First day of Class, and more beer.

Human nature. Some of my friends may have heard me rant about human nature before. For those of you who haven’t, in general I like to, semi-facetiously (yes, Laura, I am using the word – you should be thinking Festooned, ok?) , say that I hate human nature. To go into a little more detail, I like to criticize human society and some of it’s follies, while on an individual level I try to not hate anyone. I guess it is part of the whole theory of worse IQ level of a group of teen boys as compared to any individual teen boy. I certainly have my fair share of entertainment from human society, though. I’ll be the first to admit that I can be entertained for at least an hour while waiting in the airport by simply watching the other human beings around me, and if I feel adventurous, I may even create a possible life that some of the people I watch could be living.

Two observations of human nature in the past day: I love/hate the first day feel in the classroom. Especially in a whole new university, there is the desire to feel relaxed (which is totally justified, since you as a student have no reason to feel anxious – it is the teacher who is being graded on this day) while not yet feeling comfortable enough to actually be relaxed. I obviously can only talk for myself, but the hour-long class was a constant struggle between letting go of my self-awareness (how I placed my arms on the table, how straight – or the lack thereof – I sat in my seat, etc.), and achieving the normal relaxed atmosphere I have no doubt I will find myself by next week (the next time we have that class).

A briefing of how the morning went. The four of us (taking all four classes with eachother) showed up in the correct classroom at the correct time… according to a misinformed email. We found our mistake about 15 minutes later and decided to go for coffee and some DVD shopping for a bit. We then ran through the rain back to the same classroom for the correct class. There we were able to learn some about the nature of the class, and now have some notions of what to expect. That was the first of 12 total time that class will meet (once a week, with a three week break half way through).

The second observation involves beer… surprise, surprise. So Monday was Alex’s 20^th birthday, so based on that fact and the fact that none of the four of us have class on Tuesdays, we were prepared for a grand old time Monday night. After doing a little research (which consisted exclusively of getting a text from a new contact we have made from the local construction industry – a former UniSA student who spent a term at Clemson through the exchange program the has brought the four of us here this term) we tried a pub that was pretty dead (like most pubs on Monday night) and then returned to our fall back – the Crown and Scepter (the first pub the four of us went to when were first got here with the Exchange Society).

To return to the observation… I at least greatly enjoyed myself, and I have proven my love of the small, more controlled parties. In our first visit to the Crown and Scepter, we were surrounded by heaps of other new students and the point of going was to get at least buzzed and meet new people (for me). This evening we were with people we already know and thus have an amount of trust. Instead of spending the night talking almost exclusively of alcohol related subjects (like the first time) but speaking of more substantial things that are related to each of our own personalities. The conversation started when Laura asked the question of what we each would choose to do as a profession (other than construction) if neither talent nor money were an issue. As we all got tipsy we started to delve more deeply into why each of us choose the answers we did… and criticize those answers. I highly enjoyed it myself, and I think overall we each enjoyed the evening. I would like to contribute this significant difference between pissed experiences by the established relations between those of us partying. At the base of these relations I think can be contributed to trust and familiarity.

The moral of the story: the more you know your friends, the more fun it is to get pissed with them… or something like that.

J

Cheers!

Religion and Me

So today I had the pleasure of attending the Adelaide New Church.  It was quite the experience. First I had to take a train down to Marion station, about a 15 minute ride on the train (fairly similar to the train those of you in Bryn Athyn take to Philly). I took the time on Saturday to look over some maps online and felt confident Sunday morning that I know enough of what I was doing to make it nicely. Unfortunately, I did not account for the lack of the power of plastic money.

When it came time to pay for my ticket (before getting on the train) I was informed that they only accept cash. No problem, there are plenty of ATMs in and near the station… about 8 minutes later (with only a few more minutes left before my 9:34am train was to depart) I was running back into the station from the corner I had run to thanking my intuition to carry a little cash in hand. I had to resort to buying a one-way ticket and hope that someone from the congregation was going to be willing to lend me $3 for the ride back. In those 8 minutes I had tried several times, on two different machines, to withdraw a meager $20 (smallest amount offered) to pay for the $4 ticket but found each time that I had insufficient funds ($14 to be precise). Unfortunately, the only way I could transfer money from my savings is on a computer (of by phone, but I had neither the time to think of this, nor the patience to carry through with it).

So I purchased a one-way ticket, and later on would be given a ticket for the return by one of the friendly members.

After the train ride and a short walk I found myself at a very nice little church. Size, age, and friendly-wise it reminded me very much of the Cincinnati congregation, only perhaps even a little smaller (both the physical building and the # if members). After the service (lead by one of the lay members, it is not unsimilar to any other lay service I’ve been to including the reading of a sermon published that was written by Kurt Asplundh “the Pearl of Great Price”), I stayed for some time and enjoyed eating a fabulous community luncheon (including an odd dessert I’ve never had before that was a mixture between pudding and tapioca).

