Still sitting at home...

I'm supposed to be on a plane now. I'm supposed to be flying to South Korea, with nothing more than the bag on my back and a fistful of dreams. Instead, I'm sitting in my parents living room, watching a movie, and wondering what to do with myself for the week.

The clouds of volcanic ash from Iceland mean that no planes are flying in or out of Ireland. No planes are flying in or out of London Heathrow, either, and no planes flying over Europe. While the airline companies are pushing to get them back in the air, the prospect of actually flying anywhere til Thursday is pretty remote, and I don't know if Sunday is even viable, either. I haven't heard back from the school yet, but I expect an email from them any minute, telling me it's all going to be OK, and I'll be on the next flight over. Or that they're doing everything they can, and to hold tight until it's taken care of. Which of course, nobody can say, because they don't know how long it's going to last. In addition, apparently the cloud will move into Korean airspace on Wednesday or Thursday, and while the authorities expect it will have dispersed enough to not cause engine problems in jets, anything can happen. Literally anything.

My bag is all packed, has been since Friday. All my remaining clothes are in it, and I don't really want to unpack, wear, wash and pack stuff again. I finished up with the job on Friday, and I've everything ready, so I've nothing really to do until I get on a plane. My going away party last night, while it was really good fun, felt a little hollow knowing I wasn't going to be leaving tonight as planned.

I know I am not as badly affected as so many other people- at least I'm still at home, unlike all those stranded on holiday across the world- but I still feel a little bit put out. Everything I've been planning and preparing for the past few months is now looking much tougher than expected. I've overcome so many obstacles and put in so much effort, and this is just another massive problem. It will sort itself out, it has to, but in the meantime its a whole load of trouble and uncertainty.

There's lessons to be learned here, I suppose. No matter how much time and energy you put in to something, there's always something that can go wrong. Things you never even thought of- things nobody thought of- can turn around and bite you in the ass. I'm learning an awful lot about international air travel, and global weather systems, and crisis management. With this much time on my hands, internet reading is going to take up a fair bit of my time I'd say!

Anyway, I'm glad I finished on a more positive note. I'll keep posting any information I recieve, and I hope I van get on a plane soon!