Landing in Oz

Well, its day 5 of my Australian adventure and this is the first time I've had a chance to sit down and create a blog!

P.S. I'm not even close to Laurissa's writing abilities or her humour so if you're looking for a good read, visit her site! lol

Anyways, I took off for Australia at 7am (NL time) on January 3rd and landed in Brisbane at 720am January 5th (Brissy time)! I was an emotional wreck at St. John's airport (of course) and soon fell asleep on the first flight to Toronto. I flew from Toronto to LAX and went to Manhattan beach, it was cool. We then went to the airport and bought these passes to get in the Qantas lounge and fell asleep on these awesome chairs until our flight took off for Brisbane.

When I landed in Brisbane I had no idea what to expect. When I stepped off the plane the warm humid air hit me and I knew I was very far away from home. I got my bags and went through customs. I knew that I would be stopped for an inspection because I declared my tetley tea bags that I brought along. :) The man asked me what I had, I told him, and then he told me to go on, without checking my bags, and to enjoy my stay (in a very strong Australian accent)! Once I got outside I found a man with a "University of Queensland" sign. I knew he was there to give students free rides to their accommodations because I had gotten an email about this at some point and also remembered that I forgot to register for it!! I strolled up to him and asked if he could give me a ride or tell me the best way to get to the Holiday Inn on Roma Street. He took my student number and called the university and said that they had room for two more (Wes and I). Thats two good Australian experiences within 20 minutes of landing! Not bad!

After we got to the hotel, we got on the train and went to see our new apartment! Sarah my roommate was already there setting things up with her father. Sarah is from Arizona and is an all American girl! We have lots in common -extremely neat and enjoy making lists in our day planners. If you know me, you know how important this is, and how awesome that my random roommate, which I commandeered on Facebook, also enjoys these things.

That night was pretty rough. I was questioning my decision about uprooting my life and coming down here. I missed my family and dog like nothing else. I don't know if I missed them as much as I thought or if it was the jet lag that made me emotional, but I found myself at 3am crying on the bathroom floor of the hotel. Wes came in, picked me up and said, you're so lucky to be here, everything will be fine. I poured a hot bath (bad idea when its 40 degrees outside) and sat there for 5 minutes, got out and started into my journal which was a very therapeutic experience (thanks Riss Riss).

The next day Wes and I went shopping for a bed so we could stay at the condo instead of the hotel. First we stopped by a coffee shop in the city and got a cappuccino and a hot water (for my tetley tea bag), 6.50$AUD! 6.50$AUD. Brutal. Sandwiches are 15$AUD. Get me out of here and back into my moms house where she (slash Derek) paid for everything! Life is free at 2 Rendell (and 12 Caldwell for that matter), get me home to the land of the free living!! lol Seriously though, on day 2 I was so homesick I was physically ill, it hurt so bad. Nevertheless, I got on the train and headed for Super AMart, a furniture store. Wes and I got as close as the public system could take us, and we still had a 30 minute walk. Not knowing the transit system well, we asked the bus driver what route was the best to get us closer. He called a dispatcher lady, who told him that no bus went up to that shopping centre. He paused, looked at his watch and said " I have thirteen minutes" looked back to the empty bus and said " Get in!!". He drove us, in the public bus, off route, to the furniture store! That's two free rides now, including a private off route bus ride! Awesome! Like that is so awesome. Who does that? Australians do.

After 2 days of shopping and 2 maxed out credit cards, the condo started coming together. Louise, the second roommate, showed up and also started to settle in! She is exactly what I pictured, a 100% laid back Australian who is just as sweet as the rest of them that live in this BEAUTIFUL country! Except the spiders, they are not beautiful. Speaking of spiders, one decided to set up shop outside my bedroom window. Louise offered to get rid of him for me and so she did, but he returned and was adamant about living outside my window. After coming back 3 times, Wes went out with the Raid, and now he's dead on the deck, outside my window. He's still there alright, I just don't know what to do with him now. I feel kinda bad about killing a living thing but oh well, he wasn't paying rent so thats life, I guess.

Days 3, 4 and 5 were sooo good! I found out I live about a 2 minute walk from one of the biggest shopping centres in Australia and there are all kinds of little shops on the same block as my apartment building! I love it here soo much, I just wish my family was here too and then life would be perfect!

Today I set up my bank account, the teller was super nice (of course)! He was cute too, would have been a good one for Laurissa. Keeping my eye out for a good looking strapping young man for sister. Always watching. lol! He offered me a black, blue or pink bank card and just guess what colour I chose. Does it get better than living in Australia and having a pink bank card? Does it?

I went to the uni today as well (its uni in Oz not university, makes sense when you think about it! I love half words anyways, so good!). Breakfast is brekkie, mosquitos are mozzies and university is uni! I can handle that! I can handle this whole thing, I never thought I could. I'm stronger than I think I am. There are no words for that. If I only come home stronger, without a stupid medical degree, it will be all worth it.

Choose with no regret.