Now I think is a good time to bring up the “issue” of religion. For the few of you reading who don’t already know, out of convenience I call myself a member of the General Church of the New Jerusalem (or New Church). To briefly explain why I say “out of convenience” is because I am not an official member of the church organization, but I have been raised (and choose to follow now that I am rational enough to make that decision) the general beliefs of the New Church. I never speak this publicly of my beliefs, so I apologize if this is the last time that I do. I do love to discuss religion and personal beliefs in person to those who are truly interested in listening (with an open mind), while in turn I love to hear what, theologically and philosophically speaking, makes people tick.

In a past post I have mentioned my “Great Adventure” mindset. This mindset is intimately related to my religious philosophy. As you have probably concluded, my Great Adventure is really Life, and the mindset of taking each small adventure in my stride can also be explained as accepting the path set for me by God, or in New Church jargon: acknowledging and accepting the existence and striving to let lead of Divine Providence. So, to recap, I am trying to let God lead me in all that I do. While I’m here in Adelaide, I have found it an easier task than when in the States where I’m constantly barraged by plebian activities (in other words, the little “insignificant” things in life are accentuated when everything around you is different – like being in a new country).

Perhaps I’ll gain the courage to speak more openly (rather, more publicly) about my beliefs. If and when I do, you’ll be the first to read about it. For now, this post is long enough. My next one may be a bit more eventful, but likely less thoughtful… Tomorrow is my first day of classes! I’m so nervous! And excited!

Cheers!

Please Comment

Oh, I just wanted to state a wish. I would love to have feedback from any and all of my readers. If for no other reason, it would be reassuring to see that anyone is actually reading. I know the posts can get boring, and we all are leading busy lives (except me), but it is comforting to hear any thoughts/comments anyone chooses to leave.

Cheers!

Concerning Bums and Missing Melbourne

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been feeling a bit under the weather. Since Sunday night I have been suffering from the stereotypical flu symptoms (headache being the worst of them all). I am currently doing well only because I have had a dose of some flu medicine from the local Chemist (aka Pharmacist). I think I’ll recover all right, as long as I continue to drink lots of fluids and keep from being too active.

This need to rest, and avoidance of too much activity (ie leaving the apt for anything other than food shopping) is the source of some deep regret. As we had been hoping to do, the three other Clemsoners and Dustin are going to Melbourne for a few days, and my health has forced me to choose to forgo the opportunity. For the four of us doing Construction Management, we have had no more orientation which means that all this week we have no responsibilities to the school other than to acclimate and relax. From early on we had hoped to travel a bit during this time, and a cheap trip that is doable time-wise is a trip to spend a few days in Melbourne (only $50 single trip by bus/train, but a whopping 10 traveling time). Starting tonight I will be left behind as the other four go to Melbourne until returning on Sunday.

I guess this is just another time to enjoy the Adventure. I’m trying to take it in my stride. I have two specific things that give me some relief from the frustration at missing this opportunity: the opportunity to go to Melbourne will come again, and this will perhaps give me a chance to get to know Ernest a bit more.

 

Now for a thought for the day:

I have been astonished at some of the social advancements that Adelaide, if not all of Australia, has shown. Adelaide, like any city, has a wide variety of social status: there are the upper class business men/women, a huge population of middle class and students, and a fare share of hobos as well. What astonishes me, at least as far as this post is concerned, is the attitude towards the homeless bums. Obviously I can’t speak for how the Aussies feel towards the bums, but as far as the apparent approach to solve this “problem” of the homeless: it is the best I have ever paid attention to (which isn’t saying a whole lot).

There is a program where the bums do some sort of civil use: they hand out flyers and booklets… of what I’m not actually sure. It seems to me, although only based on speculation, the homeless must be compensated for doing this work. I admit that this job was more than likely created for the purpose of giving the bums something to do, which has its benefits, but at the same time to my mind the system would work better if they were able to perform a function that would have needed to be done either way.

Anther service I have seen them do, although I am even less sure that this is somehow sponsored by the city, is trash picking. Every time I go out, I see at least one hobo digging through rubbish bins for certain items (like soda cans, etc. that can be recycled) that, no doubt, they will get compensated for after dropping them off at the proper locations. This seems brilliant to me! This gives the homeless something to do (a benefit in may ways, maintaining their mental sanity none the least), while also saving recyclable rubbish from the landfills.

I am saving it for a post another day, but this is just one of many ways I have found that Australia is years further than the States in the movement towards becoming more environmentally co-habitable.

