Just a brief time ago I bid Mom, Dad and Rose goodbye and boarded a flight from Salt Lake City to LAX. Once I arrive in LA I will have to wait over five hours until my flight to New Zealand and then Sydney. I do have to make sure in LA that my checked luggage – my suitcase and Lou’s hiking backpack that he kindly let me borrow – is going to make it to Sydney. When I checked the bags I didn’t realize that I’ll be taking separate flights from LA to New Zealand and then on to Sydney. Hopefully that’ll work out. Right now I’m being treated to some splendid views out of the window her in seat 4D. We are traveling directly above a break in the clouds so I can view the mountains, lakes and rivers below. It was very sad having to leave my family – especially Rose, who is coming home after her graduation from Alpine Academy, thanks to 16 months of great work – but I don’t know how many more opportunities like this I’ll get – three and a half months in a truly beautiful place. I’m a little bit nervous because of the unfamiliarity of the place I’ll be inhabiting as well as the new people I’ll be living and going to school with. I know I just need to be myself and all will be well. All right, time to eat my snack and then snooze. Many more entries to come.
JL,
8/30/06, 5:30 p.m. MST
In the air
I arrived in LA, albeit with stuffed ears – which are still stuffed (I can barely hear people talking who are merely 15 feet away. On the bright side, I have made it to my gate, again not without a few stumbles. When I first got off the flight from Salt Lake, I had to find a shuttle to take to Terminal 2, which is where I am now. After getting that figured out it took me a good 10 minutes to figure out that the ticket I received in the mail a few weeks ago isn’t my boarding pass and that I needed to pick that up from the Air New Zealand counter. Then, upon approaching the counter, the worker behind it informed me that there was a “problem.” He told me that my bags would only go to Auckland, New Zealand, not my final destination – Sydney – due to a mistake by the people in Salt Lake City. I actually think it was partly my fault, since when I checked the bags in Salt Lake, I didn’t realize that I would be taking different flights from LA to Auckland and then from Auckland to Sydney. After about 15 minutes the man solved my problem – gracias – and I headed for the security checkpoint thinking my troubles were behind me.
Well, not quite. I knew something was up when the tray holding my laptop and backpack was taking out of the security tunnel and placed to the side. A moment later I was informed that my laptop was going to be checked for trouble. I also received the honor of being patted down. But again, my problem passed. Finally, I was inside the airport and, it seemed, free of trouble. Now I just need to unstuffy these ears. Well, one thing I can still do is read. So I’m going to try to figure out how my Tigers did today (big doubleheader). Holler at you later.
JL,
8/30/06, 7:08 p.m. PST
LAX
Well, we made it. Finally. After approximately 17 hours of sitting on planes and another eight hours spent in airports, I arrived in Sydney yesterday morning around 10:30 a.m. After claiming my bags and going through customs I joined the rest of the Boston University group outside of the terminal. Once everybody had been accounted for we hopped on buses for a 20-minute ride to our residence, the Unilodge Hotel in downtown Sydney. A couple things I noticed right away in Sydney were that the cars are much smaller than in the U.S. – there aren’t so many gas-guzzling SUVs. And, of course, the driver’s seat opposite of where it is in the U.S. and people drive on the left side of the road. I think it will take me a little while (or maybe a long while) to get used to this huge difference. I’m definitely not going to do any driving while I’m here. No thanks.
After we arrived at the Unilodge we were given our room assignments. It was kind of dramatic, because I didn’t know who my roommate was until I opened the door of our room. And … it is Justin Yu, senior from Boston University interested in hotel hospitality. He’s a really nice guy. We should get along just fine. We only had about an hour to unpack and get the room situated – which is pretty nice, with a kitchen/living room and bathroom on the first floor and our beds and a closet up some winding stairs – before we had to go to orientation. We walked to the university where all the classes will be held, met the program staff, and learned about the setup of the program. Then we purchased our books and paid for a mobile phone that we will use throughout the semester (we can return the books and phone at the end of the semester for a full refund). Then Michael P. Melvin – my friend from Albion – and I did some food shopping at the Gateway Mall that is conveniently located right across the street from us. Then the staff treated us to a much-needed barbecue meal on the roof of the hotel. Burgers, shishkabobs, it was a great meal. As Melvin and I ate, we gazed at the city in front and below us. A cool wind made the air a bit chilly, but we didn’t care. Three and a half months of great times were ahead of us. But not last night. After dinner I was so drained that I went back to the room and conked out at 8 p.m., which is why I’m up now writing this, wondering whether I should go back to sleep or find something else to do the rest of the early morning.
