My first blog post!!! In an effort to successfully
chronicle the following 3 months, I will do my very best to keep this blog as
updated as possible not only for the benefit of my mother who I’m sure is
“farrreaking out,” as I travel across the world, but also for my own benefit so
that I may one day look back and reflect on my adventure throughout beautiful
coastal Australia. Warning: albeit entertaining, I have a tendency of being super cheesy... roll with it.
Here's a quick snapshot of my travels:
I had a 9:45pm flight from SFO to Auckland. I spent most of Friday taking care of a few housekeeping items such as printing out important flying documents and saying goodbye to friends at Stanford, many of who I won't see until April. As the afternoon turned to evening, the usual pre-trip-shit-I’m-late-do-I-have-everything-packed frenzy ensues. Alysha and
her mama who was also departing (back to Canada that is) drove me to the
airport and of course we hit traffic. Once at the airport, Lysh and I share a
dramatic goodbye, and she warns me to avoid sharks and other animals of that nature. Despite the massive amount of street cred that I would inevitably get for surviving a shark bite, I promised to do my best. Once in the airport, both the
checkin and security screening went extremely well, almost too smooth. I met
Alysha’s mom at a bar and we shared a glass of wine before going our separate ways. The international
side of SFO felt like a whole new world. It was cleaner, the stores were classier, and an attendant was present to greet you at every corner. I felt like I was a pretty big deal... I
finally arrived at my gate and as I come down the escalator I take a
peak outside and notice probably the most enormous plane I have ever seen. A double decker premium Air New Zealand airplane. At this point, I was begging that by some fluke I was upgraded to first class. But alas, I was destined to spend the next 11:30 hours in economy seat 58K. It was a window seat, and I had my own entertainment screen so I was very excited nonetheless.
All the flight attendants were extremely welcoming and had the coolest Kiwi accents. The Safety video was actively absurd. A quick shout out to my
teammates: the All Blacks starred in this safety film and so you can only
imagine how that went down, “To an airline that loves Rugby and its customers.”
Well, cheers to that. I was definitely not in Kansas anymore, or the US for that matter.
My meal, which I raved about for hours to my fellow classmates in the program, was one of my favorite parts of the flight. I wasn’t particularly hungry but it was 10:45 at
night, and I wasn't sure when the next opportunity would arise for me to eat, so I asked for the lasagna. Because I was on an airplane, I didn't have that high of expectations, so you can only imagine
my incredulous surprise when the flight attendant hands me a tray with not only a warm
yummy bowl of lasagna and a side roll, but also with a side salad and a sort of
bread pudding for dessert. Also on the tray sat an empty coffee cup and
an empty small plastic champagne glass. A separate beverage tray came by and so I indulged and
asked for red wine. After all, how often do you fly to Australia? We concluded our fancy shmancy dinner, with a hot cup of tea and/or coffee. Needless to say, I felt very spoiled. Best airplane dinner I have ever had by far.
After dinner I watched Bridesmaids. Hilarious movie, actively laughed out loud. Good thing most people had ear phones in... Soon after my exhaustion kicked in, and the night got the best of me. The stars were out and the Pacific Ocean was beneath me.
I kept the window open because the view was absolutely beautiful even from an 11inch clouded windowpane.
About 7 hours later, when I woke up, the pilot in his awesome Kiwi accent informs the passengers that we were 1 hour away from our destination. We arrived at 4:30am on Sunday Sept 18th. Let me remind you that I left on Friday Sept. 16th so I casually didn't live Sept 17th. Where that day went, God only knows. Probably lost in the Pacific somewhere...
We arrive in Auckland and my classmates and myself found ourselves with quite a long layover. It was 6am local time and about 3pm for us, so naturally, we go to a bar. Most of us are under 21 so the fact that we were all able to purchase alcohol was of course exhilarating. The Irish travelers were impressed at our aggressive start to our morning. We then do a bit of window shopping just to kill the time. I guess you could say we were milking the tourist card for all its worth.
Eventually, we boarded. The flight to Brisbane was not as exciting as the first. I watched Pirates of the Caribbean and sat wide awake eagerly awaiting my arrival in the land of veggie mite and kangaroos.
Australia here we come!
Australia here we come!
Until next time! That is when I get internet again...
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