Arrival

Phew, I've finally arrived! It was an insane trip, seriously, insane.

It started at LAX at 4:30pm - six hours before our flight departed. Thankfully I got there early enough to check in my giant (and heavy) bags and get a slight upgrade to an exit row so I could stretch my sore knees out. I bummed around the airport for awhile, finishing some work and housekeeping stuff before finally getting on the flight at 10pm. With both knee braces on I was the first person on the plane, the flight attendants thought it was hilarious. But, I settled in then switched my seats so I could be closer to Sam, and hunkered down for the 15 hour flight.

The surprising part? It went SO FAST. I literally ate dinner, watched three episodes of How I Met Your Mother (thank you V Australia) and then zonked out. Seriously, I slept from an hour after dinner until breakfast - two hours before the plane landed! No jet lag for me! It was fantastic. We had some issues at the Brisbane airport - getting bags, going through customs and quarantine, transferring our bags (which included a bus with lots of pissed off people who were thankfully willing to help me with my giant suitcases), transferring our tickets, delayed flights, then rescheduled to on-time flights, but we finally made it only an hour behind schedule. Sydney is beautiful! It's such an interesting mix of old architecture and modern buildings, an insane amalgamation. We unpacked in our little Unilodge room, not very exciting. I'm living in the little loft, I have my own pocket person lair, as I'm affectionately calling it. It's small, but it'll do. I wasn't expecting the Ritz. Everybody is so nice, I can't wait to get started with class. We joined a wine club down the street from our apartment - $50 for a lifetime membership and serious discounts on bottles of wine, including $50 worth of wine for free! Plus, I can cancel my membership for a full refund when I leave. I like this city already. After our introduction to the program people we went to KMart (crazy...I know) and got some forgotten essentials. Word to the wise - hair products are much more expensive here! I'm glad I got over my nice shampoo thing and am okay with buying the cheapest brand. I'll save that money for traveling. Things are definitely more expensive here, but I don't think it'll be too hard to live on a budget. After our shopping spree today (which included a hair dryer, hair straightener, wireless router, and ethernet cable, woohoo!) I'm pretty sure I can stick to my $5-7 a day budget.

Tonight we're having a welcome BBQ and tomorrow night (jet lag permitting) we're going to The Ivy for Sam's birthday. I'm not a huge club person so that'll be interesting. I guess if I get too exhausted I can always take a cab back to the UniLodge, no harm no foul.

I must run to the BBQ, have a couple beers, then go to bed! I'm exhausted, but hoping some food, conversation, and Strongbow will keep me awake long enough not to wake up at an ungodly hour tomorrow morning. Beating jet lag one hour at a time. :)

More when orientation ends and classes begin! G'day from down under!