12 hours of flight later and I land in LAX.
Hearing the horror stories of the barrage of questions one is asked by border security before entry into the USA made me mentally prepare to spill my whole life story. Part of my brain was already contemplating what life would be like in Guantanamo Bay, where I’d surely end up in, if I retort an unsatisfactory answer to the border agent…
The voice of a bored security agent echoed through the hallway: “Use the red channel if you’re a visitor, US the Blue channel if you have a green card…”, a sentence she must have repeated a hundred times an hour at inquisitive arrivals.
I stood around the queue quite bemused - I couldn’t make out where or what exactly the blue or red channels were, as both sides were pointing to the same queue. A glance at the colour of the stanchion bands also did not indicate which channel was which, as they were both a mixture red, green and blue. I eventually ended up in the right queue.
The immigration control itself was a piece of cake. A little bit of smalltalk and that was it. Definitely had found a chill guy working.
Picked up from the airport by an old school friend, we headed home for a quick refresher before heading to Venice to meet up with some friends for some drinks.
A lot of driving later and we arrive at a pretty nice outdoor spot and I must say, I’m definitely enjoying the cool, dry air of California.
After a few drinks and on the way out, it was mandatory to visit the strategically placed food truck just outside the venue. And boy did it not dissapoint!
Now, sitting here at 3:13am and writing this post, jet lagged and nursing another beer, I can’t wait to see what the next weeks hold in store!