Hey!
Alrighty, so I know
that I told a lot of people that I was planning on blogging every
day. Obviously that didn't happen, and I while I apologise for that,
I think that just putting the first half of my week in America in one
post will actually be a bit more interesting to read. Not that it's
been dull here by any means. There's just not that much to put into
writing.
For those of you who
don't know I'm currently residing with my friend Alexi in Maricopa,
Arizona. It's a small town about an hour out of Phoenix, It's
population is about 40,000 (or so wikipedia says), so about half the
size of Toowoomba city. It's got a Walmart and a Taco Bell though, so
that's really all that matters for an American town, right?
I'll try and remember
this in days even though I've been here since Friday (It's now
Thursday here) and post them separately so they don't seem so long.
So.
Day 1 – Friday
Friday
starts in Australia, it was basically just a travelling day. I left
Canberra at 8:00am, arrived at Sydney International Airport at 11:15
and then boarded my plane for my 13 hour flight to Los Angeles. The
flight was thoroughly uninteresting, but a far better experience than
my flight last year. Australian airlines over Fijian any day, man.
Any. Day. I'd stayed up the night before in preparation for the
flight so that I would hopefully sleep. Unfortunately the plan didn't
work very well because planes are flipping uncomfortable. The safety
video warning people to drink water, keep moving their feet and walk
around the cabin didn't help either. I have heard far too much about
DVT to not be worried about it. My mind was constantly like “NO IF
YOU SLEEP FOR TOO LONG THEN YOU WILL PROBABLY DIE FROM LACK OF
MOVEMENT AND BLOOD CLOTS”. (See mum, I told you that you didn't
have to worry irrationally for me, I do it enough myself)
After
the long flight and the pain of getting into LA without someone
suspecting that you're a terrorist, I was in for very long wait. Make
sure you pay more attention than I did when your travel agent is
booking things, guys. 10 hours. 10 flippin' hours I had to wait in
LAX. And man do I hate airports. Especially that one. It's the most
complicated airport that I've ever been in, had to ask about
everything and it is not signed well at all.
I
went to check in my bag but of course 8 hours before the flight was
the minimum you could check your bags in before the flight. So here I
has with a 22kg bag plus a laptop and a very large hand bag that was
practically bursting with another two hour before I could go through
customs. It was lunch time and after a very confusing elevator where
it took me to the same floor about five times before finally taking
me down to the ground level, I found an alien themed restaurant
called “Encounter”.
I
had an amazing burger there and the staff were friendly. I had a
funny “encounter” (see what I did there) with a man who didn't
speak very good English and for the life of him could not understand
when I was asking for a glass of water. Despite repeating it at least
five times and even trying to say it in American accent a few times,
he had to call one of the other waitresses, who thankfully understood
my straight away. She told him once and then he basically literally
face palmed and apologised profusely.
I
was extremely tired so I stayed at “Encounter” for a while and
read “Looking for Alaska” for a while. I stopped at “The day
before” because, as those of you who have read it, and also know my
well, will know that I would have definitely cried had I read any
further. By then enough time had passed that I could check my bags
in, so after doing that and going through customs I found my gate and
basically just slept. I was exhausted, so I just clutched my bags and
used them as a sort of pillow for sitting up. I don't really know how
to explain it but I slept for a good three hours. I needed that.
After
I finally boarded my plan to Phoenix, it was thankfully only about an
hour flight so I read for a bit more (made my way through more of
“Looking for Alaska” without freaking out the guy next to me with
my tears. My eyes watered but once. Be proud, my friends, be proud.
Once
I landed in Phoenix it wasn't long before Alexi found me at baggage
claim and went for the ol' run and hug technique that is common among
internet friends. We drove for an hour while I managed to keep my
eyes open and chat to Alexi's “Mom” in an attempt to make a good
first impression. We arrived in Alexi's town, Maricopa, I got a quick
tour of the house and then slept forever.