Old Post (12 hour layover)

12 Hour Lay Over

We arrived in LA at 8:30 their time, after a 4 hour flight from Indy. The four of us; Tammy, Larrisa, Brad, and myself, struggled against our jello like legs on our way to baggage claim. Confusion seemed to hold us back more than our impossible luggage, trying to figure the best way to go about our day. We were in LA, and we weren’t going to waist a minute.
We decided to find the room that we had held for the day, there we would drop our baggage like tumors and find some lunch. The fact that it was not yet lunch time in LA didn’t seem to matter to us, nor did we take this into consideration, so when we found McDonalds it was quite a disappointment to find it would be serving breakfast for another 2 hrs. No worries, my Chinese food was sufficient. After our 9am lunch we went back to the room, excited to get our day started.
Well I have to tell you, those beds were so comfortable, our plans had changed. Now I’m not saying these beds were any better than any other normal bed, but they were in fact the most comfortable way of spending an afternoon after feeling somewhat like sardines all morning. Our “day in LA” never had a chance.
So four naps, and four showers later, we’re sitting in the International airport with the rest of our group. And I can’t think of a more interesting place to be. The languages and accents mixing into the low hum surrounding me makes it difficult to concentrate on anything else. Most of the people sharing our space are Australian. Trying harder than I should, and bordering creepy, I try listening covertly to the manner in which they form their words, silently repeating trying to master the beautiful accent that comes so naturally to them.
Settling into my seat on Air New Zealand, the harsh realization hit me that the past couple hours I had spent practicing my Australian accent, no less to blend in than to sound intriguing, had been in vein. It became quite apparent to me that they didn’t try nearly as hard to sound the way they did, and what I had thought to be similar to their accent was closer to a poor mix between English and Irish with a hint of down on the farm.
So I decided, for the sake of those around me as much as my own, that I
would keep my newly acquired ability to myself, for the time being. Who knows, maybe to them an American accent is just as exotic as Australian accents here.