I'm HERE

Flight/Day One:

My first flight left Dayton at 12:40 PM. Of course, it was delayed for about one hour due to mechanical problems. Thank god my connection out of Dallas to LA had mechanical problems as well, or I might have missed my flight. Though it does worry me that two American Airline flights in a row had issues. I arrived at LAX around 6ish. There was a shuttle from the domestic terminal to the international one, but somehow I missed it and ended up walking out of the security area. It took a bit to realize that I needed to be in another building. My plan was to eat once I got through security again…the whole taking the liquids out, the computer out, and the shoes off. However, to my surprise, there was only one little magazine rack and a deli/bar behind security…and me, being lazy and not wanting to deal with the checkpoint again, went without a good dinner before my 15 hour flight.

I sat by myself for a bit. I saw lots of students my age, but I was a little intimidated to speak to any…not sure if they were with the same program as I or even going the same place. Eventually, I began talking with a girl named Becca. She is pretty cool and we have been hanging out pretty much since then.

Before the flight, I called home using my calling card, as I thought I had thrown away my cell (come to find out later it was buried in my bag). I sat next to two friends that were studying in Melbourne. They were not with Arcadia or studying in Sydney, so that was a little disappointing. The flight overall was good. Quantas is amazing and I definitely recommend this company. The staff was so friendly and accommodating. The seats could have been a little more spacious, but it wasn’t too bad. I was way over prepared, too. I came with my own blanket, eye mask, snacks, pillow, etc. All that was provided. They also had excellent entertainment. They were also giving you food it seemed like every time you turned around. I basically slept the majority of the time and watched movies.

Upon landing in Melbourne, I gathered my bags, and met up with Becca and a couple GW girls. Going through customs went quite smoothly. After customs, we met Mazz, a coordinator with Arcadia, and took our checked bags to a truck to be stored while we were at orientation. Not everyone arrived on the same flight, so we waited at the airport for a couple hours. This was not the most fun thing, as I had been in airports or a plane since 11 AM East coast time on Monday and it was now 9 AM on Wednesday (though we did lose a day crossing the International Dateline).

Once all the students arrived, we went to a small town, St. Kilda. It was about 40ish minutes from the airport. For lunch I went with Becca and Sarah to a fish and chips place. We also attempted to call home on some phone cards, but it was pretty much a failure. After about a half an hour in St. Kilda, we drove on to a national park. Here we saw kangaroos!! We must have seen at least 50 and we also got to see a wallaby. Unfortunately, I took a camera with a dead battery, so I have no pictures of my own :( After our first wild encounters, we went on to the hotel in Sorrento where we stayed at for a couple days. I roomed with Sarah and Becca. Overall, the room was very nice. One of the nicest parts of the hotel was it was seriously two minutes from the ocean. It was more of rocky cliffs, meet the ocean. It was pretty much what I imagined California to be. After a nature walk that night, we finally went to bed around 9:30 PM. I was absolutely exhausted by this point and I went to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


This about half of the Arcadia group on one of the walks we went on.


The OCEAN!!!!

Day Two:

Thursday started bright and early at 7 AM with breakfast. I, personally, would have liked a bit of a later start. After breakfast we had a couple orientation sessions, followed by free time in downtown Sorrento. Sorrento is just a small little beach community so the downtown area wasn’t very large, maybe twice the size of West Milton’s downtown. Becca, Sarah, and I exchanged some our American money at a local bank and had some smoothies and gelato (which was delicious!). After free time we had a couple more sessions, followed by a hike which took us along the cliffs and down on the beaches. Later, in the evening we went on a boat ride across the bay. We had a couple dolphins chasing the boat in the beginning, which was pretty neat. Across the bay we had fish and chips. The fish was ok, the fries were pretty soggy and gross. I had my first taste of tomato sauce (AKA Ketchup). It is not too different, but you can taste a slight difference. At the end of the day, Heinz is better. The best part of the cruise was by far the seals we saw on the way back. In two days, I have seen 3 animals in the wild I have never seen outside of a zoo, very exciting. After the cruise, I pretty much went to sleep right away.


The Seals!

Day Three:

Once again, Friday started bright and early at 7 AM. We had a couple information sessions, and then headed to the city of Melbourne. We stayed at the Oaks Hotel, located downtown. Overall, a pretty nice hotel, though they didn’t want to give us more than one room key per room. This became a problem because people were not hanging out with the people they were rooming with. Overall, it was a general pain in the ass.

After arriving one of the Arcadia coordinators gave us a quick tour of the city. It is a really artsy/funky/alternative city. There are modern sculptures, graffiti (though they call it art), and street performers pretty much everywhere.


An alleyway in Melbourne.

There are also these cool little ally ways that are packed with nice restaurants and shops. We ended up being dumped in the middle of the city by our coordinator, but we managed to find out way. Sarah, Becca, and I each got cell phones. It was an interesting experience as we were quite confused about the plans, and the lady was confused as to why we were confused. We got prepaid phones (which none of us had every owned before…and on top of that some of the terms they use, it just so different than what is in America) After the cell phones, we went to Queen Victoria’s Market. This was basically a fruit and flea market type deal. It was pretty cool. We ate lunch at a little restaurant near by…nothing too exceptional. After lunch, we walked back across the city and went to some gardens.


The botanical gardens in Melbourne.

We had to cut that short to be back at the hotel by 5 PM. Here we had a “lets share our feelings” session. I personally didn’t really need that. After which, we had trip sign up. Each student is entitled to one free trip. For the University of Sydney it is a trip to the Blue Mountains. Other schools go on different trips. However, students from other university may sign up for these trips as well. The problem is that some have limited spaces. I got on all the trips I wanted to go on except the one to the rainforest and the great barrier reef (I learned today at orientation that STAtravel takes groups of students there, so I think I may do it through them). I am going to the Outback for Spring Break and Perth in April. After trip sign up, we went walking around the city. It took us a while to find something to eat, as many places were closing (we ate a late lunch and as such a late dinner). We finally ended up at a little pizza place that was pretty good. Most people went out on Friday night, but I was still pretty jet-lag and had no desire to have a rough morning. Our flight left at noon, but we headed for the airport at 8:30 AM. Drinking and waking up at the crack of dawn didn’t really seem like a wonderful idea to me. So, I went to after doing some emailing and whatnot.

More to come on the last couple days hopefully tomorrow :D