That’s my thought for the day.

Cheers!

 

PS. Brian and Janine Smith: I have finished “The Power of One” and greatly loved it! Thank you for lending it to me!

Quite an Adventure

This one will be short: I’m feeling more than a bit under the weather and don’t have the energy to be too thoughtful, and even less witty.

So far, I have done a good job of being in the Adventure state of mind. For example, the ordeals of missed flights and what not during the trip to Oz could, and by all rights should, have been one of much consternation. Fortunately, long before leaving (actually around March or so when I learned I had been accepted for the program in Oz) I have set myself into a well anchored mindset of Adventure. In an Adventure, everything that happens is just part of the experience. Yeah, we missed our flight out of Sydney, but some of the most relaxed and easy-going hours I’ve had since I left Philly was the time we spend eating in the hotel restaurant and then walking around one of the obscure suburbs of Sydney. Those were good hours for me, for exclusively two reasons, I was set to take anything in my stride and to enjoy the experience, and because I had some great company.

Though not too fun, even this fever I currently have has been an added Adventure in the Great Adventure.

Each day we have been set with an Adventure, and this is one of the reasons that I have really loved my trip here to Adelaide. One Adventure I’d like to take some time to mention was going to the beach. So there is a lovely beach just a 30minute ($2.20 one way) tram ride away. The four of us, Ernest (our apt mate) and a new friend Dustin tramed out to the beach that looks out on the Gulf of St. Vincent for the afternoon on Sunday. Check out the photos. Other than the overwhelming amount of seaweed on the shore, the view, as well as the whole beach setting was a very good experience. 

Ok, headache = must go now.

Cheers!

Beach photos

Facing South

Facing North

Weak attempt at capturing the waves splash against the stones.

On the Beach, like in Adelaide, there have been some fun water fountains

Photos!

    Clemson at Mt Lofty 

(L-R: Ryan, Alex, Laura, Me)

The sunrise after a 18+ hours of night as we flew from Brisbane to Sydney

my room

my desk

my window

   my kitchen

the lounge

    North Terrace (and City East campus) from the girls' apartment balcony

The oldest church in "The City of Churches" (I think)

The trees of the Adelaide Hills

The Cleland Wildlife Preserve

The new Clemson Kangaroo

Emu feeding. They tended to bite your hand in the process, but it didn't hurt.

They had quite a few different types of Kangaroos and Wallabies and a bunch of each kind.

   Our new friend from California, Dustin

(theme to Winnie the Pooh in background) ...Laura and little Roo...

Now it's my turn with Roo

The Tasmanian Devil, not much of a spinner though.

Let's finish this session of photos with an UGLY animal...

The Wombat

More later...

Some Kangaroo for Two

So I guess I’ve never really thought about the decision to kill a type of animal. I have gone hunting twice in the past (neither of which was successful… I know, I’m a lousy hunter or perhaps it was just that I was too impatient to try enough times or in the right places) and both were for deer. Venison being a food I have enjoyed and deer never having, in my mind, been considered a pet, I have never had any issue with the thought of killing a deer. But then when you are sitting at a wildlife preserve recounting the past evening’s dinner then looking at the small, soft, very lovable animal you are currently feeding, thinking about killing and eating that kangaroo it is not so acceptable.

So I am against animal abuse in general, but I have not been in close contact with any case of it and I am not that opinionated about it. Killing or abusing a dog or cat has always seemed pretty bad and is one of the many items on the “not to do” list. But now I have experienced eating Kangaroo and have now petted a few and have found that if I were hunting for Kangaroo, I may not have been able to pull the trigger.

Last night I took the Kangaroo meat I bought at Woolies, sliced it up into fajita sized slices and served it with some instant rice, salad (made and contributed by Laura) and some Shiraz Viognier (also contributed by Laura) for a very nice meal (although all five of us – including my new apt mate Ernest from Malaysia – ate together, but not all of us ate Kangaroo). I overcooked some of the kangaroo, but overall it was a pretty good, pretty tender meat that tasted very similar to steak. Sometime soon I will try to eat it in a steak fashion with sauce and everything.

But yeah, the four of us (plus a bunch of other exchange students including a number of friends we have made) went on a tour of the Adelaide Hills mostly consisting of seeing the Cleland Wildlife Preserve. There we got to see a lot of the indigenous wildlife, some of which we got to pet/hold/feed. As you will see in the photos, I got to pet a Koala, and pet/feed and almost hold quite a few Kangaroos.

It was a great adventure, and today it didn’t rain! This is only the second whole day when it didn’t rain!

Today I want to end with a fun fact of the day:

In Germany, Champaign, unlike in the US, is only allowed to be dubbed Champaign if it is made from the grapes of the Champaign region.

