I’m here in the city of Fremantle (or “Freo,” as called by the locals). The trip was quite a long journey, starting with anxious hope and ending with exhausted waits. On Friday Omaha was hit with a big snow storm and was expecting a lot of snow. We were supposed to fly out at 4:00 but went early to try and fly standby. After telling the worker of our plight, she threw us a bone and reserved us spots on the flight, thus guaranteeing us a spot if the flight left. We did get out about 3 hours later, and later found out the 4:00 was cancelled. My advice, don’t fly on Friday the 13th.
In LA as we prepared for our voyage over the mighty Pacific, we saw Tony Hawk. That is all. Oh and the plane was really big. First class was on the upper level. But I met my first Australian friend on the plane over and she corrected all my misdirected views of Australia. We had a nice dinner complete with some wine and I settled down to watch a movie and go to sleep.
Once we got into Perth and took the last of our No-Jetlag pills (courtesy Fr. Timo – they seemed to have worked) we were stuck in the airport waiting for our bags that never came. Apparently they were on another flight over and should be shipped either that night or Monday. But the problem was that the address of our hotel was written on a piece of paper in the checked bag (I know, not a smart move). So I got to use my Australian money and buy some fudge to get change so that I could call the RS (resident supervisor) that I have not yet met to get the address. But fortunately the bags came in about one in the morning that night and I had some clothes to wear the next day.
So far, this week has been O-week and we’ve been getting to know the city around us. It’s weird to grasp the idea that I’m going to be living in a coastal city for the next four months. The beach is two blocks away. Sunscreen is applied as frequently as teeth are brushed (my pasty physique is currently in the bronzing stage). It’s an exciting time, and the Australians we have met are super cool people. I think every Australian is at least two-parts awesome. They sound awesome when they say “goodbye” or “you’re welcome” because it’s “cheers” or “no worries.”
Today we had our first taste of vegemite on toast at our Australian breakfast. It’s an experience. The first piece didn’t seem so bad, but each additional slice was a bit stronger. I think it may be quite an acquired taste, but I bought a jar at the grocery story so I have to finish it before I leave.
Freo is a nice little town and Uni (the university as we call it) is in a very well-situated place. It’s just a short trip to the grocery store, and we can take the carts back to the dorms. We look a bit odd, pushing this cart several blocks and all the wheels turn, so it can be a bit of an adventure. They have a market every weekend and on Sundays, it’s half-off so hopefully I’ll get some sweet deals. Yesterday, my group won second place in our Amazing Race adventure in Perth. We had to go find all these places and little factoids (it turns out you can do half of it on the train by asking the locals). Our prize was $100 at a fancy little place where we enjoyed a drink and shared some very awesome cheesecake. Not a bad deal.
Tonight our RS’s are making a typical Australian meal and there’s Karaoke at the local bar. I’m working on my Roberta Flack and 4 Non Blondes voice so I should be ready to strum some pain with my fingers and ask, what’s going on. I’m excited.
Hope everything is going great in the States. Enjoy the weather; it’s a cool 31 degrees here.
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