I can't turn off the AFL game

About 32 hours ago, we left my parents' house for Philadelphia International Airport.  About an hour ago, we checked into our hotel in Sydney. 

For whatever reason, I feel like the shorter of the two flights - Philly to LAX - was the lesser of the two evils.  Don't know if it was the extra commodities of Quantas on the international leg, or if there was more room in the seats [the personalised TV screen was definitely a plus, though], but despite the total length, it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be.  Of course, in addition to getting some naps in, I watched "Paul", "The Adjustment Bureau", "Limitless", and "Unknown."  Not a bad stretch of movies to kill some time.

The weirdest part of the whole journey would probably have to be the part where we actually left security at LAX to re-check-in for Quantas. 

The scariest part of the whole journey I would have to break into two categories.  The prize for financially scary [thank goodness for the allowance provided by the Gov't] goes to the $1000 charge to check the additional 5 bags [first 4 were free].  Yup $1000 - but, honestly, I expected more.  Like I said, there goes our $1000 travel allowance.  The prize for actual physical scary goes to driving on the other side of the road.  And I'm not even driving - Ruthie, with her 1 week of driving in England has at least some experience on the left side of the road, so she took the wheel to get us from the airport to the hotel.  Ruthie doesn't think the lanes are narrower, but I beg to differ.  It's definitely going to take some getting used to for turning at intersections. 

I honestly expected to have a "KEVIN!" moment [movie reference, anyone?], where we realized we'd forgotten something huge.  Fortunately, it was only a minor thing, as Ruthie forgot her Kindle.  Sure, she's bummed, but she made up for it by buying a few things at the airport Borders.

I have long been expecting the reality to set in when I was on the plane.  Be it a self-fulfilling prophecy, or not, when the coast of Australia was just barely visible from the plane window [I selfishly took the window seat on both legs of the trip], the moment finally came.  A bubble of excitement just kinda erupted in my chest as I realised how crazy and awesome this all is. 

We've checked into the hotel, and while Ruthie enjoys a relaxing bath, I've found myself a sudden addict to Australian-rules Football [AFL].  I have no bloody clue what's going on, but it's pretty fascinating. 

Oh, and the view from the hotel is of the opera house.  Sweet!

-EP