Meeting at Airports

Just before I left Australia I was unfortunately part of an elaborate "Airport-Run" disaster. Miscommunication, poor time management and general 'Barnett' vagueness were all to blame. Without boring you with the details - based on someone else's instructions I diligently arrived at the airport one morning only to find that no loved one got off the plane. An hour and a half and several phone calls later I was to discover that I was 12 hours early - the person in question was arriving at 1930, not 0730.

This event has prompted our family to come up with an "Airpot Contingency Plan" - which encompasses amongst other things, the direction in which we exit through customs and a designated meeting place that can be translated across different airports. Whilst this may seem a little OCD I was reminded of the relevance of these rules when I got off the plane in Boston yesterday. Heather-Jean and Don Wheeler (my Boston "host family") had very kindly agreed to pick me up from the airport. The flight was confirmed, the plane was on time, I sailed through customs and then... no one was there! Heather was no where to be found! Perplexed I waited - perhaps there was traffic? Time passed and I gradually became more concerned about the passing of time and what I should do. After what seemed ages, but was really only a little while, Heather and I did eventually find each other. She had also been waiting and watching the Arrivals door patiently (and then impatiently) for a good while. As it turned out we had been only 2 metres away from each other but it took the clearing of the arrivals hall before we spotted each other. If only we had had a Contingency Plan!

As well as picking me up from the Airport, Heather, Don and Adriana also very kindly took me to Target for some "essentials" and then cooked me dinner before taking me back to my apartment. All of this topped off with this gorgeous "welcome" pack - tea, coffee, yummy new england cookies and lots of other little tit-bits to carry me through the first few days in a new city. Thank-you!

Just quickly for those who heard me talk about my apartment many, many times before I left Australia, here is the view I woke up to this morning. That's my window!
And Sunset tonight!
I think I'm going to like living here!