My first couple of weeks

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February 14-16
Hi. I wanted to start a little e-journal to document my time here.
So, to begin, that series of flights was probably the worst traveling experience of my short life. That first delay caused a host of problems. I had to take a later flight to LAX. Then I only had 15 minutes to get to the international terminal. Some nice foreign ladies (I hate to use the word foreign, but I couldn’t tell their nationality- maybe Pacific Islander?) took me on a tram across the tarmac so I could board directly. I was so worried my checked bag wouldn’t make it with me. And then, upon boarding, I was horrified to find the seats packed into that Boeing 747 worse than the crowded seats of my previous flight. And I was in the very middle of the plane, with one middle-aged man on my right (who kept stealing the armrest) and two Aussies on my left. I was airsick by that time, as well as sick from the stress of almost missing the flight, and upon cramming myself into that seat I experienced for the first time claustrophobia, or something like it. And then we were late taking off because some man got really sick while we were in line to take off, and we had to go back to the gate to let him off and then re-enter the line. I was so miserable. That set the tone for most of the 15 hour flight. I could barely eat, and drinking ginger-ale actually made me feel worse for a while, and I was so tired but the seats made it hard to sleep. I only managed to get up 3 times during the flight, so I made them count as I walked up and down the aisles. The only positive thing I can say is that the movie choices were pretty good- I saw Bee Movie finally. Well anyhow, after an eternity we arrived, and then I changed over $500 and went to pick up my bag to re-check it after customs. While I was waiting the quarantine dog (a beagle) found my beef jerky in my backpack and took it. I waited for an hour. We had arrived half an hour late. I had gone to the desk three times to ask them what I should do- I was going to miss my flight and I was panicking. Finally the conveyor spit out my bag- one of the last ones. I had been afraid it had not come with me and I was waiting for nothing. Well, being nearly in tears got me in the fast lane for re-checking my bag, only to be told that I was definitely going to miss my flight, so they gave me a ticket for a later flight. I figured they were right, since I had to go through security again to reach the terminal, but I made it through quickly, and I could’ve made my original flight, only now I didn’t have the right ticket, so had to wait anyway! The frustration and stress of it all nearly did me it, but I tried to stay calm and maybe my checked bag wouldn’t have made it to the first plane on time anyhow. So then I had to get change and use a payphone to tell the hotel that I was going to be late, and then I sat around for 3 hours. The flight over to Perth from Melbourne was probably the best flight of the trip; the seats if you can believe it were more roomy than the overseas flight, there was an in-flight movie, a meal, and this nice old man who works for the Australian version of the DMV talked to me and gave me his number in case I had questions about “licensing matters.” (By the way, in Australia you can only have 1 carry-on, and I got yelled at for having 2 but I wasn’t about to give them my bag unless they pried it from my cold dead fingers.)
Anyhow, after getting lost trying to find the shuttle, I finally arrived at the hotel. The shuttle was $35, and then I paid $196 for the two nights. Perth is pretty. I like the trees, most of which look like African Serengeti trees, willows, eucalyptus, and semi-tropical evergreens. The roofs of the houses are all tiled or corrugated metal, but they manage to look modern and fashionable. It’s a little like what I’d imaging California to be like.
The first day I stayed up until sunset and went straight to sleep.
February 17
I still didn’t feel so good at breakfast, and eating the semi-familiar cereal and room-temp milk didn’t help. Then I went to the beach. It was lovely. I didn’t actually go in the water past my ankles because it was SO COLD, but it was a lovely green color fading down to dark blue. And tell Jon, there were surfers as far as the eye could see. There was a beach volleyball competition going on, and the places where people could simply swim were small flagged areas which were very crowded. I was surprised at how cold the water was, and most of the people had on wetsuits, or at least more covering than my bikini. There were sunbathers dressed as I was, of course, and lots of parents with little children splashing in the shallows, but not a whole bunch of swimmers without boogie boards. I was surprised to note the amount of elderly people out, because as you know it’s rare in the States to see them in bathing suits, but these people weren’t self-conscious. And several of the men were in Speedos. I spent a few hours just watching people and walking, and looking at the sargassum weed washed up on the beach.
