Landed in OZ...

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  San Francisco, California, United States
Thursday, February 21, 2008

It's the end of day three.  I tried to add an entry right after I arrived at the hostel, but for some reason it wouldn't save.  Let's see, where to begin...  I think I'll do this in a couple of parts.  I have really enjoyed NOT sitting in front of a computer, which is why it's taken me so long for the first real entry.  I'll try to get photos up tomorrow night or Friday. Sydney is 7 hours behind Chicago time, but the next day.  So, as I write this, it's 10:15pm Wednesday night here, but it's 5:15am Wednesday morning in Chicago.  Side bar..."Lost" is on here tomorrow night.  I'm not sure if it's last week's episode or this week's but if it's this week's, I'll get to watch it before all of you!  Sorry Jen, Chris, and Josh. 

In order to get the map correct, I added SF on this entry.  I landed in Sydney on Monday, February 18th.

THE FLIGHT
Once my dad and sister dropped me off at O'Hare and I checked in, I felt pretty ready.  I have flown in and out of ORD so many times, usually on my way to AZ or DC, that I've come to love O'Hare.  To love airports.  Uneventful trip to San Francisco, where I had a lay over.  Once I got off the plane, I decided to practice making conversation with strangers.  I suppose that sounds funny, but for the two weeks before I left, I'd spent so much time with my family and friends in Chicago, that I wasn't really talking to anyone else or anyone new.  In DC, especially while I was waiting tables, I talked to strangers much more frequently, so I guess I felt I needed some practice.  I hunted down a phone card and then got a 15 mintue chair massage at Brookstone.  I made my way over to the International shuttle at SFO and met these two guys, also on their way to Sydney.  We enjoyed a little sarcastic banter back and forth, and one of them remarked that they were going to Australia for their bull fighting business, which evolved into the other one mentioning that he normally wears a red cape, except while traveling...I imagine they've used this routine before.  It made me laugh...

On the plane, I had the aisle, the middle was this 21 year old Aussie from Manly who'd just spent the last three weeks in Tahoe snowboarding, some time in Vegas, and in SF.  It was fun talking to him, comparing the US to OZ (Australia), hearing what he thought about the US, things I should know, etc.  I got some good information. In the window was a guy in his late 50s, going to visit his son.  I enjoyed talking to them both very much.   
I slept on and off, watched little of the movies, actually.  Pretty uneventful for 13 hours.  It was funny, as we landed, the first thing I saw on land as we flew in was an oil refinery.  The second was a McDonald's.  I just hate that, but I guess it's a fact of life.

Flew through customs, got my baggage and enjoyed wandering the airport, getting my bearings.  I walked outside and thought, holy cow, I'm in AUSTRALIA!!!!  Toyed around with getting a cell phone, which you can do right there at the airport, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that.  More on that later though.  So I called the hostel - they have free pick-up.  Met the driver who had several other people he was carting to their destinations.  It was a bit of a drive through the city. It was cool to look around at the neighborhoods, plus, they drive on the left here, which always takes getting used to.  Once I got to the hostel and got checked in, I was pretty wired and ready to take on the day.  I hopped on the phone and checked in with my parents and then hopped on the computer to update the blog (which did not work).  Sitting at the computer next to me was a guy wearing a Nats shirt.  He'd graduated from GW and was traveling for 6 months before going back to DC. Small small world...The hostel is in King's Cross which is a somewhat centrally located area with a lot going on.  Everyone I've met at the hostel is really really friendly and the staff incredibly helpful.  It's also very clean.  I'm in an all women's room with 7 other women.  We have a tv and a nice sized balcony.  I'm enjoying living out of a backpack so far...

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