Hello Sydney

Well, for all of you out there who have been wondering what I have been doing for the last 4 days (1 of which I never actually had, good thing Tuesday wasn't my birthday) here is the first update on life as an Aussie.

The trip started out bumpy, which let's face it was probably karma for bringing a shoe bag for a 2 month trip, but whatever. I almost missed my connecting flight to LAX after sitting on the runway in Dallas for 2 freaking hours smushed between the window and an chubby emo girl who insisted on eating smelly toast. Let me tell you, that was the smallest airplane seat I have ever encountered, my knees hit the chair in front of me, and I took up the entire width of the seat and we all know, I may not be a size 0 but I'm not huge, how tall fat people fly on American is beyond me. Anyways so after running to my next flight, making it with 2 minutes to spare, starving, sweating and having to pee I was on my way to LAX, again wedged between the window and a chubbster (apparently it's in my flight record that I request the presence of fat people in my row). The best part was, this girl was super chatty so I got to learn all about her international club and how this was her first flight in 11 years, as if I couldn't tell from her shrieking with every bump and turn. The nice part of that flight was they played Country Strong, which was a fabulous movie and by the time it was over we were in our decent to LA so easy flight all together.

Then there was LAX. Let me tell you, whoever made the signs in that airport should be fired because I walked up and down the same terminal 6 times before realizing where to go to take a shuttle to my terminal. Now thinking since I was in LAX the food and shopping would be fabulous, I hopped on the janky bus and decided to just explore once in my area. BAD CHOICE. Got to my terminal to see 1 snack stand and nothing else, awesome considering I hadn't eaten since the yogurt I inhaled on the way to the airport at 9am. So I got a turnkey wrap, slightly sketchy but I was starving, and little did I know it came a la bug--needless to say I ate half of it and called it a day. After eating I sat with a couple of other kids also going to Sydney and had a lovely chat--woohoo making friends already. By the time 9:30 rolled around I was itching to get on the double decker plane, why I was so eager to go sit in the seat I wouldn't leave for another 15 hours I have no idea but whatever, I was armed with Twizzlers, Vogue and Elle and ready to get the show on the road (or in the air hahaha).

So we get on the plane-let me tell you this was THE NICEST plane I have ever been on. The chairs reclined, we had a personal TV with movies (I watched 2 1/2) and a camera that let you see the outside of the plane (not actually as cool as it sounds, it made me kind of sick) and super friendly flight attendants (all with Australian accents so I was obviously in love). After the 15 hours of napping in awkward positions and exploring all of the buttons on the TV we were finally there, too bad my first memory of Australia was me trying not to throw up on my new friends from the rocky landing. Anyways, we land, go through customs, which was super intimidating the man eyed me up for a good 2 minutes looking back and forth between me and my passport--I kept smiling and held myself back from making a joke about the horrid color of my hair in the picture (he didn't seem like the joking type). So I ventured to baggage claim and watched every single other person on my flight haul their bags off the belt, obviously mine were no where in sight. I surprisingly managed to stay in a happy mood despite the fact it was 7am I had been traveling for 48 hours, missed Tuesday, smelled kind of funky, was hungry, and was now in a foreign country with nothing but a pair of jeans, metallic gold sperrys (which obviously have been complimented several times already-old reliable), a hanes v-neck, a DG hoodie and my "Hello Sydney I've arrived" outfit which included a neon striped crop top and a knit cardigan. So armed with my pillow and bag of fun (computer, dead cell phone, Twizzlers, camera and enough lipstick to last me until February) I flew through the second round of customs/immigration and hopped on the bus to the apartments. Everyone thought I packed light--HA no one saw me drive the struggle bus at the Cleveland airport lugging around all the shit I insisted I needed to bring.

So after arriving and settling in a little bit we got a little tour of the neighborhood around where we're staying. Who ever would have though that my first shopping experience in Sydney would be in Kmart and Target, but hey a girl needs underwear and leggings. An hour later, complete with a trashcan, hangers and bedding meant for a Barbie playhouse (the kids sheets were cheaper so naturally I gravitated to the hot pink set) we headed back to the dorms for another info session.

Last night they had a lovely barbie (what they call BBQ here) for the entire group. Sidenote--EVERYONE SPEAKS IN ABBREVS HERE I am actually in heaven. So we got to the cafe after trudging through the rain (which of course I had no umbrella or anything so I showed up looking like a wet dog). Anyways it was supes nice being able to order a glass of wine with dinner--mom you would be proud of me, wino after your own heart. Mind you I didn't actually eat much after the split pea soup and loaf of bread I inhaled while in line for wine (the alcohol line was 84x longer than the food line--welcome to a college trip in a country where we are all of age). I had chicken that had weird hairs in it--one of the boys told me its from cooking it but I didn't really buy that, last time I check chickens have feathers, not hair.

After the bbq we wondered back to the dorms and fell asleep on the couch while attempting to stay up to watch the big rugby match that was on at 8. The fact that I couldn't even make it to 8pm is hilarious. I also don't remember walking to my bed from the couch so that's good--hello to jetlag, the new drunk.

Forgot to mention the fact that I already stand out as a tourist considering I have yet to grasp the walking on the right side of the sidewalk rule that apparently exists here. I have run into so many people and yet still forget. Oh well!

Other than that nothing new here--today is a lot of orientations, MY CLOTHES FINALLY CAME AYAYAYA, so I'm officially moved in (pictures to come soon).

Tonight will be more friend making and exploring (after the 'pizza and bevvies' we're having with the group), and some trip planning for the future weekends.

Internship interview tomorrow, updates to come on that one.

love and miss you all, more to come

cheers! (I'm an Aussie already ayo!)