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Published: August 27th 2009
Well, this is my first blog. I told a friend that I was planning to start one and got told "it'll be far too well-written and detailed. The public wouldn't be able to handle it". Now, I am not sure if it will be well-written, but it is very likely to be detailed!
I finished up work 2 weeks ago and am now safely arrived in Boston where I am visiting my sister for a month. This is about my 6th visit to Boston but I always tend to travel January/February or October/November and the weather is much hotter now than it has ever been on previous visits. This is also a much longer visit than I normally make when I am constrained by normal getting-time-off-work considerations.
So, the journey to get here....
I set off early yesterday morning, wearing trainers (something those who know me will know that I never wear) because of an accident which involved me gouging a bit out of the sole of my foot and necessitating a bandage. I flew from Aberdeen to Amsterdam, which is the journey that I usually make as I hate travelling via Charles de Gaulle. On arriving at the airport I spotted the obligatory Please-God-I-Hope-I-Am-Not-Sat-Near-To-You-Family. This wish was especially fervent given the flight left at 8:30am, I had been up since 5:30am and I was relying on sleeping during the flight. Happily, I was sat next to an innocuous kind of a fellow and I slept from take-off to landing.
I only had a 2-hour transit at Amsterdam. With the time difference, it is always a long day so I was again hoping to get some sleep on the longer flight to Boston. When it got to 20 minutes before take-off and the seat next to me was unoccupied, I thought I was going to be lucky and get to stretch out during the flight. Unfortunately, 10 minutes before take-off a man, whose physique could only be likened to a walrus, heaved himself into the seat beside and there commenced the diverting game of protecting-my-seat-from-overspill-over-the-armrest. Eventually, I wedged a book to my side as a barricade and managed to drift off. Only for a bit though as I was woken up abruptly a few times by turbulence which made me wish I had had wine with my meal (I am a nervous flyer). Glancing around my fellow passengers didn't bring much reassurance as I saw the boy across the aisle cross-himself.
On (safe) arrival, I got through the US Customs Officials quite quickly (they asked what my sister worked as in America and were fine when I said "Engineer". Maybe if she was a Go-Go dancer they would have been less impressed). By the time I met my sister at arrivals, the early start; the turbulence; and Mr Walrus' girth-overspill were all taken its toll on me and I was quite tired. But my sister was insistent I should stay up to a decent hour so that I could get my body-clock rebalanced.
We went out for some brown rice sushi. I absolutely love sushi but I think there is only one sushi restaurant in Aberdeen. In Boston, there is one on every corner and my sister and her friends eat it a few times a week. The only problem I have with sushi is my lack of proficiency with chopsticks, which means the time:eat ratio is fairly high. We then had a quick coffee at Starbucks where it was "Open-Mic" night. My sister tells me it is a bit of "a hit or a miss" so we sit outside.
Then we go back to my sister's house and she gives me my belated birthday present - a 3 week pass to her gym in Boston. So I have no excuse for not getting fit whilst I am here. We have a look at the classes available and I try to find some that look as though they will be frequented by women of my mum's age and not be led by someone who models themselves on an army boot camp instructor. This approach is quashed by my sister who tells me that if I want to get fit, I can't just go pansying about. Which is a shame really....
Finally, my sister sets me up on the internet and gives me a quick lesson on the different voltage supplies in the UK and the US ("Just so you won't be a moron all your days") and I am all ready for the holiday.
And here I am...... I had a good sleep, the sun is shining and I am off for a wander down-town (gouged out foot permitting).
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Cousin Emma
non-member comment
What a hoot!!
Katherine, this blog is hillarious and my personal favourite was the mention of Walrus man!!! Missing u already xx