The Gabtrotter

11:30 AM (Sydney Time)

I’m on the flight to Brisbane.

Going through customs was fun and they were trying to figure out what my iMac was. I told them it was a computer, and then the guy picked it up and said, “Oh it’s a screen!” I didn’t argue, he was partially correct.

Getting off the plane and walking into the airport, was pretty exciting. Mainly because it had been a long time since I had been through customs and going through it makes you realize that you’re entering a foreign country, even if they speak the same language.

On the bus to the next gate, I was alarmed that the driver was driving on the wrong side of the road, and then it dawned on me… the driver is driving on the wrong side of the road, but then I remembered that Australians drive on the opposite sides here, and was happily amused.

At first glance, Australia does not have as many palm trees as I would have imagined, at least I haven’t seen any in Sydney. Instead, the trees look like trees I see in Ohio, or New England. But we’ll see what the trees in Brisbane look like. Some of the girls in my group were loud and obnoxious on the bus; I could see the Australians looking at us: No wonder America has the reputation that it has. If we were in the US, I wouldn’t mind that kind of behavior; it only bothers me when it is fulfilling a stereotype, in another country.

It feels like I’m in a warm climate, everyone has that cheery summer tone and that golden sunny glow. I can’t wait to get my sun on.

Sara gave me a beautiful medium sized journal, to update along my trip. I am using that to write in when I am not connected to the internet, and then I just update my journal accordingly using those entries… I digress:

I’m not really sure why I started this journal using Pacific Time, I know it was because of the trip to LAX, but does that really make sense? Eh, maybe… but to me it still feels like a 9:30 PM on the East Coast, not the 6:30PM of the Pacific. It’s the kind of 9:30 that leaves you falling asleep on the couch, and the sleep that just crept up on you, it had you nodding for a while, but you felt it was just too soon to go to sleep. The reason you are this tired is because the past few days, or even weeks just blew by you. You are in sleep debt. One of the easiest debts in this world to pay off, and because of that, it at times lasts the longest. Needless to say, it doesn’t feel like the 9:30 that is the beginning of an adventure.

I’ve been passing the time watching the final season of Six Feet Under; I’ve watched three so far. I want to watch two more before we land. Then, I’ll have another five shows until the show is over.