"I don't think it'll hit home for me until I actually see a
kangaroo!" Her eyes kept darting to the woods, playing
tricks on her, as she seemed to see kangaroos creeping out of tree trunks as we drove past.

I am finally in Australia, just where I have been longing
and preparing to be for the past 8 months. Did you hear
that?? I'm here!! I can hardly believe it! Despite my jet
lag, I almost felt like shouting it out the windows as I
rode the bus along with 3 other students coming from New York.

I didn't expect Aussie culture to be too terribly much
different from ours, and in some ways I was right. They eat similar foods (only prepared differently - the meals kind of shock me when I take my first bite, since I'm expecting an omelet-type dish, and it seems sweetened! Or it's a hot tomato for breakfast... Random!), drive nice cars (except on the wrong side of the road... with dashed white lines in the middle, so I can't tell where it's two lanes or the middle of the road), have clean dorms and campuses (except they really know how to live it up - they have a cleaning lady come through once a week to wash your bed sheets for you!), and they speak English (just with an amazing accent that I really need to get! Oh and they use some words I don't understand - like petrol instead of gas and a chemist instead of drugstore, uni instead of university, and so on).

Thankfully I met a wonderful lady on my plane from Sydney to Brisbane who spent those 2 hours filling me in on the cultural differences (students wear jeans and t-shirts and "thongs" - which after staring blankly at her for a moment when she asked if I brought "thongs," I finally realized meant "flip flops"), the drought they're experiencing (4 minutes showers! w00t!), and some of the language differences (she said Australians shorten everything wordwise - I noticed that when one of the ladies working at the college started calling me "Tiff" right away!).

However, I am extremely excited to uncover their rich history, take a walk in the outback, learn how to bush dance (during orientation we'll have lessons!), see the exotic (and deadly) animals (like kangaroos), and learn about their music and culture (I'm studying their literature, television, and music in the classes I'm taking).

So far, so good! Most of the food I'm really enjoying. Other dishes I will get used to. :) Everyone I've met has been so nice, friendly, and helpful. And I'm already starting to think in their accent! Hopefully by the time I get home, I will sound like a full-blown Aussie native!

Now, if I could just see a kangaroo...