Boarding time: 06:30 / Gate: / Date: 25 Apr / Departure 07:10 / Terminal: 5 / PLEASE BE AT THE BOARDING GATE 30 MINS PRIOR TO DEPARTURE. GATE CLOSES 10 MINS BEFORE.
A family member’s good-intended farewell gift was in the form of a flight ticket with a fixed selection of tight transit time. There was nothing I could complain about. At least I had some options, some people did not have at all.
Throughout the flight, I checked if my passport, my TB test certificate,and my hardcopy of the entry clearance confirmation email were always with me. The plane landed slightly earlier than expected at Terminal 3. Great, but it could not prevent the start of the one hour countdown. My lock screen showed 05:30. Once the seatbelt sign was off, I opened the overhead compartment, gathered my carry-on luggage and tripled-checked all the documents again. Having known that there could be a possibility that I would miss my transit flight, I just rushed through the aisle, held my belongings tight and ran.
I kept following all the ominous purple flight connections signs. The sun had just risen but was soon clouded over. All in my mind was ‘Terminal 5’ and I did not want to be left behind. I clicked the side button to turn on and off my screen while I was waiting for the T3-T5 shuttle. The shuttle arrived maybe two minutes after the ‘due’ sign was on. Many seats were available but I preferred standing just next to the doors. After a number of turns and passing through a seemingly never-ending tunnel full of dull yellow lights, the shuttle approached my transit terminal. The time was 06:00, 30 minutes to the scheduled boarding time. Any international travellers, including my former self, would find this unforgivable. But this was my first time being an immigrant.
At 06:10, I emptied and threw away my bottle of complimentary water, which was handed to me by a Cathay Pacific attendant on my outbound flight. At the mercy of an immigration officer, I handed my passport with my proof of entry clearance to him.
‘Where are you going?’
I said Glasgow. (If not, where else?)
‘Why are you going there?’
I said, in short, I would start a new life there. (Would you care to hear why?)
‘Do you have a job?’
I said yes and added some details to make my answer more satisfactory (I know I am relatively fortunate). After three sets of questions and answers, I was given the permission to go and now I could finally take a long breath.
The security lines were luckily short. By the time I could finally proceed to the gate, it was 06:23. 07:10, 07:10, G, GLA, where was GLA, GLA, GLA– okay A5. I found the gate.
Only now I had time to tell my family about everything. As a traveller, I would probably charge my phone or have a quick coffee in a nearby bistro. Today, I just held on to my belongings and did not want to move. I read and re-read again the gate number and checked again on my phone. Yes, A5.
A5
British Airways
Glasgow BA1472
07:10 Take a seat
My eyes got watery as soon as I saw the last three words as if the sign was telling me: You have done a good job. You will be going to Glasgow. Now, just take a seat.