My New Home!

Hello Everyone! 

I've never done a blog before so I can't promise I will be good at it and update it but I will try my best :)

]So far I love Australia and I can't promise I will be coming back to the States. Seriously. So much has happened already I really don't know where to start. Well lets just start by saying that traveling here was the longest two days of my life but completely worth it. On my longest flight here I got upgraded to premium economy because of overbooking so that was really good. The seat was a lot bigger and I had my own arm rests which doesn't sound important but really it sucks sharing one. It was Qantas airlines and I know they are one of the more expensive airlines, which I found out later, but they are sweet because everyone gets their own little tv and you can watch all the movies and tv shows and play all the games you want. It was really nice. 

On the long flight (the one from LA to Sydney) I sat next to a girl a couple years older than me and she was moving to Australia for about 5 years because of her job. She had been there before though and was telling me all about it so she made me feel a lot better. I wasn't ever really nervous until I got on the plane to Perth. Then it hit me that I really will be in Australia and my adventure would really be happening!

Luckily though when I landed everything was ok. (Except the landing on the airplane was sketchy because it was really windy. At one point it seriously felt like we were going to crash so that scared me pretty bad). But there was a student at baggage claim that I was supposed to meet and he helped me feel a lot better about being there. He was really nice and helped me with my luggage. He told me a little more about Curtin and then I got a taxi to my housing. 

The taxi drivers here aren't scary like the ones in America. I tried getting in the backseat but the door was locked and then the guy was told me to sit in the front seat so I did. And it wasn't weird. The taxi driver was from Croatia and talked to me the whole time. It was fun to sit in the front seat and drive on the opposite side. After a while I realized there were palm trees here which really surprised me. I just didn't expect them. 

When he dropped me off he helped me with my luggage and left it outside of the office and told me that it would be fine there and no one would take it. I didn't really believe him at first that my bags would be ok so I started to take them inside with me and as soon as I opened the door a lady told me to come in but leave my luggage outside. I didn't even get the door opened before she said it! But I was like wow ok these people must really trust each other. Luckily my luggage was ok and the lady helped me to my flat. Everyone in the office was really nice. 

Actually honestly everyone I have met up to today has been nice except for a couple of people. But everyone here always says hi to you and smiles. They don't pass by you pretending that you don't exist. I like it!

In my flat 6 of us share a kitchen and a common area. I have 3 guy flatmates from Australia, China and Japan. I also have two girl flatmates from China. So learning and interacting with cultures completely different from mine (the Asian cultures) is going to be fun and interesting. I like all of my flatmates though. The first day I got here my Japanese flatmate was really nice and talked to me forever. We all get along so it's good :) 

This is a picture of our board in our kitchen. I'm pretty proud of it!

Well at my housing orientation I met another America girl who doesn't know anyone and we've became instant friends. We have hung out everyday and made the transition A LOT easier. Her names Sara and we also met Mollie that night too who is another America. Sara goes to Purdue University and Mollie goes to George Washington University in D.C. The three of us will probably be hanging out a lot. There is also a group of students here from Kalamazoo College in Michigan. They all seem pretty cool too. I know I'm talking about all Americans but I have met people from all over the world. I have met people from Australia, China, Japan, Germany, India, Croatia and Canada. I want to meet more Australians and a couple days ago I met a group of them who told me they love Americans and want to start hanging out with some more. So that made me happy :) haha

Everything here is so much more expensive it's ridiculous. The exchange rate is better in the US's favor but it doesn't matter because things cost so much more here. For example a tiny thing of strawberries is $5. I seriously think there was about 10 strawberries in there. A pair of shoes that is about $120 maybe $140 in the States is $190 here. RIDICULOUS! It's kind of depressing but oh well. 

Well I will stop here because this is pretty long as it is and I don't want to bore anyone. Sorry about the length but I had to fit 4 days in one post! 

I miss everyone and I hope everyone is doing great!