Day 337: Home

So today was the big day that I returned to my home of homes, San Francisco. It was around a day's length of travel, but I'm currently typing on my family's giant Mac CPU in my living room. I had an interesting morning, because of the fact that even up to the minute of my departure from flat 223 I was cleaning/moving. Some of my really great friends came by to wish me safe travels. and I'm really happy they did; so Celeste, Valerie, and Megan, if you read this just know that I appreciate you for doing that! The last friends I got to see before I left were Alison, Becca, and Donny; I'm so grateful for them too.

Then came the massive journey back home. The first flight was easy; no problems whatsoever. and I arrived in Auckland in just a few hours (watched Avatar too). Then I spent the next two hours waiting for "the big one": my 12 hour flight from New Zealand to Los Angeles. It actually turned out to be a great time; I got to sleep on the plane for once, made a new friend out of the guy sitting next to me, and I got to see Despicable Me and the Expendables (first one was awesome, and the other was better than expected). When I landed on American ground, it hit me that I was coming home; like it wasn't really in my mind until I was in LAX. The transition between that flight and my last one was... well, one of the most nerve-wrecking moments of my life. I got off the plane around 2:40, and my next flight was boarding at 3:30. I figured I had enough time, so I wasn't in a rush. Then I got to Customs.. and this is where it all got scary. It took around 12 minutes to get to the front of the line, and when I did the guy checking my info said I had to re-do the customs form because I wrote it in pencil and not ink. So I had to go back, find a pen, and fill out the form again. That wouldn't have been that big of a deal... if there was a pen to use. I asked 3 different people that worked there, and they didn't help at all; fortunately, one lady was able to get me a pen, and I got through. The next step was finding where to drop off my checking bag for the last flight; this took a little while, but I quickly found the place. The really scary part was finding the gate. When I got out, it was to the streets; since I'm not used to LAX, I had no idea where to go or how to get there. It was pushing the limit, but with 5 minutes to spare. I got to my gate on time. Once the 55 minute flight to San Francisco ended, I arrived. The sky welcomed me with a beautiful mixture of blue, orange, red, and purple, and boy was that a sight to see! I found my family arriving to pick me up, and I snuck up behind them ninja style (like a legend, might I add); it was such a relief to see my biggest fans for the first time in 10 months (although my dog Albert has turned into a corn dog, all round and fluffy haha). I also had the best meal in ages, thanks to my mom, and now I'm ready to sleep in my ol' bed. I can honestly thank God for helping me sleep on the plane, because I don't feel jet lagged at all; I might start this break off just right.

God bless,
Steven