Cheers!

Kangaroo and more

So I have decided that I will avoid telling ya’ll my life in the step-by-step format, and instead focus on two or three elements of life in South Australia per post. For example, this, my second post, could have gone like this:

Over the weekend the four of us stuck together for the most part as we did some Adelaide exploring as well as several shopping trips and restaurant visits (almost exclusively because we haven’t gotten established enough to have groceries to make our own… but that is slowly getting fixed). We did things like start to memorize the hours of the local shops including the Art Gallery, the Museum (seems to be a kind of natural history museum), and the State Library (separate from the university libraries).

Something worth mentioning that we found is the Sunday market. So Rundal Mall you have heard about, is a section of Rundal street. Rundal street is on the East side of the main North-South street (King William St) and runs all the way to the Eastern boarder of Adelaide (East Terrace). Rundal Mall runs from King William st to Pultney street, then on the East side of Pultney, Rundal becomes a normal street lined with restaurants, convenience shops, and a couple odd shops (like a Cycling store, a tobacco shop, a few apparel shops, etc.). Well, this eastern section of Rundal gets blocked off every Sunday 9am-4pm where locals setup some booths and sell some (usually) home-made products (some awesome candles, knitted/crocheted clothing, some home-made candy, artwork, etc.). So Sunday morning Laura walked down this market to see what it’s all about. Ryan and Alex would have gone, but Ryan was chasing the Wifi (trying McDonalds this time) while Alex was still sleeping. One of the few crucial things we discovered while there were the operating hours of a couple of the ice cream shops down Rundle (we all had craved ice cream the evening before – Saturday – but didn’t think any would be open since everything closes so early, but apparently these two had been open!).

Sunday night we had our first semi-formal dinner as a group (just us Tigers). We went out and found a oriental type of restaurant (we chose oriental over Greek – for me the decision was purely financial). The restaurant being called Rundal Speces, I decided to go with the Mango Curry Chicken. Then we ordered a bottle of Merlot that we all enjoyed. Although oriental isn’t very authentic to this region of the world, it was still an enjoyable evening and closed the weekend very nicely.

Monday we had our two orientation sessions, both being pretty boring, but also very informative. All four of us also took some time in between sessions and after the second one to set up our bank accounts. So now I’m stuck with a bank account, but no card yet (it takes a week to arrive) and no money in the account. But I’m surviving.

Monday evening we were invited out to a pub along with all the other exchange students by a student run organization on campus called The Exchange Society. They put on events (especially here at the beginning) to encourage people getting to meet other students. Mostly their events consist of pubbing. So the four of us decided to try it out. The eventful evening started around 7pm when we met up with the other exchangers and got to the pub by 7:40. And the evening ended around 12:30 as we walked back with some new friends… all of us pissed out of our minds. Although we were all aware of the higher alcohol content of the beer, we did not pay close enough attention to the amount we drank. The beer pitchers were on special ($11.75 per pitcher = 4 pints, or possibly 4 schooners is more accurate…I’ll update you one the odd alcohol sizes in a later post).

Lets just leave it at this: we each had a really good time, and the hangouvers weren’t TOO bad.

I want to take this moment to reflect a little on my opinion of alcohol consumption. First and foremost, I think drinking while under the local age limit is one of the worst decisions a person can make. However, even to the point of drunkenness, I think there is an acceptable time for drinking. Especially in a case like ours here (away from home and the laws we are used to, in a foreign land where we have few people to turn to if something goes wrong) I think safety precautions would need to be set up (like DDs, and going in twos or threes if you’re going on the town, etc.). Here in Oz we are all of age (by the local laws) and we have kept together, so in a case like this I am not ashamed to say that I enjoyed the night much more than I could have sober, and I mean that in a good way.

Walking back from the pub (about 15 minute walk) I at least found there to be an interesting mix of fun with a weird additive of feeling responsible for the well-being of my fellow Clemson students as we mingled with two other exchange students. And on top of it all, it was poring a cold rain the whole walk back.

I really think it was a beneficial experience for me. Not only have I now completed the crash course for pubbing in Oz, but I have learned about my limits and boundaries as well as those of my three closest friends here in Oz. I think I can truly say that all four of us came out of the experience a bit wiser.

The rest of the week passed nicely, and so far I have enjoyed myself immensely. We mostly have been relaxing, and getting more settled. Over Tuesday through Thursday we all got our computers set up so that now we can log online from our apartments (through UniSA which costs money, but seems to be cheap enough with a good enough signal to eliminate our need to find an outside provider). We have also taken time to shop for food and what not for it all.

