So here we go, everything leading up to where I am now...
First, if you don't have a passport, but think you're going to get one, do so about 4 months in advance of your trip. It'll save you tons of time and tons of headaches. I did not have mine in hand when I left for Los Angeles on Sunday. Sure enough, I was in line for my appointment at the Los Angeles Passport Agency (where the passports can be issued basically on-the-spot) and I received a call from Mom saying my ORIGINALLY-applied for passport was coming in the mail. I went through the process in LA anyway because with my luck the overnight delivery from FedEx or UPS would end up being "over three nights" or something similar.
Sara, her aunt , Judy, and I got to the passport agency at about 7 a.m. -- after my 8 a.m. appointment, I left the building at about 9 with a slip of paper in my hand. "Come back between 1 and 3 to pick up your passport at the will call windows," my agent told me during the appointment. So we did... and found out I had to wait in a HUGE line for the WILL CALL windows. And contrary to popular belief, handing the attendants the slip of paper with one's ID is NOT the only thing people are in line for at the Will Call window.
I told Sara and Judy leave - a lucky thing, considering I spent the next 4 hours watching a guy chip golf balls while random children ran around - all on the LA Federal Building lawn. When I finally got to the front of the line, I was a little worried. "How long will this process take me," I asked, "considering it took everyone before me in line a long time to get through."
I was out in a minute-and-a-half... tops.
I think there were various points during that time when only one of the two Will Call windows was open -- the other person was on a break (which is funny, considering it doesn't take a whole lot for ANYONE to take a slip of paper, look at the ID and pick out the corresponding passport from a box). Whatev. I put the blame on the fact that some people in line actually had to have their passports made while they waited at the window, which would have slowed the whole process pretty well.
Getting to the plane was just fine. (The following was copied and pasted, so it may appear weird in your browser... don't worry, it's all there).
There was some dude in our seats, so we traded him and it was pretty much just the same.
The flight was pretty long (15 hours), but didn't seem quite like that amount of time,
probably because of the sleep and stuff. And we lost Wednesday, June 27, forever. Crossing
the International Date Line took care of that. But that's ok, I don't like Wednesdays anyway -
Hump Day just doesn't do it for me I guess. Luke thought this might help me see into the
future -- it technically didn't, but it might as well have. For the record, I told Luke to take the
Royals to beat the Angels in Anaheim.
Final score: KC 1, LAA 0.
There was a decently long string of turbulence which came at a terrible time.
There were less than 3 hours remaining in the trip and we just received
breakfast (cereal, fruit, muffin - nothing fancy). I already had to go to the
bathroom before this point, but Sara had the aisle seat and was sleeping, so I
didn't wanna make her move. After we ate, I decided I REALLY needed to go, so I
went back there... and the turbulence came. I hit my head 3 times while I was on
the toilet. So that made me feel sick as well. But I just went to sleep and the
ride smoothed out and I didn't feel as BLEH.
We had to go through Customs upon our arrival and it took so long that we missed
our connecting flight from Melbourne to Sydney. That turned out fine - we got
put on the next flight out and were only put back about 20 minutes.
Leaving the airport was ridiculous. We finally found a phone where we could call
our hostel (accommodations) and have them pick us up. I was told the "Sydney
City Shuttle" would get us. We stood outside and a guy comes up and asks if
we're waiting on a shuttle. I say "Yes... the Sydney City Shuttle??" and he
replies "Yes." Great, we're on our way. Sara and I weren't the only two in the
shuttle van, and at one point in the ride he turned around and asked us if we
were headed to the "City Central" hostel... we weren't, we wanted the "City
Resort" hostel. Apparently he mistook "Sydney City Shuttle" for his ACTUAL
employer, "Sydney Super Shuttle." The driver dropped us at the wrong hostel and
we didn't know what else to do but walk.
We knew the street names and recognized them from a map in the brochure from our
hostel. So off we went -- 2 Americans in a new country, walking through a huge
city with all of our bags toted behind us. We took multiple breaks and
eventually (with the help of random City Maps posted in town) made it to our
final destination.
As we walked into the room, Sara just kinda stopped and the room looked
basically how I expected it to look (considering we're only spending like $20 in
Australian money each night). In short, it sucks. Gross motel-like comforters
and no heat (it's chilly and raining now). When I asked, the dude at the desk
asked if we had blankets. So THAT is what we have to look forward to tonight
when we lay down to sleep.
Sara started crying and got homesick really quick. I guess a room like that
makes anyone second-guess living there. And we had to put in a deposit and paid
for it already, so we're stuck here for the remainder of our time in Sydney.
Luckily, we bought a tourist card and will be seeing the sights for most of the
time during the day and evening while we're here.
The only thing is that we have more bookings at hostels for our future
adventures, so we have to decide if we want to cancel those or hope that they're
better than the HOLE we're at now (I'm thinking they will be better). But to anyone
who is looking to study abroad in the future: the culture shock is real, no matter how
"American" your destination seems to be.
We're just sitting here trying to collect ourselves and just finished eating
Subway. By the way, don't go to another country and ask for "American" cheese...
"cheddar" works better, haha -- already made that mistake.
Won't be the last I'm sure... just like this blog post.
From the other side of the globe, this is Kevin Hunt.
If you want to see me soon, start digging.
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