virgin, you may have some competition..

so i've arrived in new zealand. and by the powers that be - my backpack did too! you never know when you have multiple connections and major layovers and crossing time zones/date lines..

that said, i have no idea what day it is. actually i'm pretty sure it's saturday in new zealand. keeping track of this and what time it is at home will be somewhat difficult i feel. thank goodness for ipod. i've had my ipod for about 2 years now, thanks to brother jeff. and i've only just discovered on my 13hr plane ride from LAX to AKL that my ipod has games! although solitare is a pain to try to play. and i also discovered that it has a clock. so the genius that i am - i programed a NYC clock and a Wellington clock, so i'll always know what time it is. however the date feature doesn't quite work. so that's why i'm so confused. oh well.

the trip over was relatively uneventful. thankfully. however, of course something funny has to happen. this occurred during my EWR - LAX flight. i had the pleasure of getting put in an exit row aisle. score! more leg room for the short person who probably doesn't really need it. but i wasn't about to complain. nor was the lady that sat in the aisle seat of my row - who was approximately half my size. and no one in the middle. so we could sprawl as much as we wanted. however, to sit in this exit row, in case of emergency, you cannot be a child. aka you must be over 15. so what happened? wait for it... yep, the flight attendant came by and asked "are you 15?" thinking this was a silly question, i answered, "yes, 15F" as that was the seat i was in. she began to walk away, then stopped and returned with a confused look on her face. "i meant, are you 15 years old?". stunned, i said "yes", however i wish i had been quicker with a "no", since i am not 15, but 26. seriously? i thought i finally graduated to looking like i was at least out of high school and in college. i know this by how my patients treat me. they no longer ask if i'm a HS student, but a college one. i can take that. but really, i think i look at LEAST 18..

had a 4 hr layover in LAX, accompanied by 4 screaming children running around the airport and running into me about every 5 mins. these 4 children also had another sister that was a newborn and also screaming. thankfully i had bought 3 magazines (the atlantic - for my political and scientific side; conde nast traveler - since there was an article about NZ; and finally glamour - needed something that didn't take much concentration) to keep me busy. boarded the plane to NZ, and sat next to a very nice, very pregnant woman who was traveling with her 3 other children (who were very well behaved, mind you, unlike the banshee children that now sat 3 rows up from me). and the plane was nearly empty, so i thought we might get to sprawl a bit more. unfortunately, at the last minute there was an announcement that we were waiting for one more connecting flight to arrive, since there were so many people on that flight that needed to be on ours. and bummer - the empty aisle seat in front of mine was now filled. i just felt bad for the pregnant lady since i knew she felt bad to keep asking me to get up as since needed to use the toilet. though i did notice she tended to wait for when i got up first.

so virgin, you do have competition. quantas was wonderful. the staff was perhaps nicer, as virgin staff, while exuding coolness and being totally hip, can be a bit stuffy. maybe it's all that hairspray and gel in the guys hair. either way, i very much enjoyed flying on quantas, and will fly them again when i have the chance.

finally arrived at AKL, and went through customs. actually they almost didn't let me into the country. i'm not joking. i guess it's NZ regulations that you need to have your return tickets already printed to show proof you do indeed plan on leaving the country at some point. well - quantas, this is the only time you may have screwed up. no one printed those tickets for me. thank god i had my itinerary printed to show the customs official that i did have a return flight at least planned, even if i didn't have tickets to prove it. and after much hubbub and different officials discussing the options, they let me in. but then they gave me the wrong stamp in my passport and then it was another ordeal to correct. ah, finally they let me in! and i thought british immigration officers were bad!

had an 8 hr layover. yes, 8 hrs. i was planning on heading out into the city, since i had so much time. but they way they make you recheck in and recheck your luggage after the international flight, it was a pain. plus i was exhausted and didn't have the energy to try to figure out where i wanted to go and how to get there. oh well. theresa arrived, so at least it was company, apart from wandering the incredibly small terminal about 50 times and sacking out on various benches and seats around, reading my magazines. i was a bit worried about T since i knew her first flight from philly was delayed, i didn't know if she'd make the others. but it turns out they were all delayed, so it worked out. and not to be out done, our final flight to christchurch was also delayed. they were replacing a part, so they said. but every 1/2 hr they kept announcing various excuses about fixing it, replacing it, needing confirmation from sidney to fly. finally they made a gate change announcement - conveniently after another aircraft had landed. so they were switching our planes. guess the new part didn't quite cut it. but hey did serve us meals and hand out headsets for only a 1.5 hr flight. that would never happen in the states. thanks again, quantas.

finally arrived in ChCh, poor stephanie was waiting for hours for us. we were supposed to land around 1630, but didn't get there until 1920. ah well. we are here!

hello new zealand, i look forward to getting to know you better.