The Arrival

Stepping off every flight, I listened to "The Arrival" by Atmosphere just to put me in that aggressive mode you NEED to be in for those international airports. You can't think too hard about what you're doing or you'll get overwhelmed. Slug helped me through it.

Everything connected perfectly, I slept a ton and sat next to a cool Asian dude from Adelaide. Flying into Sydney was by far the most beautiful experience I've had in many years. Everything was beyond picturesque. I got picked up at the airport without a problem, got some money changed, and made it to the "uni" without a hitch. It's the strangest thing, though, I'm still completely on my own. There was no welcome wagon, no tour of the campus, no "this is what to do next," no "here is where you can get food tonight," nothing. I'm in a dorm (which is really more like a house) with about 8 other international students. We all feel the same, like we're fending for ourselves. But we're all looking out for each other. Some have been here a few days longer than others and have a better grasp of how to handle things. My roommates are as follows:  Mauro (from Netherlands), Taylor and Claire (from New York), Rachel (a Kiwi), Gabby and Morry (two girls from AU), a Chinese guy who keeps to himself and is trying to learn English, and a French guy named Paul who I have yet to meet. There's another Canadian named Paul who hangs out a lot and brought a game last night that we played until about 10:15 when we all went to bed....who goes to bed at 10:15? Oh, jet-lagged international students. We all had a good time, good laughs, and got to know each other a little better.

Today, I'm supposed to head into town with Mauro to get a few essentials taken care of (Australian phone, bank account, groceries, and other essentials). Mauro is a cool guy and we've had some good time together. We both arrived yesterday and, after talking with the NY girls for an hour or so,went out to explore the campus and try and hunt down some food. We found the cafeteria, which had about 50 high school students eating at it who were there touring the campus. So, being hungry international students, we acted like we were supposed to be there, walked in, stood in line, got food, sat down, made smooth conversation and batted our eyes at the high school girls at the table, ate, and left. Free meal. No questions asked. That was my adventure for yesterday and Mauro remarked that it was good to start off our first day with a good story. I agree.

Nothing is as I expected. The wildlife is...eccentric. I caught a lizard in our kitchen yesterday. The birds are loud and angry sounding. The campus is small and quaint and rather old looking. And the city of Ballarat, it's...small. It's very different from what I thought it would be. It reminds me a lot of Perry Sound, Canada. Only, if you aged it a few more years, and added a splash of Florida and Africa to it. It's just small. The shops are small. The "mall" is small. And everything looks like it needs a face life. But this is home, and I'll learn to love it more and more every day.

I slept well last night, I was lucky enough to get the nicest room with a double bed and my own bathroom attached (although we're all moving to different accommodations with new roommates and in new locations at the end of the week ((it makes no sense but whatever))). I woke up before my alarm at 8:50 and showered, shaved, and ate my last granola bar. I could hear Taylor through our paper thin walls Skyping her mom. It made me miss my family but I'm sure I'll talk to them soon. Also, she just said her computer battery is having problems and it could be from the power converters and such. So that'll be another thing to work out today--how to make sure I don't fry my electronics.

Until next time.
~Daniel