Friday, August 20, 2010

Home Away from Home: The Tour

I have made a post with a tour of my new place in Hawthorn. It took me quite a while to upload all the pictures, etc. So I am just going to direct you to check it out if you like at my other blog, Making Memories in Melbourne, which I think most of you who may follow this know about. I have been posting basically the same on both blogs, with more personal information on this blog, as my former students have access to the other blog and at times refer to more personal information on here. 

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Getting There...is a Process

My feet are starting to get grounded on the other side of the big pond; however, I was beginning to question whether or not I would actually make it, or at least really make it on time! The journey started by flying to Denver from Fargo on a little “puddle jumper” plane. I am always a bit leery when I have fly through Denver as I have always had delays…well this flight was no different, I had a delay arriving and leaving Denver. We were held in the air over Nebraska due to weather. The pilot politely came on and told us they were expecting to have to hold for half an hour and if the weather hadn’t cleared we would have to divert to Grand Junction but we wouldn’t have enough fuel to get there if they did divert us. Really, did he have to tell us the last part, some people! We were able to land in Denver after holding for only ten to fifteen minutes. By the time I landed I scurried off to the gate for my next flight.


As I found my seat, on my next “puddle jumper” flight to Bakersfield, California, I heard the lady I would sit by for the duration of the flight talking to someone on the phone that was obviously on another plane and told her that they weren’t able to fly out due to weather. UGG! This flight had to take off on time or there is no way I would catch my flight to LA. Needless, to say my needs didn’t trump the order that the flights take off so we too had to sit in line on the tarmac waiting for our turn to take off. 45 minutes later we were in the air. If we were able to make up a little bit of the time we lost I would we would land at the time my next flight was meant to depart. As we approached the end of our flight I contemplated talking to the flight attendant to see if there was any way that they could hold the next plane, knowing the airport I was flying into was the size of Fargo’s if not smaller. I didn’t have the courage to ask as I felt like it might be out of line to ask everyone else on the flight to wait for me to board and cause them to run late. However, another gentleman on the flight was to be on the connecting flight as well and asked…and they said YES!! Unheard of, the third “puddle jumper” plane of my travels waited an extra 10-15 minutes for six of us to board and we were up in the air again. Needless to say I didn’t really have any sort of layovers my entire trip!


I landed in LA with just enough time to grab something to eat on the plane before the boarding process began for my flight to Melbourne via Sydney. We all boarded the plane that was quite full, however, I was looked upon with favor as there were only two of us in a row with four seats-EXTRA LEG ROOM for the 18+ flight! After the doors on the plane were closed and we backed away from the gate we stopped and were informed that we would have to return to the gate to have a “mechanical error” fixed before taking off. An hour or so after we were meant to take off I was in the air on a massive plane, especially if you compare it to the ones I had flown in previously that day. Before we even took off I think I was a sleep! Most of the journey was taken up with much needed sleep.


The rest of my journey was fairly smooth sailing. When we landed in Sydney we all had to get off, do a security check and re-board 45 minutes later for my final flight to Melbourne. All my suitcases arrived with me! I was a bit concerned with the fact that they might have been lost with all the brief layovers. It is quite amazing how all of the luggage gets to the right place most of the time when flying-have a think about that some time it is a bit mind boggling how it all works! Customs went very smoothly, I always fear customs, so this was a great relief! I breathed in my first breath of the Melbourne air on Wednesday, August 11th at 11ish! It was a fantastic feeling to be off the plane and finally here.


I will write within the next few days about the family I am living with and post some photos of the kiddos and our house here.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Making the Jump

I head out this afternoon with my life (well just the material things in it) packed in two suitcases and a carry on! I am filled with mixed emotions as it is very VERY difficult to say good bye to those I love here knowing we all have changed within the year. I will miss you all very much so please do keep in touch. I will try to post pictures of my "see ya laters" when I have some down time in the airports or when I arrive.




I will have 22 hours of flying time and then approximately 4-5 hours of layovers. Not sure how far the drive is to Hawthorn from the airport. Hawthorn is the suburb of Melbourne I will be living in. I am excited to be heading over and getting the journey started! There is a lot of adventures to be had, memories to be made and friendships to create!



Must finish packing my last minute items! Ta ta for now, see ya before we know it!