Longest Day(s) Ever

So I am going to attempt to inform you of everything that has occurred since my last post.  San Francisco Airport, waiting to board the Boeing 747 plane.  No big deal.  

Cue 17 hour plane ride.  Check.  

Get through customs at Sydney.  Check.  

Baggage claim… 1 of 2 bags.  Check.  After all the bags had cycled through, my golf clubs were not there.  I had to walk around to the other end of baggage claim and get them from “Oversized Baggage.”  That delayed us about 20 minutes.  

Check in for the flight to Brisbane and the agent tells us that we missed the baggage check for our flight.  He will get us on the next flight to Brisbane leaving an hour later.  Missed our flight.  Check, but no problem.  

We get to the terminal, and Qantas is holding the 9:30 plane for us (the one the agent told us we missed.)  So we get on that plane, knowing that our bags are likely on the next plane, even though our boarding passes and luggage tags say they are on this one.  We walk through the plane to get our seats with looks of “Thanks a lot Yanks” coming from every person on the plane, and leave Sydney about 20 minutes late.  Check.  

We get to baggage claim at Sydney, not expecting our bags to be there.  My friend Sarah and I checked our bags together.  All four of our bags were under her name.  We were called to baggage claim where they told us our bags should be on the next plane.  No problem, that’s what we expected.  The 10:40 flight rolls in and Sarah gets her two bags.  Mine?  Nope.  

I revisit the Baggage claim representative (who has become quite the friend now) and tell him my bags are still missing.  I explain the bags, the fact that the receipts say Sarah’s name, but the luggage tags should say my name.  ”One golf bag and one large black duffel.”  Response: “Golf bag mate?  No worries.  We’ve got it right back here.”  Seconds later he wheels out a golf bag.  Thanks, but why couldn’t this have just gone through the rotund like all the other bags?  Whatever.  One out of two bags.  Check.  

I guess I should mention that we had a shuttle scheduled to take us from Brisbane to Bond University from our original arrival time at 10:30.  That clearly wasn’t happening.  Sarah waits for one more round of Sydney/Brisbane flights and when my bags don’t come, she reluctantly takes the 12:00 shuttle to Bond.  Meanwhile, I get 3 more friends from Boston who are Study Abroad students at Bond also missing baggage from Qantas.  Nervous, anxious, angry friends at Baggage claim.  Check.

Long story short, we wait about 2 more hours and watch hundreds of people get their bags and leave.  Time check.. 2:00 pm.  (Keep in mind that I first arrived at Baggage Claim around 10:30).  At this point, I am ready to abandon my bag of clothes, shoes, and toiletries and just leave for Bond with my carry on and golf clubs.  I fill out a claim report with the Baggage Check Agent, ask when the next flight from Sydney is arriving.  He says the bags will be through in about 20 minutes.  Ok.  I’ll wait.  All four of us (myself and the 3 new besties from Boston) are on edge and really want to get out of the airport.  Anyway… all four of our bags finally arrive.  4 and 3 hours late respectively.  Check.

Now we get to find the next shuttle time.  3 pm.  Only a half hour wait?  Sounds wonderful!  We get on the shuttle, arrive to bond at about 4:30 pm, and check into our rooms.  5 pm mandatory hall meeting.  Check.  Don’t worry about settling down, Jon.

Regardless, the meeting went fine.  Then we all went to a barbecue and ending up going out for some long overdue drinks.  Woke up this morning far too early (thanks jetlag) and did some administrative things (Student ID, Computer, classes, etc.).  Mom/Dad, be on the lookout for some nice charges to my student account (Love you!!).  Time for lunch now, and maybe some deep breaths.  Miss you all.  I’ll check in again soon enough!