SURPRISE!!!!!

so recently i decided that i was just going to take a leap of faith and fly half way around the world to surprise my little brothers, who are in western australia playing basketball. i wanted it to be a surprise so i didnt tell very many people. i touched base with the pastor of the twins church and made arrangements with them to pick me up at the airport in perth. beyond that, i did not have a plan....

so i boarded a plane in chicago..which was delayed due to mechanical problems..(gggrrrrrrr america airlines), then i arrived in san francisco, only to have them keep us sitting on the tarmack for another 45 minutes b/c the plane ahead of us was having mechanical problems.. (double gggrrrrrr american airlines). upon which i find out i've missed my connecting flight to sydney by 10 minutes and the next flight out isnt until 10:45 pm the next night. not one to be told i can't do something, i argued for other possible options, briefly thinking that i could catch a flight to hong kong then perth..alas it was full. so i begrudgingly accepted a complimentary nights stay at the sheridan hotel in san fran and all my meals paid for the next day and settled in for the evening. trying to convince myself that for whatever reason, i was not supposed to be on that flight.

the next day i decided that i would enjoy my mini vacation in SF and go exploring. i had been here once in high school, and remembered all the place we went so i decided to check out other places instead. so i hopped on a city bus and went exploring. eventually i found myself in Haight Ashbury, which was totally crazy! hippies still do bread here. and if you need any drug paraphernalia, any at all, there is certainly a store here that will sell it you you. it was like stepping into the summer of 1969!

after exploring the neighborhoods of SF all day i headed back to the airport to catch my flight. thank God i am no longer dealing with american airlines (can you tell theya re not my favorite). i am now on a qantas flight, which, with the exception of virgin atlantic, has to be one of the best airlines i have ever flown on. I sat nxt to the nice australian man from Adelaide and is 7 yr old redheaded daughter. they were super nice. he was some big time wine maker in southern au, and he gave me lots of great ideas of things to do in perth. I managed to sleep most of the flight (which is a talent i am fortunate to be blessed with). and arrived in sydney 14 hours later.
notes of importance: I left SF on Monday the 25th, arrived Wed. the 27th. technically Tues the 26th never existed in my world. how cool is that!

after being hearded through customs, surprise!, i have missed my connecting flight to perth by about 5 minutes. no longer phased by this thay put me on one 2 hours later. i finally arrive in perth 26 hours later than originally planned, where i am met by lisa, the pastors wife. she and her husband dean have done great undercover work and have found out for me that both twins are at work and scott works till 3 and marcus until 4. they work very near each other so seeing as it is now 2, we hustle downtown ans go looking for scotts store. (both boys work at mobile phone stores as demonstrators.) we soon find scotts store at about 2:45 and i walk in with my heart racing. i dont see him anywhere so i ask the girls at the counter if this is the store he works at. yes, he is in the back changing, she goes to get him. i hand lisa my camera, and after about 10 minutes he comes around the corner and does a double take at me and just starts screaming :WHAT THE HECK!! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" it was hilarious. he just couldnt believe i was standing there. after talking to him a few minutes one of the other store employees comes running over and says that our brother just walked by. scott ran out to get him and lisa got the camera ready again. scott catches up with marcus out on the street (who has gotten off work early) and tells him he needs to come in scotts store. someone wants to talk to him. of course marc is not jazzed about this, but scott convinces him and as he walks around the corner and sees me standing there he gets a huge smile on his face and shouts out "WHAT?!?! YOU'VE GOT OT BE KIDDING ME!!!". totally same reaction. it was hilarious.

a very expensive surprise, and worth every penny.

so we have been having fun here. hanging out. checking out perth. their roommate natalie is awesome. yesterday i went to practice with them. today we are going to the harbour and their host family is taking us out to eat. tomorrow is their game, which i am excited to see. other things i want to do while i'm here: learn to play cricket, see and aussie football match, go to the beach, and see a kangaroo. the weather is gorgeous here. about 75 everyday. everyone in this city is super nice. it is a very clean, laid back city. i love it. i would totally live here. and i have come to the realization of how much easier it is to travel when you speak that language, compared to most places i travel to. however, just because we speak the same language doesn't mean i understand a bloody word anybody says. the slang here is RIDICULOUS! basically they take every word over 2 syllables, shorten it and add a 'y' to the end. breakfast is 'brekky', football is 'footy', university is 'uny'. its crazy. plus they way they influctuate their words, i never know if the are making a statement or asking a question. i must look like a dumbass half the time as i stare blankly back at people becausee i clearly dont understand a thing they've just said in english. and it works both ways too...i asked a lady yesterday what the time was and she looked at me and said "I don't know where Kmart is." oh well.

i'm going to go get ready for my day now. I'm heading into town with marcus, until scott gets off work, then going with him to meet natalie at the harbor until marcus gets off work. then we'll probably do something fun and ridiculous until dinner tonight.

have fun back home, mates.
see ya later!
city mouse down under