So in case you spent the last 2 weeks biting your nails in anticipation over whether or not we got our bags… as the Australian’s say so very often, NO WORRIES! We got them late the next night.

Since then I have survived Orientation Week(O-Week) and the first week of classes(and Surf camp, but that’s a post for another day)! I have seen, done, learned, ate, drank, and experienced a lot in my 3 weeks.

So far there has been many different pieces of lore about Australia that has been proven, to my delight, correct. Obviously not every Aussie has fit these qualities, and not everything is a blanket truth, but these are some trends that I have noticed so far:

• Australians are gorgeous people – This has been proven correct multiple times. I don’t know if its the sand or the sun or the sheer amount of wine they drink, but it seems like every man, woman, or child that I meet or pass in the streets is a beautiful specimen of a human. The sheer amount of tanned, blonde surfer boys that I’ve seen in my short time here is astonishing. They all look like they stepped out of a teenage girl’s fantasy, complete with man bun and bare feet(see below). Literally ALL of the instructors that we had for O-Week and Surf Camp were the ideal Australian man. Incredible.
• Everyone is EXTREMELY laid back, to the extent that people walk around barefoot, everywhere – Within the first few days, Meghan and I spotted grown men, children, and teen girls walking through department stores, cafes, and campus completely barefoot. As in not even shoe in hand, like literally left the house scotchs free of shoes. I have also taken to walking without my shoes, nearly every time I have gone to the beach. I may have learned my lesson though, because the last time the pavement was a little hotter than my winter Coloradan feet could handle(the Aussies in my group, however, seemed unfazed). Its not only the barefoot thing tho, Australians really take life like the tides. Meghan and I have experienced this with the University itself(sorry, the “Uni”), when our questions about schedules and the like have been met with “we’ll get to it when we get to it” answers. This has been frustrating but will hopefully prove a lesson in relaxation and patience.
• Aussies like to drink and they start at 6PM – So far we have been to 4 or so of the most popular college pubs in Wollongong, including several hotel bars for some reason. However, pubs are more similar to a dance club, with one of our favorites boasting 3 different dance floors(including the hip hop room which inexplicably has a mural of Eminem as its centerpiece). Though if you are going to go out, you’d better start getting ready in the early afternoon. Most of the Aussies will start at around 7:30(sometimes earlier depending on the day) and for some reason the most popular days to do so are Sundays and Wednesdays(likely for me I have Mondays and Thursdays off). The most popular drink is the extremely cheap and kinda bad boxed wine, referred to lovingly as Goon. Goon is enjoyed mixed with orange juice or, if you are brave, straight out of the bag.

As I write this, I am enjoying a happy hour cider at the pub on campus named Unibar(They literally just add Uni to the front of anything and call it good, Unishop, Unipool, etc.) while I watch a little girl arm wrestle her way through her whole family and as an adorable puppy sleeps by my feet. The air is warm and the sun peaks through the tops of the tall spindly trees that cover campus. If this is the Australian way, I am all in.

Boy oh boy. We made it.

I have been gone for like 2 days and it feels like I have experienced a whole new lifetime within that. Also technically I lost a day on the way down here, so maybe that whole jump in space and time is to blame. Or the 17 hour plane ride. Who’s to say?

Anyway! The journey…

Meghan and I began our journey bright eyed and bushy tailed in Denver at 11AM on Monday(Feb. 17th). We both got our boarding passes and our bag’s miraculously under 50lbs(Meghan much more successfully than me) without issue. Backpacks were heavy but we were ready.

We made it to our gate without a hitch and enjoyed a little wine tasting. The 1.5 hour flight to Dallas flew by(haha). It was such an insignificant part of our travels in retrospect but I mention it purely because Meghan and I played Angry Birds the entire time and got rather heated.

Dear Dallas Fort Worth International Airport,

You are not our friend

Once we landed in Dallas, we had about a 2 hour layover till we would take off for the big flight and struggled to find our gate. The Dallas airport had something real off with its feng shui and we began to feel really nervous. Both our airline(Qantas) and Dallas Forth Worth would soon betray us, but we wouldn’t know that for many more hours and miles later.

Once boarded, we had to wait almost an hour before take off due to wind or something but the biggest blessing to happen to us came in the form of an empty seat. Meghan had been given aisle and I the window and as we waited to take off we realized that the middle would remain vacant for the next 17 hours, and let me tell you! That was a MIRACLE! Thanks to that empty seat we slept like BABIES and the flight went by impossibly fast for something of that magnitude. Also the beautiful Aussie flight attendants treated us so beautifully – luxury 🙂

Dear Qantas,

We could’ve been great friends.

Despite the beautiful and nearly ideal plane ride, we were in for a nasty surprise. Upon arrival, we were told that our perfectly packed luggage had been left in Dallas. So Meghan and I were left to wear our already 24 hour old sweatpants to greet the 80 degree sunny world of New South Wales, Australia. But we were given these SICK Quantas PJs as retribution so like all is well?

On our ride to Wollongong, our bus driver Dave(who taught us a lot about the world of Australia in our 1.5 hour drive from Sydney), took us to a lookout to check out “the best view of the Gong.”

The rest of the day was full of small misfortunes and general annoyances but was also spent by riding the bus system all around the city, meeting roommates and new friends, buying bedding and short term necessities, and being in awe of the foliage, the weather, and the ever beautiful and ever mesmerizing Aussie accent.

And such concludes the first day in the marvelous world of Aus. Straya has tested us already but so far we love her.

Signing off, a smelly American in Quantas PJs