Welcome Home

My final post on the 50 Shades of DC blog saw us leaving Washington DC right before that polar freeze event happened. Our flight left around 2.30pm and the snow was getting ready to start. We both just wanted to get on the plane and leave, worried the snow storm would delay our travel. But we got away on time, flew through Dallas and back to Sydney. As an Australian knows only too well, it was a long trip home. The general flight time LAX-SYD is around 14 hours but from Dallas it’s about 17 hours. Unfortuately it was a rough flight from Dallas to Sydney. It was constant turbulence and quite rough at times. I don’t like turbulence and at around the 8 hour mark it was taking a toll on people. The guy next to us ran down the aisle with a sick bag and I had my bag next to me as the nausea was hitting me too. It was constant rocking and rolling and I’ve never had such a long rough flight. I was so glad to get on the ground. We missed our connection in Sydney which I anticipated. But we only had a half hour wait to get the next flight.

 

Arriving home, I was surprised to find 2 of my dear friends (also known as chooks) waiting at the airport to welcome us home. It was hilarious – they were hiding to surprise me but didn’t realize I went behind them to get a trolley while Deb went to the carousel. When I walked past them, I realized who they were and gave them the nice suprise. It was a great laugh. As I went to the baggage carousel I saw a Batman sign. Yes, I’m a big batman fan and this was their special welcome. Thanks S&A, you were brave to come and hug us after 30+ hours of travel and give us a Aussie survival pack with Weetbix, lamingtons, chips and chocolate. These girls know the way to our heart. 

We arrived home mid-morning and couldn’t get into our accommodation until the afternoon. We headed to the popular café strip for a nice breakfast including real bacon and of course, good COFFEE !! We got a new phone for Deb, had a look at the house and were thrilled with the paintwork which had just been done. We also did some bank work where we were both starting to yawn and fade after the long journey and finally, we picked up our car. My friend Aussie Bob had secured this car for me a few weeks ago and this was a real bonus. This will be my car, a little run-about. Deb will get the 'family' car later. It saved us hunting for a car now and paying money for a rental car. It’s an old car, 2004 but it’s a Subaru Forester and quite low in mileage for car her age. I’ve decided to call her Ruth, after the icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg. RBG is a US supreme court justice who is still going strong at 85. She broke the gender discrimination laws in the US back in the 60s and there is currently a movie about her called On The Basis of Sex. RBG is sensible, strong, decent and is an icon in the US. So I felt it fitting to call my new car Ruth because it’s old, strong and gets the job done.

Our second day was very busy. I went to TAFE to finalise my enrollment and get some information. I now have a student card so it’s cheaper buses and movie tickets for me. I have to start looking for a restaurant job somewhere and have also applied for a part time job – I’ll wait to see if I get it before telling you all about it. Right now, any money is good money so I’m happy to do anything. 

The dogs are currently in Melbourne in quarantine. They are half way through the 10 day period and doing well from all reports. They come home next Friday so it’s still a long wait ahead. The jet lag is hitting us. It’s worse going to the US but it’s still an adjustment coming this direction. Our first night’s sleep lasted until 3am, the second night until 5am and today we made it to about 7am so we’re improving. We both still get sleepy in the later afternoon because this is bedtime back in DC and our body clock is very confused. We’ve come home to bad bushfires in Tasmania and major flooding in Townsville which is my hometown. My family live there and are fortunately not under water (yet).  A lot of homes are already under water and the dam capacity is at 200% and climbing. There is a slow moving monsoonal trough and the constant heavy rain for days has created havoc across the region. I’m in contact with my family daily and am very anxious for them. 

We’ve been swamped with offers of help and dinners from friends and it’s been fantastic to see familiar faces again. We are also feeling a bit of culture shock, particularly with the traffic. It feels like a public holiday as the traffic is so quiet. 3 years ago it felt like chaos but after 3 years in DC, this is nothing !! We are stumbling at checkouts because we use swipe paywave and pins for our credit cards which is very fast, unlike signing the paper slip in the US which is time consuming. And of course, no tipping. Sorry to my US friends but Aussies struggle with the whole tip routine and it’s a breeze to come home and not worry about having a maths test to pay a bill. And of course we are driving cautiously to ensure we stay on the correct side of the ride. We come unstuck at intersections or entrances as we tend to veer right and quickly have to adjust. I keep looking for the gear stick with my right hand so that will take time to stop.

Anyway, enough for now. We have a big week ahead. Our house gets new carpet tomorrow and our stuff comes out of storage so that’s when the fun begins. I hope it's survived 3 years of being packed away.  The stuff form DC will take up to 3 months by sea so hopefully I’ve left a good settling in kit here for us to live ok. 

It’s great to be home but we are also feeling the sadness of not seeing familiar faces in DC. We miss you all and hope you are staying safe and warm in the freezing weather.

Oh and we are now off to Bunnings (big Aust hardware store chain) to get a sausage sandwich !!!  And here it is.