After a grueling morning of flights from Milwaukee to Minneapolis, then Minneapolis to Los Angeles, I arrived at LAX around noon local time. After picking up my bags, and wandering cluelessly for a good twenty minutes I wised up and asked where the heck ticketing is for Qantas airlines. After a nice chat with the Traveler Assistance lady, I learned that Qantas had two terminals, and that I, of course, had to walk to the one further away!
On my way there, I was stopped by a gentleman asking if I needed help finding anything. I mentioned I was on my way to Qantas, and he correctly guess I had come from Minneapolis, and was heading to Sydney on a late night flight. He mentioned that checkin for my flight wouldn’t open for another few hours, so I should check out the mezzanine in terminal three, which has free wireless, and restaurants where I could grab a bite to eat, or stop at the bar for a drink. I thanked him for the extremely useful information and headed towards terminal 3 (hey, its on my way to terminal 4 anyways…).
Unfortunately, by this point I had developed a rather nasty migraine headache, so I searched for a quiet sit down restaurant that I could eat in peace with little noise distractions. I discovered there is no where in the airport where you can escape the pesky announcements relentlessly telling last minute passengers to get on their flights or be left behind. Much to the dismay of the wait staff, I hate very slowly, and stayed far past I was done eating to enjoy the comfy seat, and ice in my glass to help calm my headache. After lunch, I found a nice safe spot to curl up with my bags, so I could sleep off the remaining factions of my migraine.

When I awoke, all my bags were still with me. I don’t think I expected differently, but there’s always a chance. I slowly made my way to the Qantas check in and checked in my bags. Its now 4:30, and my plane doesn’t board until 11:05pm. I look around the terminal, realizing there is nothing before and little after security.

I’m now sitting back in the Mezzanine of terminal 3, soaking up free WiFi and free power outlets. Still have three and a half hours until my flight leaves, but I can feel the ten and a half hour layover starting to come to an end. I’m not sure that I’m excited to leave the comfy lounge chairs for a fourteen hour game of act like a sardine, but it will take me to Sydney, so I must endure.

I will shortly be departing on my adventure to the “Down Unda’”. That’s right folks, I’ll be spending the next 4 or so months in Sydney, Australia doing a study & intern abroad program. I’ll be taking classes like Business of the Pacific Rim, Understanding Australia from a Sociological Perspective, and a class to integrate into Australian business culture during my internship. Whilst studying I’ll be interning at Advanced Surgical Design and Manufacture (ASDM). I’m not quite sure what I’ll be doing there yet, and probably won’t until I show up for my first day of work. I’ll keep you posted as I undertake duties.
I’m very excited for the transition to living in another country and adapting to another culture and their way of life. Of course, I will miss all of my friends and family here in the states, but to help soften the blow of that pain, I’ll be keeping in touch with Skype. I have already purchased the plan where I have unlimited calling to the US, and will shortly be acquiring an online number through which all of you guys can call me through, without having to pay international calling fees. Wow, is the internet great or what!
I’ll be trying to post regularly while I’m gone, to keep everybody up to date. For reference, Sydney is 15 hours ahead of the Central Time Zone in the US, so if I don’t answer your call, make sure you’re not trying to call me at 3am! I’ll also be trying to post pictures regularly on Flickr, and I’ll have a dedicated group for all of my Australia pictures.
I’ll also be posting mailing information for those of you who would like to send me stuff while I’m gone. I would much appreciate receiving things from you guys, it’ll really cheer me up!

I leave at 9:00 am central time from Milwaukee, WI on August 25th. If I don’t see you before I leave, I look forward to seeing you after Christmas (I get back on the 21st of December) and catching up.

I’ve finally put together a small page with pictures from my trip to Kwajalein (August ’06).

The page consists of a flash slide show with a few different albums. Enjoy.

Kwajalein Slide Show