Kingsford-Smith International Airport

Opera House
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• Saturday - August 4, 2001: On final approach into Sydney, Kristin asked me if we were going to land in the water. We made our approach in over Botany Bay and you could see nothing but water out both windows as we made our descent. In response to Kristin's question, My wife started screaming and crying thinking she was going to die. I told Kristin, " no, planes like this usually land on land. It's not a seaplane." She was getting a bit worried about seeing how low we were getting over the bay, but I reassured her it would be ok.
• We deplaned and checked through customs. We purchased some last minute items at the duty free shops. I was wondering if this would be the last I would see of Australia. We departed for Los Angeles on a Boeing 747-400 at 2:15 p.m. After a long flight of 13 hours and 45 minutes we made our final approach into Los Angeles World Airport. We landed at LAX at 10:35 a.m. on August 4, 2001! When you cross the International Date Line flying east, you pick up a day. During our return flight we had a group of American students onboard belonging to a group called People to People. They were quite rude, self-centered and inconsiderate. One of them hit me in the face as he tried to point out the window at something. These students were loud, failed to follow the directions of the crew, and some of them were climbing over the seats. One even stood up and got into the overhead compartment during the takeoff roll. The flight attendant had to tell her to sit down and buckle her seat belt. The student didn't respond to her directive. As an American, I was embarrassed.

One of them hit me in the face...