Hey, I'm here. In Australia. It's a beautiful 25c with a good breeze.I spent my first three days here in Sydney for a great orientation provided by CIS. I stayed in a hostel with 11 other kids all from the New England area except one from South Carolina. I was taken around the city, to a few pubs and restaurants by our two guides Kim and Ryan, both from Queensland (north eastern Aussi). We rode up to the sky tower and got to see all of Sydney from above, then we took a two hour train ride up to the Blue Mountains where we took a guided hike up and down the valleys. On out last day I took a ferry across Circular Quay to the Sydney Zoo to see some of the nations wildlife.Australia is roughly the same size as the United States. Most of the population can be found on the East Coast (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane). Population wise, it is much smaller. There are 21 million people here, compared to 300+ million in the states. While flying to Melbourne from Sydney i was able to see a lot of uninhabited land, and when i landed, just 50 kilometers (30 miles) away from the city, it was the most rural place I'd ever been.From what I cant tell after my first week here, is that Australia is the perfect combination of the USA and England, from the media, and language, to the food and transportation. It is very clean, including the rail, bus, and ferry systems. Everyone I have met thus far have been very friendly and helpful even though it is a large school (at least compared to MassArt).I have not been able to explore Melbourne just yet as I have been busy getting registered for my classes and settling into my great apartment. I have four classes that will keep my very occupied throughout the semester. Managing Design, Sporting Design, Furniture Design, and Changing Patterns. Sports, furniture, new technologies, management, awesome. Swinburne has a SwinMates program where the international students are hooked up with a local student who can help with questions, go on adventures, and be shown the hot spots of the city. Hope we do some cool stuff!Cheers,-JimP.S. Photo's are coming soon, I hope. I need resize them before I upload them!Check out my portfolio for now.www.jdeegz.com