I'M HERE!!! After a long 35 hours of airports, I am finally at LU. I started off in Denver, I got there three hours early because I wasn't sure about customs or anything, but I didn't have to do anything but show my passport instead of my license as I.D. My flight from Denver to LAX (LA) was delayed by like half an hour, but I had a 5 hour layover in LAX so that didn't really matter.
LAX IS DREADFUL. I got off my plane, had to go outside to catch a shuttle to the international airport area, got lost, had to check in to my flight in one building, then go to another building to go through security. THEN once I was through security I wanted food, but all the signs pointed the wrong direction for food (I was among many who got turned around because of this!) so I went all over the airport just to find dinner, finally found the food court, and they hardly have anything. So I waited in a super long line for Panda Express, and waited for my plane. Oh, and on my flight from Denver I sat next to a father and daughter from New Zealand, so they met up with me a few times and were very good company! Very nice people.
My flight from LAX to Sydney, Australia was 15 hours long, but actually not bad at all. We flew on a 777 which is HUGE and SO NICE. I sat next to two really nice Australians, and actually never had to use the bathroom which was convenient. They gave us free dinner and free breakfast and free drinks (including booze) so that was unexpected. Oh, and the seat backs in front of us had screens and we also got free movies. I watch the Sound of Music, and some cop movie I don't remember the name of. :) I took 2 Benadryl and slept like 7 hours in the middle of the flight. So it was surprisingly nice! I flew Virgin Australia.
My flight from Sydney to Christchurch was through Air New Zealand, and was also nice. It was about 3 hours long, but they had the screens on the seats which was cool, because you can order food and drink through them! The only free drinks, however, is water/coffee/tea. So I FINALLY land in New Zealand, and had to go through customs which was SUPER short for some reason. Very easy. To make customs simple, don't bring food (or throw it out), and make sure any hiking/camping gear is SUPER CLEAN. Those are the two things most people get stopped on.
So once I got out of customs I saw a guy holding the "Lincoln University" sign, so he put my luggage in a trailer behind the shuttle van, and we waited for the next three girls to get in. Unfortunately they were all delayed, so I sat at the airport for like an extra 3 hours or so. Well one of the girls was actually from my school, one from New Hampshire, and one from China. They were all super cool, and two of them have a class with me! Well we finally got to LU, got our keys, and got moved in. My hall is a little bit different, it's semi-catered, meaning we get dinner in the dining hall, and are on our own for the other two meals. So I share a bathroom and kitchen with 5 other girls and boys (yes, the dorms AND bathrooms are coed). We each get our own room which came with a twin XL bed and bedding, a desk and chair, a closet, a giant push pin board, and a book shelf. Oh and towels and pillows and stuff. And a trash can. It's very small but cute, and all my own, so that's refreshing! I ended up going to bed around 9:30, and sleeping in until about 8:30. So it's not a huge adjustment, it's a 21 hour time difference. So basically in New Zealand it is 3 hours earlier, but one day later than it is in Seattle.
So that was my first day (and a half) of travel to get here! I love it so far, the weather is perfect and it's very green. Everyone's been super friendly and they all think I'M the one with an accept, which is very strange.
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