I made it.
I am now in the dirty old USA, ensconced in upstate New York, and all psyched for some high level ed-you-ma-kay-shun.
Actually term doesn't start until the end of the month, but theres all sorts of orientation stuff for the "foreign students", of which I am, obviously, one.
Its funny, being a foreigner.
When I was in Australia I was not really a foreigner, because its the next country over, and there are a lot of similarities (although we are, without a doubt, vastly superior). When I was living in Greece there were so many foreigners that you could barely find any Greeks, so it wasn't a thing as much. And in the UK, everywhere you turn is a New Zealander, and the UK is such a big part of our culture, because we were a colony.
But here, although there is a goodly amount of foreigners, its still pretty obvious that I am Not One Of The Locals. I look the wrong way when crossing the road cos they drive on the wrong side here (you'd think after nearly five months in Greece I would have that sorted, but no. I'm not very bright.), I went to Kmart to buy a duvet and came out with a "comforter", the upcoming term is called autumn, not "fall", and by God am I craving a pie. Right now there is little that I wouldn't do for a steak and cheese pie from the BP. And some Charlie's orange juice, cos everything here is sweetened up the wazoo.
I sent an email to my Dad, who left yesterday morning, saying thanks for coming over to help me get all set up and ensuring that I didn't get lost, and told him to please, for the love of all that is good, send Marmite.
I had a stopover in Los Angeles, and walked from the landing from Auckland terminal to the taking off to New York terminal, wearing my Salmonella Dub t-shirt, with Concorde Dawn cranked on my headphones.
There is still hope.
Am off to buy some speakers now, so the whole street can get down with some Trinity Roots.
Oh yeah.