Friday, January 13, 2012

Travels

Well my mom didn’t cry, at least she didn’t in front of me.  I almost did though.  And then I hit security.  I couldn’t really believe this whole adventure was happening.  But it was.  Complete with being randomly selected for a pat down.  Which was no problem till the power gels mom sent me were flagged and the lady started going through my bag.  Then I was flustered but I could see my parents waving good-bye to me.  So I waved back, until I noticed their frantic waving.  Huh.  Then I noticed that I had left my carry on bag on the table.  Ah well, guess I didn’t need that.  I collected my bag and waited.  Fortunately it was only a few minutes before I was able to board.  I waved goodbye, one last time and headed for the plane.
I was half way up the aisle when I heard my name.  What a surprise, Jaret, an old boyfriend from MSU was talking to me.  We had a brief exchange before I determined I was holding up traffic and proceeded.  Who would have thought?  He was going to a job interview in Alaska and I was headed to Australia.  A place he had served his mission, with Drew, of course. After a rather uneventful plane ride (which I hated due to motion sickness) we made nice at the gate before he headed off and I went to claim my awesome luggage.  Darin picked me up shortly after that and I tried to contain my excitement at the whole thing as we went for food.  We only drove around few times before we found a good spot.  I am becoming quite fond of that guy.  There is a whole energy around him that is intoxicating to be around.  After food, we got Gelato, he dropped me at Tami’s and then came back an hour later when he found my wallet after he got home. Oops. What a great guy.  I then proceeded to fall asleep shortly after at Tami’s and slept like a rock till the next morning.  Turns out excitement wears me out.
            Tami drove, I shut off my phone and that was it.  I was on my way I did sing 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' and ‘I'm Headed to Land Down Under’ as I boarded the airbus in Seattle.  The trainee at the check in counter didn’t speak much English but he circled something for me and acted like it was important, I still don’t know what it was.  Tami laughed at me as I seat belted my Teddy Bear into my suit case and told him we were going to be alright.  I then survived the next three days of travel and have done the best to block them out of my mind. 
Out of Seattle I sat next to a solider named Scott who was serving in Korea.  He was good company, and offered to show me around Korea except I didn’t have much of a layover. Probably for the better, something about strangers in strange countries sounds like a bad idea.  I was actually very ready to leave Korea, probably because I was so tired.  It was two in the morning (Seattle time) when I got off the plane and by the time the flight boarded it was 4:30 and I had taken a couple of Tylenol PMs (thanks Mom) so I was basically asleep before the plane even took off.  I however have time to get a few Won in Korean and learn how to say hello in Korean.  A girl who teaches English (scary) in Korea flagged me down in the bathroom when she heard me talk.  She was headed Australia to practice her English.  Anya is both hello and good-bye.  It’s all in the voice inflexions that change it.  Up is hello, down (sad) is good bye.  And that was all the talking I wanted to do and I was the plane out cold.  I slept pretty much the whole flight.  I was really lucky because there wasn’t anyone next to me and I was able to curl up and sleep on the window.  Wasn’t my best night sleep, but it worked.
When I arrived in Sydney I did indeed see the Opera House briefly from the air.  It was hot and humid when I landed.  I barely had enough time to make it through customs, get my passport stamped, collect my bags and get on the next flight to Brisbane.  Oh yes, the trick with original bags must have work because they did make it all the way to Emerald.  I was actually fairly impressed.  It seems so long ago now that I was saying, “Look Mom, this one turns all the way around.” Please note that was exceptionally helpful when I was toting them around Brisbane.
Brisbane was a totally different world.  I got off the plane with NO idea how to get to my hotel.  I tried calling and failed so I talked to a cabbie.  He said I could take the train but since I was so unfamiliar with the area, I opted for a cab to take me straight to my door.  It was exceptionally expensive and for a few minutes I seriously wondered if the guy wasn’t going to try and kidnap me.  He wasn’t from Australia but he babbled about America and Snoop Dogg.  What a terrible thing to get compared with.  I did arrive at the hotel though and all I wanted was a shower.  
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