Arrival!

Very long flight, and I'm pretty tired, so I apologive if any of this is incoherent or gramatically screwy. I actually had a very successful, stress-free voyage down under. My flight down to San Francisco was very uneventful other than the extremely gay and very funny flight attendant. 15 hours to Sydney is a long way to go no matter how you slice it, but I was able to sleep some, watch some movies, and generally enjoy myself - plus the people I sat next to were very nice. Major drawback - I was in economy, not ideal for a 6'4" guy, the dude ahead of me had his seat back into about my lap, and my seat recline button was broken. Such is life.

Customs in Sydney was actually very smooth, I especially want to commend the Australian baggage handling industry for having my bag for me within five minutes of arrival in both Sydney and Perth. Flight on to Perth went very well, I got a window block of seats all to myself so I could stretch out and get a little bit of shuteye.

UWA fortunately has a wonderful airport pickup serice, so I was delivered by a lovely driver right to Currie Hall, where I was promptly checked in and allowed to set up my room. The room isn't anything too special, sort of smallish but enough space for one. My guess is Currie Hall was built in about the 1930's and parts of it really look it but it's good enough. I got some lunch in the dining hall and met a few people from all around the world - Nigeria, Kenya, UK, Australia.

After lunch I finished setting up and, not wanting to fall asleep (I have an orientation dinner at 5 - it's about 430 right now) I decided to take a walk and see the UWA campus, which is right across the road (via a walking tunnel) from Currie. Lucky me, it started raining and I turned around to get a raincoat when I bumped into a couple people I had met earlier while checking in. Three girls from California and one guy from Singapore. While the rain was coming down we played some games in a lounge area, then the sun came out and we ventured out.

All I can saw about the UWA campus right now is that it is GORGEOUS. Planted groves and lawns everywhere, sandstone buildings, and it's set right on the banks of the Swan River (as is much of Perth). We walked all over and tried to see as much of it as we could. Naturally, the thing that most caught my attention was the wildlife, namely the birds - there are crazy exotic birds everywhere you turn here. Flcoks of cockatoos, colorful lories, kookaburras, some crazy looking ducks - even the crows here look cooler than back home. I'll have some pictures later, of the birds and the campus, but I just got back a bit ago and I have dinner/orientation coming up soon so that'll have to wait.