3.11.2005
Day 25
Happy Birthday, Mike!
We’re coming home early!!!!!
This morning started out like most others…breakfast, baths, dressed. Emil picked us up to head to the International Clinic for our 12 noon appointment for the kid’s check ups. It was very brief, and they were both declared in good health.
Then we dropped off Rob and the kids at the apartment and Emil and Chris took a ride to the Luftansa ticket office to reschedule our flights and to purchase the children’s tickets. After waiting for about 15 minutes, the ticket agent told Chris her computer was down and she could call back later. Chris got the distinct impression that this woman was really not interested in helping her.
Later in the afternoon, we packed up the kids and all four of us went back to Luftansa for another try to reschedule our flights. This time, when a ticket agent finally asked if he could help, he was only able to reschedule our flights. A messenger had come in to pick up multiple tickets and their printer was giving them trouble, so the agent asked Chris to come back tomorrow. She asked how long she would have to wait to handle it today, and he told her about 20 minutes. We sat in the parking lot with Emil for about ½ hour. The kids began to get restless (it was nearing their dinnertime) so Chris went back in to give it another try. There were several people working with the agent who rescheduled our flights, and the same agent that Chris tried to work with earlier in the day was sitting in front of her monitor, trying to look busy. When the people were through (about 20 minutes later), Chris stepped up to the agent’s desk and he told her his desk was closed for the day! He told Chris she should work with the agent who was staring at her monitor. When she went to her, she told Chris her computer was down, to which Chris exclaimed, “Still?” and she grudgingly told her to have a seat. She was ready to process our credit card and confirmed that we wanted to arrive in Newark instead of JFK!! Apparently, the first agent rescheduled our flights to arrive in Newark without ever asking if that was okay. Of course it was not, so she had to redo everything, was completely put out, and when she was done, just handed Chris the tickets and went on to do something else. No, “thank you,” “sorry for the wait,” “thanks for flying Luftansa,” nothing. It was not a good experience, and we’re really not sure why.
Anyway, we came home, gave the children their dinner, helped Emil figure out how to use his new digital camera, and the kids went to bed.
So sorry for the incredibly boring post. And we don’t even have one photograph to share!! It will be a busy weekend as we do a lot of souvenir shopping and do whatever else we can to experience Kazakhstan before we head home on Tuesday, March 15!!
We’re coming home early!!!!!
This morning started out like most others…breakfast, baths, dressed. Emil picked us up to head to the International Clinic for our 12 noon appointment for the kid’s check ups. It was very brief, and they were both declared in good health.
Then we dropped off Rob and the kids at the apartment and Emil and Chris took a ride to the Luftansa ticket office to reschedule our flights and to purchase the children’s tickets. After waiting for about 15 minutes, the ticket agent told Chris her computer was down and she could call back later. Chris got the distinct impression that this woman was really not interested in helping her.
Later in the afternoon, we packed up the kids and all four of us went back to Luftansa for another try to reschedule our flights. This time, when a ticket agent finally asked if he could help, he was only able to reschedule our flights. A messenger had come in to pick up multiple tickets and their printer was giving them trouble, so the agent asked Chris to come back tomorrow. She asked how long she would have to wait to handle it today, and he told her about 20 minutes. We sat in the parking lot with Emil for about ½ hour. The kids began to get restless (it was nearing their dinnertime) so Chris went back in to give it another try. There were several people working with the agent who rescheduled our flights, and the same agent that Chris tried to work with earlier in the day was sitting in front of her monitor, trying to look busy. When the people were through (about 20 minutes later), Chris stepped up to the agent’s desk and he told her his desk was closed for the day! He told Chris she should work with the agent who was staring at her monitor. When she went to her, she told Chris her computer was down, to which Chris exclaimed, “Still?” and she grudgingly told her to have a seat. She was ready to process our credit card and confirmed that we wanted to arrive in Newark instead of JFK!! Apparently, the first agent rescheduled our flights to arrive in Newark without ever asking if that was okay. Of course it was not, so she had to redo everything, was completely put out, and when she was done, just handed Chris the tickets and went on to do something else. No, “thank you,” “sorry for the wait,” “thanks for flying Luftansa,” nothing. It was not a good experience, and we’re really not sure why.
Anyway, we came home, gave the children their dinner, helped Emil figure out how to use his new digital camera, and the kids went to bed.
So sorry for the incredibly boring post. And we don’t even have one photograph to share!! It will be a busy weekend as we do a lot of souvenir shopping and do whatever else we can to experience Kazakhstan before we head home on Tuesday, March 15!!
# posted by kaztree @ 12:32 PM 
