getting to seattle
I waited all night at Costa Coffee in Heathrow Airport with my father, who read to me from a book of American History. He was reading about the court cases of a lawyer named Darrow; it was very interesting. I checked my luggage at around 0500, went upstairs and through customs. I sat and waited in a place called The Pub where I finally got the glass of Diet Coke with ice that I’d been craving (I was feeling a little nauseous from fatigue and the cool drink was very refreshing), and filled out my visa waiver form and customs details until my gate was displayed.
The plane took off on time, and I fell asleep after takeoff (which I would not sleep through no matter what). I didn’t sleep very well, unfortunately; it was too cold in the plane, and even the blanket didn’t do a whole lot to warm me because I was flying economy and there was someone sitting next to me, and I couldn’t curl up in the seat. I slept in stops and starts, and finally woke up for good after five or six hours, with about two and a half hours of flying left. My nose and hands were absolutely frozen, but I got a white coffee and, after a while, they brought everyone some food (a cheese and tomato calzone and a strange kind of cake; it looked like marble cake with marshmallow topping and chocolate frosting, and it came in a perfect cube), and that brought me slightly back to life.
US customs were actually very pleasant; stern and businesslike but not unfriendly. I was fingerprinted and either photographed or retina-scanned, it was unclear which, and was cleared quickly. The moment I got past customs, that pervasive sense of optimism that Liberty had talked about became evident; from the “We’re Glad You’re Here” banners of the airport to the “Your convenience is our priority” TSA posters, there was a general sense of pleasantness that was mostly inexplicit, but very obvious to one unaccustomed to it.
Another pleasant surprise was the food packaging; when I got into the terminal, I ordered some Chinese food, rice with orange chicken and pineapple chicken, and some diet coke. The food was ridiculously delicious, but the most conspicuous aspect of it was the total absence of any recycling slogans on the packaging. I only noticed when I didn’t see it, but whereas in England all the packaging has little recycling symbols and slogans that urge one to recycle, all this packaging had was “Enjoy your meal” and the logo of the company. The absence of guilt made the food taste considerably better. I ate and then sat and read Atlas Shrugged for about an hour before getting up to explore more.
Then, there was the Starbucks-they still sell java chip frappucino here! This is by far the best drink that Starbucks make, imho, and they only sold it for a few months in England before discontinuing it. I rather unnecessarily ordered one along with an espresso brownie, and the two were definitely the best order I have made from Starbucks, even though I wasn’t strictly speaking hungry.
Eventually I found a power outlet, and set up camp on the floor by the big plate-glass windows looking out on to the airfield. I phoned Vani to tell her that I couldn’t get online (it cost money and I had no subscription), but that everything was going smoothly and I would arrive as expected. Then I got my laptop out and finished some work for David.
At around 3pm in O’Hare, about ten minutes before I finished the picture, some people came and sat next to me: a man and a woman with two young children. The girl was very young and not saying much, but the little boy was sitting and asking lots of questions, quite loudly, about the aeroplanes, baggage cars etc. The parents were being extremely encouraging, taking all his questions seriously and asking some of their own in response. I sat and listened for a while, before asking the mother David’s question: “To the best of your understanding, would you say that our current western society is the best civilization to exist to date?” She looked a little bemused at first, but then she said sure, she thought it was. We then got into more conversation; we talked about our flights for a bit, and then the father asked whether [we] were excited by Obama. I answered that England in general was, but that my friends and I didn’t like him. He said that he thought he was better for young people; I said I agreed he was a lot more engaging, and that McCain wasn’t exactly the best candidate imaginable, but that Obama’s economic policies were very dangerous. The father said he agreed; I didn’t press it, but I thought it was cool that he was willing to concede that the economic policies were fucked up. (They didn’t seem like commies, either, so I would venture there was a grain of truth in his ideas, whatever they were.) Then their son ran up and tagged me on the leg, so I got up and chased him around a nearby parked baggage car and played tag with him for a bit. Both kids were very curious and unafraid. It was enjoyable.
After that I bought the most violent hot dog I have ever eaten; it was called a “Chicago Hot Dog” and it had solid chunks of vegetable in it, plus pepper and chilli. All things considered it wasn’t bad, though. I finished Atlas Shrugged while eating it, and then got up and went to wait by my gate. I read most of Fabric of Reality chapter 10 (Time: The First Quantum Concept), phoned my father and then phoned David until it was time to get on the plane.
I slept through most of the flight, got off at Tacoma and was met by Matty, Noa and Vani, who brought me water as I’d asked (only not enough). It turned out after we had waited for several minutes by the luggage claim that my bag had been sent up on an earlier flight, so I rescued it and we went home. Sitting on what appeared to me to be the drivers’ side was a little terrifying.
TL;DR, I spent thirty two hours traveling and was so glad to get in the car and go home.
