.

A myriad of people filled the terminal: some eager to board, others acting as if following a routine. It fascinated Andrew that although they would all share a flight, their destination would be far from the same. Each had their own story and future, intersecting at this one point in time. Each had their own decisions to make, hurdles to overcome and mistakes to learn from. For Andrew, this would be the first of many leaps to come.