Trip to New Zealand Part 1

Telling everyone about spring break, it would be ridiculous to retype everything when I have to write two travel stories about it for class... So I'm going to paste them on here to save myself some typing, and if there are specific questions, you can ask me in person where I don't have to worry about typing and getting bored. Enjoy Part One

Are you ready to jump off the Auckland Bridge? Of course you’re nervous, or maybe just excited, maybe both, I was. The very idea of plunging towards open water with only a few rubber bands holding me from certain death was intoxicating and terrifying all at once. What if I died? What if I become some kind of adrenaline junky? Other friends of mine here are going skydiving and I said “screw that!”. They asked me why I would want to bungee alone when I could jump out of a plane with a person with me. I’ll tell you why… because if I die, at least my body will still be attached to the rope and my mom can have an open casket if she wants. If you die skydiving, you probably look as much like you as a bug does after it nails your windshield. But you’ve got a whole day of travelling before you need to worry about that! Because like every real travel story you can’t get to your destination and enjoy your vacation without that plane ride, and if you are anything like me, you are going to remember two things about this trip. The plane rides, and the bungee trip. The plane ride is not an event to be taken lightly. It has the ability to affect your entire mood for at least the next day and a half, and this is where my story begins.
I can’t afford to pay eighty dollars for a taxi ride at 2am. Who would want to? So on the advice of a friend, I took the last trains to the International terminal and planned on just exploring the airport for a few hours until I could check in for my flight. The task seems simple enough. Nay, right away I could tell this was going to be one of the most frustrating travels of my study abroad experience.
First of all, when I arrived at the airport I went up to the International Departures section and took a seat and opened my book to read for awhile so I wouldn’t kill my ipod battery. I was sitting there for maybe ten minutes when a security officer approached me and asked “Excuse me, are you going to be here overnight?” I nodded and he politely continued “I’m sorry but we shut down this part of the airport from midnight until three, so you’ll have to wait downstairs.” That was fine, not a big deal. So I picked up my bag and went back down the escalator only slightly annoyed that my reading had been interrupted. There were tons of people sitting around the chairs that were directly at the bottom and clearly no room for me, so I turned and went towards the arrivals gate because I doubted anyone would be sitting over there, and indeed I was right. Once again, I sat down and opened my book, ready to laugh out loud in public at Chelsea Handler and her ridiculous tales. Moments later, the same security officer approaches me “Excuse me are you going to be here overnight?” Is this guy for real? “Yeah my flight is at six.” Again he told me they shut down this section of the airport and that I would have to go to the overnight section, which was of course, the place where there were no seats left that I had purposely avoided by coming to the arrivals gate. This time he escorted me, and I thought to myself Ok I’m not going to run rapid and cause mischief I just want to read in peace!
When we got to the overnight section, I took a look around, and decided to sprawl out in a place where no one had placed their bags near a door. It did not take five minutes for me to realize this was a bad idea because everyone and their mother in this place appeared to be a chain smoker and were constantly going in and out of said door, causing my body to shiver from the cold that rushed in every time. Determined not to let it get to me, I grabbed some change, and went to the vending machine for some goodies and a coke. The coke came just fine, but the goodies were against me. I pushed the buttons for the chips and the bag started to come and instead of letting go of the bag, it remained pinched at the very top by that stupid coil. This is not happening… I’ll just buy the chips next to it and it will fall down and then I’ll have a snack for later too. Fate had other ideas, as I put another two dollars into the machine and when the chips beside my original choice fell, they only shifted the other bag instead of breaking it free. There was no way I was letting some vending machine get the best of me or letting someone else get free chips! I bought another bag and now had three bags of chips with my coke, and went back to my seat very aware that everyone around me probably thought I was either a stoner or a fatty. It took me fifteen minutes to move away from the cold all the way down a hall near the bathrooms and at this point, my mood had taken a sour turn for the worst.
