leaving on a jet plane

So it's 6:01 in the morning Chicago time right now, Friday July 6th... I have no idea what time that translates to where I am right now. I'm on the plane from San Francisco to Sydney as I write this...I'll have to post up let to the internets because obviously I don't have it right now. I was inspired to write because of hte moon but now there are a couple things I want to mention..

1. the flight from chicago to california was pretty good. compared to my last flight (from disney world when I had some kind of squirmy-parasite-stomach virus that was HORRIBLE) it was rather smooth and plus i wasn't gassing up the cabin with toxic fumes this time. true story. we ate at sweet tomatoes right before i left and i made sure to stay away from the bran muffins. only one. maybe two. anyways the coolest part was looking out the window (always a window seat) to see the rocky mountains below.. the sky was crystal clear and i could easily make out the snow capped mountains. and when we got into san fran it was sunset... now i have seen the sunrise over the atlantic plenty of times.. so seeing the opposite over the pacific ocean was a new treasure. it was really, really pretty. and we flew in over the lights over the golden gate bridge which was also pretty cool.. i feel like my adjectives are really underwhelming right now. use your imagination.

2. so while it would've been nice to spend some time in california, seeing as i have never been here before, it was not going to happen and my flight to sydney left an hour later. i met this other girl on the first flight who is studying in newcastle (2 hours north of sydney) and we were talking about how the trip is finally realized.. like there's no turning back now. not that i want to. but i'm just saying.

3. so we load up onto the flight.. first of all, this plane is HUGE. tim, it has that double decker you thought the air bus had (but didn't). i am in row 53, 10 wide. and there are still plenty of rows behind me. first class is SWAAAANKY. economy is not. As i write this i am cramped into a devilish 2x2 foot hell hole.. if i had claustrophobia i'd have gone crazy by now.

4. now, my main motivation. it's dark out right now (still have no idea what time it is) and according to this super in flight map projection, we're a couple hundred miles or so south of hawaii. We're going... 590 miles per hour and still have over 4000 miles left to travel.. it's -37 degrees outside right now. i knew it was winter in australia but this is just ridiculous. possibly has something to do with our 32000 foot altitude.

5. the moon! the moon is RIDICULOUS. it's so bright..and the stars are too.. i wonder if i'm seeing new stars because of the new hemsiphere.. i want to find that out. it's nothing like i've ever seen before and if my seat weren't so uncomfortable i'd want to ride an airplane just for the views. as it is, i'm refusing to come home unless someone flies me first class. $20000 is well worth my comfort and satisfactoin. start saving.

6. also. this chick next to me is a frickin annoying diva -like lady. um, miss, if you're going to act like that, cough up the money for first class. or at least economy plus. i'm sorry, it's a 14 hour rlight, and i'm going to have to go to the bathroom, and if you don't want to get up to let me out, my butt is going to be in your face. enjoy it.
7. so now what. our arrival time in sydney is 5:57 am saturday. i have no idea what that means. All i want to do is lay out on a bed... i don't even get a recovery day. i land in melbourne hopefully around 945am.. get to my hotel and hopefully shower and maybe nap.. have to be out the door by 345 in the afternoon for a meeting.. then we leave at who knows how early on sunday for the first field trip.

wa wa we wa. lets do this.