State visit

This morning J and I drove the mossy, windy road to the airport, where we fetched my parents. It's their first visit to The Land, and they were told by my brother who came in November that they'd love it, that it was SO amazing, that they'd love it, and did he mention that it was amazing? So far they've taken to it quite well, babbling about the cairns, the soil, and the hills during the drive back, asking questions about everything, and marvelling at all the things I've gotten used to seeing every day. After living here for a while the "strange" receptors do get dulled, and I've started to think it really isn't THAT different from the States. You got your roads, your jungle jump-up in the suburbs, trucks, houses. Yep, not so different. Then a visitor comes and everything seems new again- the tiny scale of life here, the odd way that this metropolis seems to spring out of the lava emptiness after the drive from the airport.

Like good coming-to-see-the-expat visitors, they've arrived laden with the maximum luggage allowance, most of which contains goodies for us. When people start asking about what we want three months before they arrive, the list piles up until the bags are full, apparently. It's like Christmas and my birthday all in one every time someone comes, and I've only seen the contents of one bag, which is full of wine and designer shoes from my sister-in-law.

They're staying downtown, and have already had their first experience of how things are different here, when they tried to find a café for breakfast at 8am. They were kindly sent to 10-11 by the woman who was getting ready to open in a few hours. It's strange to have family here like this once again, feeling out the way the relationship is different now that we live so far away from each other, instead of a car ride away and mostly experiencing the same weather patterns. There's so much to share, so much to see, and so much to talk about.


Ship sighting: I feel for anyone out on the sea this morning, since the waves were still quite high on the way to the airport. Still, the schedule shows a good mix of ships today, including a sizeable tanker, Themestern. Here's a picture of the Themestern stern.