Confusion and Frustration

In our junior years of college, we both studied abroad. John was in Oxford, Great Britain, and I was in Sau Bay, Fiji. In case you don't know where Sau Bay is (ha ha), let me tell you how I got there from the Los Angeles airport. We flew for 10 hours, then took a 1 1/2 hour bus ride, then a 27 hour ferry ride, and then another hour motor boat ride. That's about 40 hours. Quite a long trip, right?

But then we were in glorious Sau Bay, so don't think I'm complaining.

Thank you for the photo, whoever put it on the internet!

John and I were obviously far apart. While I was in Sau Bay, the only possible communication with others was mail. From the time I sent a letter to John in Oxford, it took two weeks for John to receive the letter. Then he'd reply and it would take two weeks to get to me! Very understandable with all of that travel time, right?

Okay, so here's where the confusion and frustration sets in. To get from Minneapolis to Vancouver by plane takes 3 hours and 44 minutes. The drive to Langley from the Vancouver airport is another 50 minutes. That's about 4 1/2 hours.

So why does it normally take two weeks for the mail to travel from Minneapolis to Langley?