The joys of travel

      Getting from there to here is sometimes not too delightful. I do enjoy traveling, as you probably know, but this last trip left my nerves in  a state of exhaustion. Realizing that different cultures do things differently, I am prepared for some "bumps" in the road, as it were. However, unnecessary bumps leave me with a bad taste in my travel-mouth.
      I am in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia and, "yes, I have been here before." This trip was somewhat better than the other trips to Australia as I did not have to go to nor spend even a minute in Los Angeles International. I believe its name is Tom Brady airport,  but who is counting. I flew from Dallas which was great for me. The people at customs were friendlier and I know the Dallas airport a lot  better.
      I must say, parenthetically, that Tulsa is still a pain. There is no place for us old guys (or boot guys or anyone) to sit to take off our shoes which makes it pretty difficult if one is not a retired acrobat. I have mentioned this to them before so you can see the influence I have had. Perhaps a letter to the editor is in order. Hmm, wonder if it would be printed?
      If one isn't too busily wrapped up in one's self there are many interesting things and people to react with whilst traveling. I saw a large group of smallish children all in purple T-shirts in the Dallas airport. As I walked past I approached the man with them and asked if they were middle school kids. He replied they were and we struck up a conversation. I  had just purchased a sandwich as my lunch was very light and I wouldn't eat again until midnight, some hours away. I should have kept walking after the initial contact as I barely got to finish my sandwich before boarding. The man was traveling with 39 seventh graders and four women, he needed somone to talk to.
      This part will be hard for some to believe, the part where I actually left a chance to talk to a stranger and an adult at that. He had lots to say and kept getting between me and the sitting area. Finally I said that we could sit "over there" and talk. We did and I found that the Japanese, and most oriental people, were rude and thoughtless. Wow! I was glad to know that as I assumed people are pretty much as you meet them. Most of the time they mirror what they see in you.
      Then he acted like I was delaying him and he signed off and went back to his group. I was able to go get some water then. Wheew. Oh, his group was headed to Sydney on a people to people program.
      Sometimes luck is with you. My seat companion was a very cute young lady heading home to Melbourne. She was almost cute enough to be one of my granddaughters and also very bright. She and I talked and laughed and joked for a long while . Then after eating she zonked out and slept the rest of the night. As we talked, the next morning, she told me her father told her to take two Advil P M and she could sleep. It worked for her so all of you take note. I hope to try them on the way home as I did not sleep at all.
      We landed in Brisbane which is not pronounced BrisBAINE as most Americans call it. It is pronounced like mountain, i.e. mountun, or fountun. Not mounTAINE or founTAINE. (Glad I could straighten you out on that. It will be important the next time you are on a quiz show.)
      We went through  strict security at Brisbane and the middle schoolers lost their freshly purchased Dr. peppers. I lost my water bottle from the flight. Then at Sydney we all went through security again and then through customs. It was not a fun experience given the fact that we had landed 35 minutes late, had to get luggage which took two forevers, make our way through customs.......
      I'll conclude this part later. It was the stressful part and may have some good information for you.
        Until next time.