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the lax airport
the lax airport
getting to lax
getting to lax
As my family and I walked out the door, my family's 2 dogs started whining. They really did not want us to leave. :'(
My Dad and my sister were also going to Vienna for their own separate vacation at the same time that I was. In order to get there, however, we needed to go to the massive airport known as LAX.
To get to LAX, my Dad got us an Uber driver. The driver was a nice guy and his car was really cool.
I always love making fun of LA traffic because it is so easy to. The drivers can be really rude and entitled, or just unintelligent really. They can either act like speed racer and cut you off in a zig-zag-like fashion, or they can drive slower than the United States Congress.
However, this time, LA traffic was rather kind to us.
the lines
the lines
Thank the Lord we did not have to deal with LA traffic. What we did have to deal with, however, was the long lines that were waiting for us in the airport.
The line for tagging our suitcases felt like an eternity. Luckily, during that eternity, as we got nearer to the end of that line, I noticed some familiarish faces that emerged way behind us in line. It turned out to be other classmates in this program: Sophie, Peyton, Vivika, and Tora.
We quickly said "hello" to each other, however, our greetings were cut short, as I was about to get my baggage tagged and rush through the hellstorm that was LAX.
Normally, people tend to complain about the TSA being the worst part of the airport experience, however, I got quite lucky. Oddly enough, waiting to get my baggage tagged was longer than waiting to get through TSA. Although, that was because my family and I had TSA PreCheck, which basically made things go faster.....
My classmates were not as lucky.
My unamused expression as we wait to tag our baggage
eating before the flight
eating before the flight
Since my family and I got through TSA faster than my classmates did, we decided to eat at a PF Chang's restaurant in the airport. The food was great and I enjoyed every inch of my orange pealed chicken. I also got to enjoy some good quality Riesling (the type of wine you'd find in Vienna and/or Germany).
the flight
the flight
Austrian airlines
Austrian airlines
(Ua 9882)
(Ua 9882)
After finishing my meal, I met up with my classmates once again at the gate that our flight was at. I parted ways with my Dad and sister, even though we were literally assigned seats in the same area.
The plane we were in was huge, probably four times as large as any plane I've ever been on (normally I fly Southwest, and occasionally United). Most of the planes that I've been on have very little leg room, have a central walkway, have 2-3 seats on the left and right rows. This plane was a different breed because instead of having a walkway in the middle, there was a row of 4 seats in the center area of the plane, with a walkway on the left and right side of that central row. Beyond those 2 walkways were 3 seats near the windows.
The seats also were more comfortable than any plane I've been on (only by a slight margin, however). Sitting on every seat was a pillow and a blanket for every passenger to make the flight as comfortable as possible.
Which is great, because this flight was going to be an eternity, as we had to sit there for 11 hours straight!
1984
1984
The first way I decided to pass time was to read a little bit of George Orwell's classic 1984, a book that was banned in both the US (at first) and the USSR. This book literally offended nearly every extreme political ideology, from totalitarian communist regimes to American neoliberal right-wingers, in the best way possible. It exposed how horrible the idea of a totalitarian state was if it is left unchecked.
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I was never assigned this masterpiece of a novel in any of my high English classes (though I did get to read Animal Farm). I'm not much of an avid reader, but I enjoy reading philosophical existential works from time to time.
Given all the drama that has been happening concerning the infamous Project 2025, I figured this book would be more relevant than it would be ever (in my own lifetime).
To say it predicted the future would be an understatement. Everyone always says, "Orwell was ahead of his time. Orwell predicted Twitter/Youtube/Facebook/social media. Orwell predicted the Chinese Communist Party. Orwell predicted Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. Orwell predicted Trump and Project 2025. Orwell predicted _____ totalitarian regime."
Well, that's not entirely true. I'd say that oversimplification does a massive disservice to both Orwell's masterpiece and history overall. There were countless totalitarian regimes during Orwell's own time, and regimes that existed before his time, that acted exactly like Ingsoc/Oceania. In fact, those regimes also were what inspired Orwell to write about this dystopian future in the first place.
So did he predict the future? Or, was he merely highlighting what has always been there?
This book aged like both fine wine and expired milk at the same time.
the longest movies in the mcu
the longest movies in the mcu
Despite becoming interested in Orwell's master work, I decided to stop reading for a bit and instead watch some movies that I downloaded, since there's only so much reading that my brain can take in during one sitting.
These movies were, of course, the penultimtae masterpieces of the MCU: Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
My attention span is much greater watching movies than reading books. Besides, I wanna read 1984 on the flight back home, and also maybe in my spare time.
Besides, Infinity War and Endgame are long movies on their own. Infinity War is 3 hours long, and very engaging. Endgame is also 3 hours long, and very engaging. Put that together, and you get 6 hours.
it's time to sleep
it's time to sleep
After finishing both of the Marvel movies mentioned above, I still had at least 4 hours until the plane landed. Given that I was inevitably going to be exhausted, I decided to go to sleep. Somehow, I was able to pull it off, but it wasn't a nice sleep. I was drifting between sleeping and waking. This was because I was wearing a COVID mask to avoid dealing with my archnemesis: COVID-19.
I'd rather be sleep-deprived for a day than have to be sick for a week and run the risk of getting others sick.
Sleeping with a COVID mask was a bit annoying, but after a bit of time passed, I was able to finally sleep. I don't know how, but I think having an eye mask helped because darkness makes you sleepy.
Somehow, that sleep was sufficient enough for the next day, when I'd land in Vienna and begin my adventures.
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