Another pub experience took place on Wednesday evening. Ryan was feeling under the weather, and so it ended up bing myself, Laura and Alex taking the tram out to Glenelg (a 20 minute $2.20 total trip) out to the Hold Fast Microbrewery to meet up with Oliver (one of Monday night guys) for a night of $3.50 pints. The three of us had been expecting a quiet night so we took it easy, but after only two drinks, as we ran back to the tram in the rain with Oliver and a new friend Collin, I at least realized that two pints alone was enough to get me tipsy. Overall, I enjoyed myself, got to meet a few more people, I am now quite a bit more familiar with the tram system than I had been, and I’m starting to get used to (even enjoy) walking back from a pub in a cold rain.

But a post like that, although informative about my daily life, is much less exciting. So I think Starting now I will try to do a daily post that focuses on a few thoughts I’ve had. In this manner I should be able to post stuff more regularly in shorter posts that you may find easier to keep up with.

I would tell more about today, but I need to go cook some kangaroo now. I’ll tell you how it goes.

 

Cheers!

There and There Again, by Nilson Echols

This is how it happened.

I got to the Philly airport around 12:30 which gave me enough time to get my boarding passes and through security with enough time for me to sit and relax before boarding. I will name that flight “Leg One.” Leg One went well; after taxiing we had to wait for about 15-20 minutes before for some obscure weather conditions reason between Philly and LAX, but other than that sort nap, the flight went smoothly and with little turbulence. Once I landed at LAX I made the usual washroom break but then wanted to rush to my next gate. This is a habit of mine that I’m not sure is truly beneficial, but have always felt anxious about making it onto a plane if I’m not sitting at the gate. This is a perfect example: after talking to a security guard at LAX I fund that I had to leave security walk a few terminals and get screened a second time. Although he even encouraged me to take my time and suggested a few things to do while I waited for my next flight, I rushed over to the terminal, got my new boarding passes (I was taking Qantas for the LAX to Sydney to Adelaide flight), and got in line for my second screening despite the fact that I still had 4 hours before my next flight. In the end I actually got out of the screening line so that I could eat lunch before the flight (and I didn’t want to make the gamble that there would be any good places to eat on the other side). So after a 20 minute food break (spending more than I wanted: about $15) I went through security then walked another 10 minutes to the farthest gate in the terminal. There I took a seat (in amongst about 30 student ambassadors from some high school) to wait for my flight to Sydney. I also met up with Alex, one of the two girls from Clemson going with me, who had been there for almost an hour already (she flew in from West Virginia).

Perhaps here I should pause to tell you more about my mission and my fortunate selection for this amazing opportunity:
Clemson University (in South Carolina), where I have now complete one year of studies for Construction Science and Management (or CSM), has a sort of exchange student program where a varying number CSM students spend one term (to be specific, the Fall term of Junior year) studying at the University of South Australia (aka UniSA) in Adelaide, Australia. It is an opportunity for students to see some of the wider world while getting credits for the classes that we would have taken even if they had stayed at Clemson for that term (thus losing no time academically).
This year four students are going: Alexandra Jaskot, Laura Weber, Ryan Pastor, and myself. I had a lucky stroke that made it so I could come…
After they had accepted the 5 applications, four students had been selected to go, myself not being among the lucky group. But the faculty advisor (Chairman and Professor Rodger Liska) kept in contact with me as he tried to get more funding so that they could send 5 students. So I went to the one meeting and prepared myself in case I could go. Then in mid February I was notified by Liska that I had been accepted into the program; not because he had received more funding, but because one of the four accepted students had to turn down the offer (the reasons were not explained to me). So I now am here.

