Can I just say the LAX needs to up the map content of their airports? I had absolutely no idea where to go to catch my V Australia flight when I landed. Thankfully, it ended up being in the same terminal thing, which I only discovered by wandering around aimlessly in circles for about 15 minutes. I succeeded in getting some of my stuff charged, though there ended up being no internet on the flight so the laptop was slightly in vain.
Also on my flight were these kids, who got a little shoutout from the cabin crew later on in the flight. I got kind of excited about this, 'cause hey, baseball isn't really an Australian sport, RR-S aside.
The plane itself was super futuristic looking; as I got on, you could see a little hint of the first class area (which had a bar. With stools.) and even though the economy class was way smaller, it really wasn't too bad. I lucked out with an aisle seat (I hate having to make tons of people stand up so I can use the toilets), and there was a pretty nice selection of music, movies, TV shows, and games in the little seat back console to keep you occupied. I was super excited to see The Goonies and Rear Window as options (and watched some of the latter :D). Flight was pretty uneventful, had some not-too-terrible dinner (tortellini), had some not-too-quality sleep, and eventually some rather disappointing waffles.
Customs/immigration were very low-key, just asked some questions about medicines ("All for personal consumption?" "Yes." "All right, you can go ahead.") and about having been in a wilderness area in the last 30 days ("Do you have a tent or any camping gear?" "No." "Any shoes with soil still attached?" "No." "Okay."). There was a little bit of stress regarding my ride to the airport, since the pickup service didn't realize I was, well, arriving that day. They had me down for tomorrow, but since they showed up to get other students, I was able to get my ride after a little while. Yay!
I waited around the hotel for a little while, since I arrived around 8:00 and couldn't check in until 2, and then I went to meet up with a friend I knew who lived in the city, and we went around and rode a lot of public transport, which is AWESOME here. Amazingly convenient. It makes me so frustrated that Seattle has really crappy transportation (really, busses and one light rail line is NOT enough). Then we grabbed some lunch and hung out at her really awesome house, where I met her cat and bunny. Since I'd gotten off my plane at like 4:50 am, I was completely exhausted by 3 pm, so I took the train back to my hotel to finally check in. I tried so, so hard to stay up until 8 pm, which the man at the desk suggested as the magic number for being able to get past the jet lag, but I finally passed out around 6. Which is why I'm up now, at 6:25, but I have higher hopes for today, considering that I was actually able to sleep last night. Plan for today: watch some TV, shower, eat brekkie (I got a little voucher for a free one in the little restaurant downstairs, hopefully I can remember where I put it), check out by 10, then figure out when/how I'm going to get my stuff to the student apartments by 2.
Random observations!
THERE ARE SNUGGIE ADS IN AUSTRALIA TOO NOOOO
Also seen on TV: Jerry Springer and Maury, Lizzie McGuire, cricket (I'm determined to figure out how it works), rugby, A COMMERCIAL FOR THE ALL-STAR GAME WITH ICHIRO WHICH WILL BE ON TV LIVE ON FOX SPORTS 2 AT 10 AM ON THE DAY AFTER WHATEVER DATE THE ALL STAR GAME IS!!! (sorry, just saw that, got super excited, must find a television), lots of features on what's happening to Aussies in other countries (one teenager injured in running of the bulls, 90-year-old man arrested for child sexual assault in Thailand, Toni Collette and Rose Byrne with Emmy nominations) and domestically. The current political scandal is about the PM's plan to put a processing center for asylum-seekers in East Timor without consulting the East Timorese president; the current big celebrity story is Dannii Minogue's baby.
As an avid player of the licence plate game, I've been noticing the designs (super plain) and slogans of various license plates. There are a few for each state, it seems; here's what I've seen so far:
Victoria - Garden State
Victoria - The Place To Be
Victoria - On The Move
Queensland - Sunshine State
Queensland - The Smart State
ACT - The Nation's Capital
NSW - The First State
Also, Burger King is Hungry Jacks here. Both have similar signs and the Whopper, so I'm assuming that they're the same company.
For Rosa: I saw a "Give Way to Peds" sign next to a turn lane. Yay Peds!
Okay. Almost time to implement my morning plans. More later!
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