Arrival

I FINALLY MADE IT! I have to say, I’m exhausted (not that it should be surprising to you)… a 14 hour plane ride will do that to people. It was weird because as soon as I got on the flight in LA, I began to be surrounded by Australian accents. I sat next to a group of guys from Perth who were all pretty friendly but we all tried to sleep most of the way there so we didn’t talk too much (I was unsuccessful – it’s pretty challenging to sleep when you can’t really stretch out your legs or lay flat down).

Once I landed and was able to get all situated, I met my new Australian family. They are an older couple who are originally from England; you can hear the English accent mixed with Australian when they speak. I’ll give them pseudonyms since this is the internet and all – Sandy for the lady and Richard for the husband. Apparently they have lived in Australia longer than they lived in England. At any rate, they are really nice so far and took me out to breakfast (she called it “brecky” or probably spelled “breaky”) when I arrived.

The internet situation is weird here, though. I was hoping they would have wireless or cable but instead I was forced to buy “prepaid mobile broadband”, which is essentially a USB-type thing that creates internet. I get 2GB total before I have to recharge it – not sure how much that will end up being as I love using the internet. I also bought a prepaid phone since I am worried that my current phone will somehow rack up international charges (I was also not able to get it unlocked before leaving America).

I also apparently overpacked (shocker!). I brought too many shirts, mostly – otherwise I think I did okay for 4 weeks (It was a large suitcase, one backpack and a computer case). It’s everyone else who seems to think I packed a lot but I’m the only one who doesn’t think so! I guess they are used to backpacker-types… I was mostly trying to look stylish and chic (Richard commented on my heels). The only bad thing is that I can’t use my hairdryer or straightener because they don’t have a built in voltage converter like my computer, and that’s a lot of dead weight that I’m stuck with. Apparently the voltage converter costs more than just getting another straightener. Sigh. A part of me just wants to dump them both (especially the hairdryer since it’s heavy) but I know that I need to be careful in wasting money.

As for the culture – so far I haven’t noticed much, but I have only been to a little shopping mall to get some of the electronic stuff. The major thing is that they drive on the wrong side of the road! How ego-centric of me, eh? It’s the most disconcerting when they are turning into another street, as my immediate thought is: “You’re going to crash into someone because you’re not turning into the right lane!” As difficult as it is, I manage to refrain from being my usual bossy self, haha. Otherwise, I actually got my straightner and other toiletries at good old Target!

The hospital is about a 15 minute bike ride away. Richard and Sandy have lent me a bike so I can use that. I hope that there is some sort of locker or something I can keep the helmet and stuff in when I get there, though. Not sure how that will work its way out but I guess I will find out tomorrow!

Well, that’s it for now. It’s about 8:37PM here and it’s 5:37AM in Florida so that basically means I have been up all night. Not too unusual for a Saturday night, eh? ;)