I have spent quite a lot of time in flyplasser (airports) in the last few months, so I feel it is appropriate to write a post about words one frequently hears and uses in a flyplass.  You will find that many of the words and phrases in Norwegian are similar to English.  For instance, before you get on a plane, you must sjekke-inn.  You can either do this hjemme på internettet (home on the internet) or på flyplassen at a kiosk (same word in both språk).

In order to sjekke-inn, you will need to present foto identifikasjon as well as your navn.  Of course, if you are traveling til utlandet (internationally), you need your pass (passport).  If you sjekker inn hjemme, you can usually use your kreditt kort informasjon that you used to book your reise (flight) or your bekreftelsesnummer (confirmation number).  Depending on how long you will be gone for, you may want to sjekke bagasje.  I try to avoid doing this because it saves time at both ends, but for longer trips, you simply have to.  At your destinasjon, you will then have to hent bagasjene dine (retrieve your baggage).

While you are at the flyplass, you may have the misfortune of a forsinkelse (delay).  I know a lot of people had to deal with a forsinkelse last night at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Int´l flyplass because of the large amount of snø that dumped on us in such a short period of time.  I was happy to arrive a bit early with my flight from Europe, but a normally 45-min. drive home from the flyplass, it took nearly 3 hours.

If you have traveled med fly (by plane) this year, and especially in the last couple of weeks, you have noticed the increased flyplasssikkerhet (airport security).  I was shocked yesterday at Schipol airport in Amsterdam preparing to board my Delta flight.  Per standard protocol, every single passasjer gets pulled aside and asked a series of questions about baggasje and the purpose of your reise, osv. I have to say, there is still a whole lot of profilering (profiling) based on nasjonalitet (nationality) and hudfarge (skin color).  It seemed to me that the Delta employees demanded more time for questioning from anyone who wasn´t caucasian.  Although I don´t agree with the profilering, as long as my flight is not forsinket because of it, I don´t mind being asked a series of questions, nor do I mind being thoroughly patted down!  It´s all for our safety.

Well, as my flight to Orlando is underveis (en route, on the way) at the moment and we will lande soon, I must sign off.  Hopefully this post enriched your flying vocabulary a bit.