Yesterday was very unproductive, but pleasantly low-key for settling in. I watched a lot of Star Trek, worked out and went grocery shopping. Today I am actually going to do some work, hopefuly finish chapter ten of FoR and do some Japanese. First, however, I am showering and then working out, in the bedroom rather than the lovely exercise room in the apartment complex because it's too cold to even think of going outside. I am actually freezing 90% of the time here ._. Apparently Vulcan!Rihatsu is not acclimatized to this weather. D:
Also, we're seeing Transformers 2 at the IMAX this evening. I'm absolutely gleeing over it. 8D
The plane took off on time, and I fell asleep after takeoff (which I would not sleep through no matter what). I didn’t sleep very well, unfortunately; it was too cold in the plane, and even the blanket didn’t do a whole lot to warm me because I was flying economy and there was someone sitting next to me, and I couldn’t curl up in the seat. I slept in stops and starts, and finally woke up for good after five or six hours, with about two and a half hours of flying left. My nose and hands were absolutely frozen, but I got a white coffee and, after a while, they brought everyone some food (a cheese and tomato calzone and a strange kind of cake; it looked like marble cake with marshmallow topping and chocolate frosting, and it came in a perfect cube), and that brought me slightly back to life.
US customs were actually very pleasant; stern and businesslike but not unfriendly. I was fingerprinted and either photographed or retina-scanned, it was unclear which, and was cleared quickly. The moment I got past customs, that pervasive sense of optimism that Liberty had talked about became evident; from the “We’re Glad You’re Here” banners of the airport to the “Your convenience is our priority” TSA posters, there was a general sense of pleasantness that was mostly inexplicit, but very obvious to one unaccustomed to it.
Another pleasant surprise was the food packaging; when I got into the terminal, I ordered some Chinese food, rice with orange chicken and pineapple chicken, and some diet coke. The food was ridiculously delicious, but the most conspicuous aspect of it was the total absence of any recycling slogans on the packaging. I only noticed when I didn’t see it, but whereas in England all the packaging has little recycling symbols and slogans that urge one to recycle, all this packaging had was “Enjoy your meal” and the logo of the company. The absence of guilt made the food taste considerably better. I ate and then sat and read Atlas Shrugged for about an hour before getting up to explore more.
Then, there was the Starbucks-they still sell java chip frappucino here! This is by far the best drink that Starbucks make, imho, and they only sold it for a few months in England before discontinuing it. I rather unnecessarily ordered one along with an espresso brownie, and the two were definitely the best order I have made from Starbucks, even though I wasn’t strictly speaking hungry.
Eventually I found a power outlet, and set up camp on the floor by the big plate-glass windows looking out on to the airfield. I phoned Vani to tell her that I couldn’t get online (it cost money and I had no subscription), but that everything was going smoothly and I would arrive as expected. Then I got my laptop out and finished some work for David.
At around 3pm in O’Hare, about ten minutes before I finished the picture, some people came and sat next to me: a man and a woman with two young children. The girl was very young and not saying much, but the little boy was sitting and asking lots of questions, quite loudly, about the aeroplanes, baggage cars etc. The parents were being extremely encouraging, taking all his questions seriously and asking some of their own in response. I sat and listened for a while, before asking the mother David’s question: “To the best of your understanding, would you say that our current western society is the best civilization to exist to date?” She looked a little bemused at first, but then she said sure, she thought it was. We then got into more conversation; we talked about our flights for a bit, and then the father asked whether [we] were excited by Obama. I answered that England in general was, but that my friends and I didn’t like him. He said that he thought he was better for young people; I said I agreed he was a lot more engaging, and that McCain wasn’t exactly the best candidate imaginable, but that Obama’s economic policies were very dangerous. The father said he agreed; I didn’t press it, but I thought it was cool that he was willing to concede that the economic policies were fucked up. (They didn’t seem like commies, either, so I would venture there was a grain of truth in his ideas, whatever they were.) Then their son ran up and tagged me on the leg, so I got up and chased him around a nearby parked baggage car and played tag with him for a bit. Both kids were very curious and unafraid. It was enjoyable.
After that I bought the most violent hot dog I have ever eaten; it was called a “Chicago Hot Dog” and it had solid chunks of vegetable in it, plus pepper and chilli. All things considered it wasn’t bad, though. I finished Atlas Shrugged while eating it, and then got up and went to wait by my gate. I read most of Fabric of Reality chapter 10 (Time: The First Quantum Concept), phoned my father and then phoned David until it was time to get on the plane.
I slept through most of the flight, got off at Tacoma and was met by Matty, Noa and Vani, who brought me water as I’d asked (only not enough). It turned out after we had waited for several minutes by the luggage claim that my bag had been sent up on an earlier flight, so I rescued it and we went home. Sitting on what appeared to me to be the drivers’ side was a little terrifying.
TL;DR, I spent thirty two hours traveling and was so glad to get in the car and go home.
Yesterday was very unproductive, but pleasantly low-key for settling in. I watched a lot of Star Trek, worked out and went grocery shopping. Today I am actually going to do some work, hopefuly finish chapter ten of FoR and do some Japanese. First, however, I am showering and then working out, in the bedroom rather than the lovely exercise room in the apartment complex because it's too cold to even think of going outside. I am actually freezing 90% of the time here ._. Apparently Vulcan!Rihatsu is not acclimatized to this weather. D:
Also, we're seeing Transformers 2 at the IMAX this evening. I'm absolutely gleeing over it. 8D