Anyhow, after getting sunburnt just a tiny bit (despite putting on suntan lotion) I called John and we went to this marina, and I would’ve liked to have explored and shopped (it was sort of like the Hilton Head lighthouse shopping area but bigger and no lighthouse) but John, his friend Mark (who is coming on the trip with us), and I played pool all afternoon.
Then after he dropped me off I went back to the beach and ate traditional fish and chips from a paper cone for dinner. Tomorrow is the roadtrip.
February 18-23
I suppose this won’t be super-detailed since it’s been 5 days and really not all that much happened.
The Road Trip:
John, Mark, Sarah and I set off at about 11am on Feb 18. I had the most luggage I suppose, but maybe it just seemed that way because they all brought duffels and I brought my suitcase and a beach bag with my camera, purse, and book. We stopped at Bunbury to visit John’s cousin. Bunbury was a cute little town and John’s little old lady second cousin was very nice and fed us cakes and ginger beer (it’s different from ginger ale and seen more commonly here). She also kept us two hours longer than expected, but that was ok since I got the feeling she doesn’t get company much. We got to our first destination, Busselton, and found the beach house, and met up with 4 other boys (Adam, Ben, Shannon and René) who stayed the first two nights with us. The first night we played poker and Ben got really drunk and then the night deteriorated drastically as he was throwing up and then he had an asthma attack… not good. The next day was cold, I think because of the cyclone hitting the northern coastline, so we couldn’t really do the beach thing. We did go to the jetty, which was the 3rd longest in Australia (insert “oohs” and “aahs” here) but I was cramping so it wasn’t that fun. We ate fish and chips for dinner. The next day the boys left, and we went to the beach, and then on to eat meat pies for lunch. Even out in the sun for 3 hours with sunblock on, every inch of me without full coverage got somewhat burnt- namely the backs of my hands and legs. We played a lot of cards as well.
Then we went to Augusta. It’s the southwestern-most tip of Australia. This beach house was really big, and I have pictures of its many rooms. It is really really windy in Augusta. We visited a lighthouse the first day. The next day we went through the Margaret River region and visited wineries, a fudgery, a chocolate factory, a cheese factory, and a muesli factory (granola). I did try some of the wines- but I only sort-of liked the sweet ones like the dessert wine.
Today, the 23rd, we returned to Perth. Overall on the trip I saw some parrots, kookaburras, dead kangaroos (roadkill), other shorebirds, and maybe a live kangaroo. John and Mark stuck around long enough to help carry my bags up to my room and then left. My room is incredibly small. Not all the rooms here are the same, so I think I probably got gypped since I’m only here a semester. I live on the second floor of 3 in a “block” of 10 rooms, and the small coed bathroom is on the first floor. The hours to eat here are fairly limited, so I’ll probably be scheduling my life around when they serve food. Laundry will be expensive ($3 to wash and dry a load). The Catholic mass seems to be both Sat & Sun at 5:45pm, which I find weird.
February 24
I walked all the way to downtown Perth today in search of an alarm clock. I found one, and also found some shampoo, some cheap souvenirs, and some blisters. I definitely need to work out how to use the bus system.
February 25
So this is Orientation week, or O-week, for freshman and international students. I had to enroll for classes, and it was a really backwards and complicated system which I feel could be simplified by a lot. I don’t have an assigned adviser, and the one I finally talked to told me not to take 5 classes, so I ended up signing up for Herpetology, Invertebrate Zoology, an Australian culture class and Microeconomics. That whole shenanigan took over half the day, and then I walked around on my blisters looking for a bank. I now have a student account at Commonwealth Bank. After dinner I went back to my room and got bored, so then I hung out in the junior common room and listened to the upperclassmen Student Club members as they prepared for the incoming “freshers”.
February 26
I actually went online last night to pick my preferences for the times of my classes, tutorials, practicals and labs- but I went in to campus this morning to make sure I had done it right. I also bought a bus pass because I want to try to go to the beach, downtown and other places as much as possible. This afternoon is St. Thomas More orientation stuff, and then tonight the Student Club is putting on some entertainment and possibly a visit to a local tavern.

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Photos

Scarborough Beach
A volleyball tournament.

Surf Rescue Stations
There were a lot of surfers- so there had to be somebody to save them as well.

Travelling
A look around at Busselton's marina area.

My compatriots
Mark, John, and Sarah were looking at a map.

Wave skis?
I'd never seen these things before, but teams were racing them.

Australian ringneck
There are lots of parrot-type birds here. I love it!

Busselton beach
An artistic photo of the clouds.

Margaret River region
Lots of wineries here - some internationally known