Three hours later I had finished my book and I was finally allowed to check in upstairs and I approached the counter to a man who was way too friendly for three in the morning. “Hello darling, how are you going?” I tried really hard to smile and said “I’m really cold.” He was nice, and I didn’t want my mood to effect his day, but then he said it. “I’m sorry, are you going to Auckland today?” I nodded, completely aware that I was about to hear bad news. “Unfortunately you are an hour early for check in, but the food court should have something open if you want to get a coffee or something to warm you up.” I was defeated, I walked over to the food court, got a hot chocolate and pulled out my ipod to watch one of Kathy Griffin’s HBO specials to try and find a good mood. After an hour, I went back, checked my bag, went to customs, and did a straight shot to my gate, which felt like it was on the other side of the airport completely.
There was still a good 45 minutes before I needed to board my flight when I got there, so I put my headphones in and listened to my playlist entitled “Back in the Day Café” and indulged in music from anywhere from 2005 back to the 1990’s. The woman behind the counter repeatedly told people who approached her that they weren’t ready for people to line up so she would call when they were. Everyone seemed to get the message, except one group. All of a sudden about fifteen people walk up and get in the first class line even though they clearly have economy seats and just stood there talking loudly in a language I don’t understand. The woman tried to explain to them exactly what she told everyone else but they either didn’t understand her or were pretending not to. I hate these people at airports. The people who think they are holier than thou. It truly is enough to make you want to scream. So I sat in my seat listening to ‘Nsync while glaring at these people, not caring if they noticed me because clearly they felt they were above everyone else anyway.
When it came time to board, the woman behind the counter did exactly what happens every time boarding begins; she retrieved the people who are handicapped or travelling with small children. This has got to be the most typical part of flying besides going through security and removing any metal from your body, it is just the way things are done and it is for the benefit of all. Now, I am not the most patient person, and I was clearly in a bad mood, but the behavior that happened next almost made me explode in the middle of the terminal. One of the group of phony first class ignorants starts flipping out that there are people getting on the plane before her and her clan. I don’t have to speak her language to know that’s exactly what she was pissed about when she wouldn’t stop pointing at those being let on the plane and practically screaming. Are you seriously that rude and selfish? What the hell is wrong with you that guy is in a wheelchair and you’re pointing and acting like a five year old throwing a tantrum?! It was almost more than I could stand, then the “woman” standing behind her starts up too. Woman is in quotations because I honestly couldn’t tell what that person was but I was leaning more towards female. That was it, the high school girl in me took over and I began judging them in the most shallow ways possible, by making fun of their clothes in my head. I don’t understand how you are flipping out about people who have real problems but you are wearing a suit that is not only two different colors but two different kinds of a freaky checker/plaid design that should be burned not worn… and your friend has matched her horrendous outfit to her horrendous purse. Who wears lilac croc shoes? Croc shoes already make everyone look like a jackass! You are dressed in 3 different shades of purple with some stupid kangaroo on your purse, are we in pre-school?! The thoughts went on and on until finally we were allowed to start boarding the plane.
Exhaustion. It plagued me the second I found my window seat. I just wanted to sleep, but I knew I would fail at that, I can’t sleep on planes. But three hours of daydreaming didn’t seem so bad at this point. With exhaustion comes annoyance, and the last thing I wanted to do was listen to the safety procedures over the intercom. I wanted to sleep. Eventually we got pushed back, and I got to feel the rush of takeoff, and that moment of fear that comes as you elevate thinking that the tail of the plane will either hit the ground or that the plane will just fall. I’ve been on planes since I was seven and it happens every time. When we got into the air I relaxed, “Ding”, the captain turns of the fasten seatbelt sign and I can now be saved by my ipod. Time for the “Sleep” playlist… After these series of events, jumping off a bridge would be a nice escape. It was that glimmer of hope that allowed me to drift into daydream state as my head rested against the window and I forgot myself for awhile.