JL,
9/2/06, 4:57 p.m. AST
Sydney
What a first weekend. If every weekend is even similar to this weekend, this won’t be a bad experience. But I have a feeling that the upcoming weekends will be even better because I’ll be acclimated to Sydney and I’ll also get the opportunity to do plenty of traveling. Yesterday – Saturday – after a few brief information sessions, most of our group walked down to Darling Harbour to walk around, grab lunch and then jump on the Jerry Bailey for a free 3-hour cruise around the harbour. It’s a beautiful area down there. Several shops and restaurants line each side of the water. There is also a walkway above the water that opens up in the middle when boats need to go through. Mike Melvin and I browsed the area for a while and then I grabbed lunch at a food court. I ate a sandwich that featured: turkey, lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, brussel sprouts, carrots, butter and salt and pepper. It was quite interesting – and good. Again, a sandwich unique to Sydney.
Then it was time for the cruise, which was an absolute gift considering it was free (as were two drinks). During the three hours we were on board I got several great views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and people walking up it – something I will do in the weeks to come. It is definitely a tall bridge. We also got several great views of the famous opera house, the botanical gardens, numerous beachside houses, a nude beach (which I turned away from – yeah, they were all older men), hundreds of sailboats and an amusement park – Luna Park. I didn’t want to get off the boat when it returned to its mooring. That’s how great of a trip it was. But the night was still young and my new friends and I had plenty of exploring left to do. For the next six hours we walked around downtown. We stopped at a few pubs and a couple people picked up some sushi, but mostly we did a lot of walking. The walk just made me realize how huge Sydney is – four million people. I don’t know if I’ll ever live in a city this big again. It’s certainly an experience. Around 11, having been awake since 4 a.m. – 19 hours – I crashed. A long and eventful day.
But the weekend wasn’t over. Today – the last day of orientation weekend and the final day before classes commence – was action-packed as well. I woke up early to work out in our residence’s small recreational area (just a couple stationary bikes, a treadmill and a couple nautilus machines). I also swam in the pool and was going to soak in the Jacuzzi except that the water was cold. In the morning Al Brust – the supervisor over here – brought in a couple of serious surfers from a company that teaches surfing to give up some beach knowledge and also promote their surfing camps that are the next two weekends. Just about everybody signed up for a camp, which is two days spent on the beach learning how to surf, eating a lot and hanging out (albeit, for $220). I’m leaning toward joining the group. In the afternoon we took the subway and bus to Bondi Beach, the most popular beach in the city. Although it wasn’t that hot outside, we still hit the water. There were some absolutely beautiful waves, and we rode them to shore. We also took advantage of the huge sandy beach, throwing the frisbee all over the place. Before nighttime hit – it gets dark here around 6 p.m. right now – we made our way back uptown and stopped at an Indian fast food restaurant for some chicken and lamb curry.
Obviously I still haven’t adjusted to the time difference here, because it’s 7:40 now and I’m very tired. And I’ve had no problem waking up extremely early. Oh, well. It’s worked for me so far. I never really enjoyed that 3 a.m. – 11 a.m. sleeping schedule anyway.
Observations: All the cars here are small. No huge SUVs; Almost all items for sale (whether bath towels or food) are more expensive here than in the U.S.); two Australians have told me the tap water here is fine to drink – I believe them; Rugby and Australian Rules Football are really entertaining to watch. I might not miss gridiron (American football, as it’s called over here) as much as I anticipated; The urge to watch TV instead of go out is a non-issue here. We only get five channels here, and there’s never anything on.
JL,
9/2/06, 7:46 p.m. AST
Sydney
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