So, Alex was already there, and about an hour after I arrived, Laura and Ryan joined us at the gate after flying in from South Carolina. We chatted and started the long journey we were going to have together that was to last 5 months and beyond. For me, these three friends, three fellow students of whom I know only too little, were going to be my foundation in a world of aliens (friendly aliens with a funny accent, but aliens all the same).
We sat there, and from the size of the location around the gate, it seemed that this was going to be a small plane. Granted, we were still 3 hours early, but there were possibly only 30 other people waiting at the gate. Now sitting in the plane, in a seat in the very back row (no exaggeration here, the only person sitting farther back than me was one of the stewardesses), I really realized how wrong I was! More than half of the waiting passengers had been on the floor below me, so when I found myself to be one of 340+ passengers on the plane – neigh, flying fortress – I couldn't help but laugh at the size of the 747. I regrettably have no photos of this incredible castle, but it was HUGE.
Inside, the seating was thusly: 3 columns – aisle – 4 columns – aisle – 3 columns... I was row 73 (the last 3 or 4 rows had only 2 columns (in stead of 3) on the outer sides due to the curvature of the fuselage). There were 4 classes in the plane: economy, business, (something), First Class. Economy wasn’t too bad, a little more arm room than a smaller plane, personal tvs on the back of the seat in front of you (that had a very large selection of movies, and tv shows on demand, as well as games, and other programs such as a map option where you get to see a current map of your location and some stats – like speed, altitude, estimated time of arrival, etc) and a selection of radio stations to listen to (all controlled by a remote in one of the arm rests that could be detached. Business had more room, a rather large armrest between the seats. (something) had much better seats… the kind that can recline so that you can at least partially lay flat, and actual empty space between the large armrests of each seat. Then there came the First Class (about 10 “seats” in the nose of this our swift island). I only got a brief glance in as I exited the airship, but what I saw seems to be a seat, desk and side bar for each First Class passenger, undoubtedly the seats were able to recline, and I’m sure they had a toilet for FC alone.
The trip went by a lot faster than I expected. I got about 3 hours of sleep, around 3 hours of reading my book (The Power of One – lent to me by Brian Smith, Thanks Brian!), about 1 hour of looking out the window, 1 hour of eating, ¼ in the bathroom or waiting in line for it (what can I say, I was drinking lots of water to help reduce the effect of jetlag – a suggestion from my pre-departure lecture), and roughly 7 hours of movie watching (three movies: I Love You, Man; Watchmen; Mall Cop). The food wasn’t half bad: two meals, within 2 hours of taking off and landing. And for the experience, I got a rum and coke (and more crucially because the first one – the only one I got – was free).
A few hours before the estimated arrival, we were informed that we were going to take a detour to Brisbane (or Brisbn’) due to unseasonably persistent fog in Sydney. After landing (still dark being around 4 am in Brisbane) we were on the ground for about an hour to refuel, but not allowed to get off the plane due to the fact that we had not gone through customs yet.
Again we got to experience the beast of a plane take off; a feat not entirely possible to the mind of a first-time passenger. There is no way that this object of such size an weight should ever be able to achieve flight, at least not without a huge booster engine for the take off. Speeding down the runway, it felt like you had gone twice the normal distance (and what felt like 4 times the normal takeoff time) and then add another 3 football field lengths before the front wheels would finally say goodbye to the beloved tarmac. Ten you would spend the next hour wondering when the back wheels would say farewell like it’s distant relative (the front wheel) and take to the heavens. It truly was an experience on its own. Once in the air, Leg Three (Brisbane to Sydney) wasn’t too long; another 3 hours or so (adding about 2 hours to our actual flight time since it was shorter to Brisbane than it would have been to Sydney).
On Leg Three of our trip to Adelaide I finally got to see some lights out my window. It was fun to see the types of concentrations of lights and the huge flats of emptiness in between. Landing in Sydney, it was around 7:30 am and I was clearly able to see the cliffs on the edge of the Pacific. To those of you who have been paying special attention, you may be wondering why I would have seen some cliffs seeing as I was now approaching Sydney from the North – OVER LAND. Well, as I was informed by the man sitting to my left (a true Australian having been born and raised about 50 miles – rough conversion here – South of Brisbane), These were the cliffs South of Sydney that we passed over as we made a wide loop to approach at the right angle.
The view was probably the most gorgeous and all inclusive sights I have ever seen: it had choppy ocean, rain, sunshine, land and sea to the horizon obscured in most places by low hanging rain clouds (by this point we were about the same altitude of the low edges of the rain clouds, an altitude that let me see individual waves and yet still commanded a vast view of the world). The new sun shine on the bright cliffs was alone amazing, and then there was about one minute where the young sun was covered by rain clouds – but I was not looking up, the sun was obscured as it was about eye level with me – giving me a view of blue sky above and clear sun rays coming over the medium grey of the clouds and sun shine reflecting of the water and through the rain below the cloud (rain which was clearly seen and with definite boundaries that made it almost look like the cartoon rain cloud that was following and raining only a sole character, in this case a fishing boat). It had been raining on and off ever since we took off at Brisbane, and landing in Sydney while still recovering from this amazing solar eclipse, we landed safely during a Jackel’s Wedding (those of you who can, ask Malcolm what this means in more detail – in short it means the situation where it is raining while there is blue skys and sun above.
After a relatively short taxi, and then 5 years of people-offloading, we were bussed to the terminal proper. Well before we got off the plane we realized that this added Leg Three would make things difficult with getting onto Leg Four. In a way it made the trip less anxious for me because now that we had too little time to get our luggage, go through customs, get our tickets and recheck our luggage, and go through screening again before getting to our gate and would have to reschedule and thus we were no longer in a hurry to make any given deadline. Going through customs and getting or luggage wasn’t too bad, but it did take a good deal of time as we waited for them to search our luggage (and that of the other 340+ passengers from our flight alone, not to mention all the other flights). By the time we got to the proper terminal (a confusing 30 minutes of waiting in lines and busing around) it was around 8:40am local time.
Going to the ticket booth, we soon found out that we missed the flight that we had already been rescheduled into (they were boarding as we spoke to the Qantas lady) and the next flight wasn’t until 4:30pm. After waiting for the proper approval, we were given two rooms at the airport Holiday Inn and one free meal each as well as the bus ride to get to the hotel and back. Taking advantage of being there, we checked our baggage and then went to the hotel.
We waited about 20-30 minutes for the shuttle to arrive, and the short 10 minute ride to the hotel was odd with a mix of a late-shifting driver (perhaps it was just a bad engine, but it seemed from the sound that the driver waited 2000 rpms higher to shift than he should have each time), and our first experience of left sided driving.
We then checked in, got our two rooms (one for the ladies, and one for us blokes). After a shower each and some communicating online with the paid hotel Internet capabilities (and a quick cash exchange of 200 USD for 218 AUD – a pretty poor exchange for me considering the actual exchange rate at the time) before we met in the lobby to eat lunch at the bar in the hotel.

