 Heather, an MTU student also heading for Perth to study abroad, and I (right) began our thirty-four hour journey out of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The journey down under
After thirty-four hours either aboard a plane or sitting in an airport, I finally made it to Australia! Long flights, airline food and passing through customs were just a few of the adventures Heather and I had along the way.
When we first arrived at the Green Bay airport, we found out that our flight had been cancelled, so we were being switched to a United Airlines flight rather than American Eagle. This caused a slight panic since the airline workers were not completely sure that our luggage would then be transferred back to our flights. Luckily, there was no problem with our luggage, although we did have to wait for quite a while in order to pick it up once we arrived in Perth. Since we weren’t flying our original airline to Chicago, we had to stop at the British Airways desk to pick up our remaining boarding passes. After this, we grabbed something to eat, and waited at our gate.
The flight to London seemed incredibly long, and it seemed like we were constantly being fed, making it difficult to get any rest along the way. After arriving in London, we had a four hour layover, but found out that at the London airport, they would not announce our gate number until one hour before our flight was scheduled to leave. Heather and I were both ready for some sleep, but Heather stayed awake while I slept on some of the seats until our gate was announced. We then boarded the plane for our long twelve-and-a-half hour flight to Singapore. The flight was relatively eventless and we arrived in Singapore, very tired, and ready to be done with our travels. We only had an hour layover in Singapore, so we were rather rushed in the airport. But fortunately our next flight was only four gates away. The Singapore airport was incredibly clean and well kept and it sounds as if there are many amenities including a spa, swimming pool and rooms in which you can sleep if you have an extended layover. Unfortunately, Heather and I were unable to see any of these as we hurried through the airport.
Once this short flight (only five hours) was over, we arrived in Perth. First, we went through a line in which we told customs officers if we had any medications or food with us, grabbed our luggage and then went through the actual customs line where they X-rayed all of our bags. This went relatively smoothly, and we were allowed to pass into the regular portion of the airport, where we found Penny waiting for us. We loaded our bags into her car and we were on our way to the hotel where we stayed for two nights before moving into our flats.
One of the first things I noticed was drastically different in Australia was the fact that they drive on the left side of the road. The steering wheel is on the right side of the vehicle. This is an unbelievable feeling to climb into the car and begin driving on the left side of the road. Not only do turns feel different, but traffic laws change. And, in many cases, exits off of highways are off to the left rather than to the right, which is what I am familiar with. Traveling by automobile in general is very different; another thing that I noticed was the majority of vehicles in Perth are small, compact cars. I have seen only a few pickup trucks, and very few SUVs. This may be due to the high price of gasoline, 95 cents a liter, which I think we figured was around $3 a gallon. Another possible reason is due to the fact that there are so many people in a relatively small area, that small cars are the only logical way to handle the tight space.
Now that I have moved into my flat, I am working to get settled and unpacked. We are taking a trip to the Margaret River tomorrow and staying until Friday evening. After this, a week of orientation, and then classes start Monday, February 28. It’s hard to believe, but I am actually excited about starting classes, even though at this point I have no idea what I will be taking. Well, I’m off to finish settling into my new home and discovering many new things. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions, or have any ideas for topics that you would like me to write about! You can contact me through the ParentNet discussion list below.
Until next week,
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