Friday, April 17, 2009

Jet lag makes your brain like jelly

I arrived on the other side of the pond a few hours ago and thought I'd make a few random observations about random thoughts that have randomly occured to me as we were traveling today. I'm between time zones at the moment so random will be the key word...



  • Our luggage-remember the old Samsonite commercials where a car drove over a suitcase or an elephant stood on top of it and the suitcase still looked good as new? Well that's not ours.

  • People really make themselves at home in a big way in the British Airways lounge.

  • You can take a polo gap year...really....in Argentina. Who knew? I learned this reading an in flight magazine. Taking a gap year is a hugely popular thing to do especially among the European kids. They typically take a year off following the end of highschool or the end of university and travel the world and have awesome experiences. My husband says he'd like a gap year. And he'd like it now please.

  • Airline headphones + 7 1/2 hours on a plane = bad hair

  • Walking into the International terminal and seeing Welcome to The United States of America makes my heart sing.

  • And seeing that sign and hearing the Immigration Agent say 'Welcome Home' makes me want to leap across the desk and give him a big hug. But I don't because they are actually kind of serious in immigration.

  • Riding the tram between the terminals at the Newark Airport feels a little bit like Disneyworld. Except with lots of aggravation and not all the fun stuff you get at Disney.

  • And my husband is so anglicized he doesn't even realize he told the co-worker he phoned from the airport that we had arrived and were on the way to 'hire a car'. In the UK it's always a car hire but I'm petty sure it's still called a rental on this side of the pond.

  • And when we get in the 'hire car' my husband says, 'Don't let me drive on the wrong side of the road.' And I don't.

  • It's bright here.

  • I'm going to have a real pizza for dinner tonite. Pizza is different on our side of the pond so this is way more exciting than it might sound.

  • I can love both sides of the pond. And I do.

8 comments:

  1. Welcome Back! Enjoy your trip.

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  2. Welcome home Joyce. Enjoy your time here and keep us up to date about what is happening.

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  3. Welcome to THIS side! Get some sleep!

    Just repeat after me,
    "CURB!"
    "BUSH!"
    "PEDESTRIAN!"

    Have a GREAT time.

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  4. Welcome back!!! Glad you made it safely, despite all the headaches of traveling. Enjoy all the American things that you have been missing. It is funny what we crave when we can't have it! My thoughts and prayers are with you and your husband as you look for a new house that you can call home. I hope the weather is as pretty where you are as it is here today. A perfect spring day!! Enjoy your stay in the US. Love & blessings from NC!

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  5. You're here? Did I miss something?
    Well then! There's just one thing left to say! "Welcome home Joyce's family - welcome home!"
    Enjoy!

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  6. I was at a friend's house and looked at the April issue of Gourmet Magazine. There is an article in there on eating in London that I thought you would enjoy reading. The man who wrote the article has eaten at over 1,500 restaurants in London over the past 20 years. He had a very extensive article about a lot of varied restaurants in London that he recommended. I thought you might be interested in reading the article. It would be interesting to see if any of your favorites are on his list. The cover of the magazine has a strawberry pie/tart on the cover. Best of luck househunting. Love & blessings from NC!

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  7. Welcome to the U.S.A!!!
    I'm glad your travels went well. I will continue to think of you as you all enjoy your time on this side of the pond.

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  8. I know what you mean about the pizza, Girlfriend. Can I call you that? I grew up in Hoboken, which has changed tons since I grew up there, and they have some of the best "pies" around.

    Enjoy that side of the pond for now and I can't wait to hear about your adventures. I also know what you mean about the aggravation at Newark airport. Not fun!

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