Here seems to be the appropriate spot for me to interrupt myself again. Some of you may not be aware of some of the trials I had to go through just before leaving the US. About two weeks before Leg One, I lost my wallet at a movie theater (never to be found again despite my search and that of my friends). In it I had about $50, my bank card, my credit card, my banking info (my account numbers), my driver’s license, my SS card and a bunch of other random cards. I got a duplicate license quick enough (I know it is unheard of, but I actually spent no more than about 20 minutes in the DMV), and cancelled my cards and ordered new ones. I already spoke enough to the financial manager at my local bank enough that he new me by first name, so he was very helpful about ordering a card that was supposed to get to me in Bryn Athyn one the Friday or latest the Monday (the 6th) before I left on the 7th (Tuesday).
Come Monday, I still had no bank card. It would not have been any help in actuality, but I should have addressed the problems on Friday. In short, the US Mail didn’t like the fact that I wanted the card sent to a PO address in PA when I was usually billed at a South Carolina address and so sent it to South Carolina (at this point we only know it was cancelled and was not aware it was sent to SC at all). So we ordered a new card. Later on Monday (after the bank closed) my dad and I talked, and he informed me that my bank card had made it to our home in Cincinnati (where all my mail is being routed to from Clemson in SC). As arranged I returned to the bank the following day (Tuesday) to withdraw the money I was going to calculate I needed since I was not going to have any plastic money and thus had to carry notes to cover the first week or two in Adelaide (including the cost of all the supplies I would end up buying for the apartment). There I solved the problem of having two cards (cut one up and active the other at my whim… remember Dad: keep the first one that came, and destroy the second one when you receive it, ok?).


