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here i go By this time tomorrow I'll be leaving Los Angeles for Sydney and I am having mixed feelings. Yes, I'm excited, but I'm also wondering if this trip will live up to my expectations. Two weeks away from everything that I know. Two weeks of being a foreigner. Two weeks of another hemisphere. ... Whenever I tell people where I am going the reactions have been varied. Some are quick to reply with something to effect about Paul Hogan. Sigh. If I hear one more "G'day, mate" I think that I am going to scream. Then there are those who are wondering why I am going there at all. In some ways it's so sad to hear a country reduced to catchphrases and cliches. Then again I am sure that Europeans and Australians have fixed images of America. Afterall I'm from the land of Laverne and Shirley, which is what the people from Wagga Wagga said when I tried to explain to them where I lived. Nevermind the fact that Laverne had a Brooklyn accent and most of the show made me think of Hollywood more so than where I live. To be fair the people from Wagga Wagga knew that it was only television. Still I don't want to find myself getting swayed by the cliches. Everything is packed. The backpack is bursting with clothes. A spare pullover coat, beach towel, toilet supplies, camera and books are in a duffel bag that I also brought with me to Europe. I thought that I might not need it this time, but there are certain things that I want with me on the plane. I might leave my cd player behind this time. When I went to Europe I think that I used it twice. At the moment I see it as one less thing to carry and or lose while I am away. However this time I am going to bring something more formal for me to write in than I did when I went to Europe. Most of my journal entries from that trip were written on the back of hostel flyers and so on.
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