I’m writing from my bed in the Stanford Guest House (pictured below) where I am sipping a cup of tea and listening to the sounds of crickets outside.

I heard a crow earlier today, nothing like the ah ahh ahhhhhh of our Aussie ravens; it was the caw caw that I’ve heard so much in movies but never quite realised was a sound made by real animals.

The trees are different here. The shape of them on the Stanford logo is accurate.

The flight from Sydney to San Francisco was about thirteen hours, most of which I spent napping. We had a bit of turbulence at one point which gave me a bit of a fright, but I’m back on solid ground now so I’m happy! I watched the movie Hereditary on the flight and thought it was odd—I’m not sure I really understood what was going on, or even what genre it was supposed to be. But it kept me glued to the screen the whole time so I guess they did something right.

Tomorrow a bunch of us are thinking about taking the train in to San Fran proper, about a two-hour trip, to go see the Golden Gate Bridge and some other attractions. If I have time later in the week (maybe Thursday or Friday) I’d love to go do a tour of Alcatraz as well.

But for now I’m going to finish my tea, read a bit of Leviathan Wakes, and have an early night.

And then tomorrow, adventures!

My room in the Stanford Guest House, near the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (we’re down the road from a particle accelerator!!!)