Theories of Relativity

The farmland surrounding Melbourne as seen from the air.

1-8-11: I am now into the second leg of my trip, cruising at 33,000 feet above the black and unforgiving Pacific Ocean. Surely, if we were to crash into the dark, shark-infested depths we would all be lost forever. On the brighter side, my pilot's name is Captain Sullivan. I am sure it is not THE Captain "Sully" Sullivan, but it is still comforting to know that if this plane needs to make quick u-turn, head 8,000 miles in the opposite direction and make an emergency landing in the Hudson River, we will all be fine. You know, it is those small comforts that I need to hold onto when the plane hits those extreme pockets of turbulence. Mostly, however, I have been trying to not think about it as my main goal has become to combat my sleepiness. I have set all my clocks to Australian time and my goal is to hold off sleeping till a decent and respectable Aussie bed time. By my current count that is still at least 3 hours away, even though it is nearing 4 in the morning on the east coast of the United States.

Crossing an International Dateline is an odd thing. I understand the principle behind it and I get that there has to be a dividing line somewhere on the globe that separates it all, but speaking in strictly rational terms... it's an odd thing. Its what might happen when one enters a wormhole or travels faster than 88 miles per hour in certain cars. I mean how else can a person cease to exist for a single day, and vice-versa. For the majority of the world January 7, 2011 has come and went like any other day. For me it will never. So to anyone who has celebrated a birthday, an anniversary, or other special occasion deserving of well-wishing, I do apologize as I was just not in existence on that day to express to you my congratulations on your joyous day. You know, according to Einstein's theory of relativity, the closer to the speed of light you travel the more time slows for you, but it still remains a constant for the rest of the universe. Thus, you live one day while several may pass for your friends and family back at home... I think Einstein must have taken frequent trips to Australia...

For me, however, one trip is enough. I am growing weary and frustrated with this entire process and I am not even halfway through this daunting trip. I suppose it could be worse. At the height of Australian immigration in the 1950's a flight to Australia from England took 3 days to complete and a round trip ticket cost nearly as much as modest house. Even when Qantas (the premiere aussie airline) introduced their new Constellation-class plane (warp factor 6), the trip still cost as much as purchasing a new car. So, understandably, most immigrants traveled the 12,000 mile journey by boat. Imagine a trip where you spent every waking moment for weeks on the deck of a ship slowly watching the familiar sights of countries and continents drift away one by one, till you found yourself arriving on the almost forgotten continent of Australia. And of course what makes it even crazier is that this happened not in 1880 or 1902, but in the 1950's. When the rest of the world was being introduced to rock n' roll, James Dean, and was preoccupied with thoughts of the great Red Menace, there were still people on freight liners steaming their way toward a new continent in search of a better life. It seems an experience that would be almost out of place in the mid twentieth century, but as I am coming to realize Australia runs on its own sort of timeline. Time zone speaking it is a country ahead of the world, but in a lot of ways it remains a country comfortably settled in an idyllic past. Australia really is a strange and wondrous place when you think about.

I can almost relate to those early immigrants. I feel as if there is still so far to go and still so many challenges ahead, many things yet to accomplish.