America day 1

Finally I'm going to start writing a proper blog post. No more random artsy philosophical crap. Well.. maybe I'll sneak in a few philosophy posts along the way, we'll see.

Ok, so I woke up at 4:30am to catch my flight from Amsterdam to Orlando Florida. It was a bad start on my end; the plane was horribly delayed (and yes, I know, I should have checked whether the flight was on time rather than just rely on a Google update), so I stayed at the airport for about 4 hours. Also, I had forgotten to write down the American address I was staying at so I got fully stumped by the polite Dutch lady when I went to the checkin counter to get my boarding pass. However, once I got on the plane, everything was just fine; I sat next to a biologically Indian woman, who had grown up in Caribbean and had lived the last 30 years in the Netherlands - needless to say, she had a strange accent and a very interesting perspective on life. I had no idea, the British had sent Indians to South America to be farmers!?

On arrival, I was hoping to pass through a duty free shopping area so I could buy a few bottles of wine, or at least one of those yummy chocolates. No such luck. Instead I spent a good 10 - 15 minutes having a very one sided conversation with an American immigration officer who was more interested in the type of software I use as an Engineer than reading through my printed visa waver form.

Once I finally got out of the airport, I met Kaz who had patiently been waiting for me for an hour. I had planned to do one of those cliche romantic runs from the movies (can't remember which one, maybe baywatch?) where we sprint into each others arms, but that was cut short by a car almost hitting me as I crossed the road. Damn :(

When we got to the house in Titusville I met the whole family and then some. The whole family is lovely and incredibly hospitable.  So much food, so much alcohol. I forgot how much I missed Southern Food. I met a bloke called Jacob, a 19 year old who owns several guns and a car. Needlessly to say, I pressured him into taking us shooting tomorrow.

In the evening, to my surprise, everyone gathered around the TV at 8:30pm to watch the Eagles vs Raiders game (it's Football) ((American football)). It didn't seem very Christmassy, but it was an interesting cultural experience.

USA USA USA!