Location: LAX and other airports

Hello, friends and families at home! Today was a long, long travel day for most of us. I personally started on the East Coast of the US, as did several of the students. Some started in Texas, one in Canada, and yet others were already in California or even already in Sydney a couple of days early with family members. For nine of us, we convened at the LAX airport throughout the evening as we arrived from our respective flights. We spent a few hours getting to know one another as we waited by the gate for boarding time. We even had a little bit of stress, hoping that Lila’s prior delayed flight would land in LA in time for her to catch our 14-hour flight to Sydney. Thankfully, she arrived just in time! No matter which flights we took, we all had flight times of many, many hours. Most of us tried to sleep as best we could. Some watched movies, we ate airplane food and tried to stay hydrated and stretch our legs as best we could. We touched down at sunrise on July 9, which was confusing since we took off on July 7. The wonders of the international dateline! We knew we had a big first day in Sydney ahead, and we were all very excited for what was to come!