Massive Pictures & RMIT Village

Picture Captions:

1) They have HUGE bugs here

2) That koala had surely the most uncomfortable sleeping position ever

3) Hooray for wallabies!

4) That one LOVED me, and I got to scratch it's head.  CUTE

5) I made build-a-bears!!!

Ok, so I have FINALLY made it to Melbourne, though not without a couple of bumps along the way.  I made it to the airport, but of course my bags were overweight since the domestic weight limits are lower, but the girl at the counter was SO nice to me.  I was at the airport way earlier than I needed to be, and since some flights had been getting canceled, she just put me on an earlier flight to be sure I got where I was going, AND didn't charge me the full fee for my bags being overweight.  Then I had the interesting experience of going through Australian airport security.  My ID was not checked.  Not once.....that seems safe?  Hrm...Anyways, I got my sushi logs (standard) and made it onto my flight, and landed in Melbourne.  The only downside was, I was schedule to be picked up from the airport by Melbourne Uni....except I had no way to contact them to tell them I was arriving early (curse not having a phone), so I had to kind of hang out by baggage claim for a little under an hour, but I finished my book, so it turned out to not be that bad at all :)

Then I was picked up by a very nice Australian man with a great big bushy beard named Keith (or KEEF according to him) and two other students from Hong Kong, and was taken to my dorm at RMIT Village.  The only thing I dislike about Australia is the fact that I constantly have NO idea what's going on.  I don't know if I have an RA or who they are, don't know when orientation things start, etc.  I met my roommate, who...I don't think I will be having bonding time with....She is very Chinese and upon my arrival, promptly told me that she was taking architecture classes and therefore would be working very late at night, and shot me a look of "you'd better be QUIET".  So that was comforting...Bleh.  As happy as I am to be in Melbourne right now, I was about to try to head out to get some things for my dorm room, and was told that apparently everything closes at 5 p.m.?  Great....

So I decided to go wandering around Melbourne Uni's campus, which was actually pretty nice, though I nearly got lost.  Melbourne is definitely not laid out as easily as Sydney.  I found a convenience store where I at least got some food and toiletries, which is a start I guess.  Things are oddly quiet right now, which is probably due to the fact that orientation doesn't start for another TWELVE days.  So of course, most people aren't moved in yet, so I haven't really met anyone.  I'm gonna go wander around and explore the common areas later and try to meet some people I suppose. 

Tomorrow is probably going to involve me making my way into downtown to get more stuff for my down (clothes hangers, laundry bag, etc.) and optimally find some kind of gym for boxing or muay thai or some other option.  Hrm.  A map will be critical...

More updates to come tomorrow, and thank goodness I have guaranteed internet/lodging for the next month.  *sigh*.  It's been a long three weeks to get here since I left Charlotte, but I'm FINALLY in Melbourne.