So, we ate our $25 (AUD) worth of lunch (yes, it was the second lunch I was eating of the 48 hour long day) that was compliments of Qantas. We spent around an hour waiting for our food and eating it. We enjoyed recounting our individual experiences so far (mostly consisting of the pre-departure work we had to do, as well as our expectations and how they have compared to the actual thing so far). After lunch Ryan and Alex went back upstairs the their respective rooms while Laura and I went for a walk to see this obscure section of Sydney. After around 30-60 minutes, we were all back in our rooms to relax for a short time before going back to the airport.
Back in the airport, I was a bit anxious about timing after our bus arrived late for the pick-up. We were all relieved after it took about 5 minutes to get through security (there were essentially no lines, our shoes stayed on, and we were not even checked for boarding passes). Here we found a booth where we exchanged some more money (at a more accurate rate from that at the hotel)
Leg Four went by fast, being only about 1.5 hours long. We landed and got off the plane – a cardboard box in comparison to the 747 from earlier, in fact I overheard a statement about the 747 that I am willing to believe: the Wright’s first flight was about half the distance of the length from nose to tail of the 747 – at 6pm Adelaide time.
Speaking of time difference, at 6pm in Adelaide on Thursday the 9th, it was 6:30 pm in Sydney, 1:30 am Thursday the 9th in LA, and 4:30am on Thursday the 9th in Philly. I had been out of the states for about 27.5 hours, been traveling (time starting when I took off in Philly, and ending when I had landed in Adelaide) for 36.5 hours and had only slept about 3 or 4 hours in the past 45.5 hours.
After landing we quickly collected our luggage and met up with our chauffeur sent by UniSA. On our way to our apartments (fortunately he already know the address info etc, which were did not, at least not with any certainty) he was pretty talkative, explaining to us some about the city and a few things we should know concerning shop hours and the lay of the streets. Here the whole city is in a very structured block system with all the streets at right angles and at pretty regular intervals, and as for the shop hours: everything here closes around 6pm every evening, except Fridays when half of them stay open as late as 9pm. When I say everything, I mean everything. Ok, so there are a few fastfood chains and bars/clubs, but 90% of the shops are closed after 5 or 6 pm on the average week night.
Once at our apartments (in the dark – yep, it gets dark around 5:30 6pm right now due to the fact that we are in the middle of the winter right now although the temperatures are warmer than a South Carolina winter for sure – the apartments seemed pretty sketchy) we met up with Jess King, the landlord who showed us to our rooms, gave us our apartment/building key cards, and our individual room keys. Ryan and I were able to more straight into our rooms since the former tenants had already left (even though their lease was not op for another 3 days) but we had another apartment mate (3 to an apartment total) who is only here for 3 or 4 days. We haven’t really gotten to know him, but he seems to be a pretty cool and friendly guy. I talked to him a bit later on (on Friday night) and found out that he was from Indonesia and had a comparatively easy trip back home (but that is not happening too soon since he still has a year left of studying here in Adelaide – he’s just moving to a more rural and cheaper apartment).
Laura and Alex have it not so swell: Laura has moved into her room, but two other girls are still there (one of which will be leaving in the next few days, the other staying for the term) so Alex has to temporarily stay in a different room in a different apartment (same building).
After a short period of unpacking the four of us reconvened to go shopping. Jess took us to Rundle Mall (what looks like a converted street that is about 6 or 7 blocks long with shops on either side, in the middle, and off all the side streets – somewhere around 160+ shops in that space) where we did some quick shopping at the only place still open: Woolworths (or Woolies) a kind of mini superstore (considered pretty large around here) to buy some essentials (for me consisting of sheets and some blankets for about $50 AUD – from now on, all financial numbers are in AUD unless otherwise noted) before heading back to our apartments to unpack and finally go to sleep.

Now I will interrupt myself once again to tell you all about a plague that will haunt us American’s for our entire visit here. Internets. Here in Auzzie land there is very little free Internet (only know locations with free Internet is Hungary Jacks – same company as Burger King – KFC, McDonnalds, and the library) and only a few hot spots (none of which have we found to be reliable). This has been driving us pretty mad, not from lack of Internet itself, but from a lack of communication with America. I too am frustrated by the lack of ability to communicate, but at the same time I am hoping that this will make me less dependant on the internet for my entertainment and hopefully make me turn to live people and become a better friend with my three friends, and any others I make along the way.

Day Two:

So, my fingers are now tired of all this typing and I will be much more succinct with this my second day here (I will go into more detail about some of the more important details of the town and what not in a later post).
For breakfast the four of us went to a little café just outside our apartment building called Espresso Yourself for a cheap $8 for a breakfast sandwitch and a 12 ounce latte. Then we went shopping at the local Target at the East end of Rundal Mall. Then the girls and guys parted ways due to different shopping needs. Then around 3pm we met up again at the apartments to go out again for mutual needs. First we ate a quick lunch at the Hungrary Jacks, then went to Rundal Mall for some other supplies. To be specific: to look into opening bank accounts, and get pre-paid phones. By about 7pm we had decided on the fact that we each were going to open temporary student account at the National Australian Bank (NAB) and we bought some pre-paid phones ($69 to get started and for the first month plan included, then $30 to recharge per mont - or a downgrade for $15 a month). The NAB seemed to be a good deal, we can close our accounts whenever we want, and there are no fees (except the normal atm fee if it is a non NAB atm), but I'm pretty proud of ourselves for the phones. There are 2 major companies (Optus and Vodafone) that we were suggested, and after doing some shopping around, then spending about 30 minutes descussiong and comparing, we chose to go with Vodafone because it had what we wanted. In the process, we actually found out that it is cheaper to make a call to the US than to any non vodafone numbers in Australia! But please limit your calls :)

After that we went our own ways to relax, unpack, and try to find some wifi in our apartments (didn't have much success). Later in the evening Ryan and I met up with Jess at a local club called the Duke for a $5.90 local beer. I also had locked myself out of my room (not out of the apt, just the room) and so got the spare key from Jess when she arrived.

More is to follow, and I'll go into more detail about currancy later and the layout of Adelaide, but for now I will close with my phone number and mailing address. I would love to get any mail from you guys that you feel like sending me! And my room walls are bare (as you will see in the photos that will follow in a few days) so photos or any sort of thing I can hang on the wall would be loved.

Until next time,

Cheers!


Mail:

Nils Echols
133/ 227 North Terrace
Adelaide, SA 5000
Australia

International Phone:
011 61 4 1571 8702