i'm here!

i'm new to this blog thing, but it sounds super cool....so here it goes. some of this might get a bit repetitive since i've e-mailed a few of you, but you'll just have to deal with it. (sorry)

i left omaha airport at 4:31 pm on July 7th. i arrived in sydney, australia on july 9th at 6:00 am. that seems like a long time to be flying, eh? well, i totally lost a day. the flight from LA to sydney was only 14 hours and at night so i slept most of the way. the flight wasn't bad at all. they kept shoving food at us...even like at 4:30 in the morning. that was one thing that kept me occupied.
anywho...

i'm attending the university of wollongong in wollongong. (imagine that!) it's about 80 km south of sydney along the coast! the population is a little less than 300,000 people. i live in apartment style dorms called campus east. it is not on the main campus, but it is, however, only a 5 minute walk from the beach...and the beach is beautiful! i can't wait to hang out there and read a book, swim, surf!!!! i love it! i've met a lot of americans so far as well as australians. people felt sorry for me 'cause i didn't have any roommates for the first few days...but it comes to find out i have all australian roomies! which is awesome in my opinion. most people have other americans in their rooms. i've only met two of them so far, but they are sweeties! they gave me a comforter today so i think they're keepers. ;)

i got here saturday and today is friday. i can't believe i've already been here for almost a week. time is going to fly by so fast! i've just been getting used to my new surroundings, taking little day trips around wollongong, shopping for necessities (yes, the tops and and sweatshirt were a necessity, mom!), and making new friends.

today a group of us from campus east went on a hike to mt. keira. (one of the mountains in my backyard. ;) it was awesome! i felt like i was in the middle of a rainforest. awesome trees, boulders, natury stuff, etc. (ellie, i saw a parrot and a kookaberra...i'm definitely keeping my eyes peeled for all forms of animal life and will take pictures for you!) from the top of the mountain we had a great view of wollongong! it was well worth the "strenous" hike!

like i said, i've met lots of americans from all over the u.s. some from colorado, the east coast, the west coast, etc. - so most of them have some sort of mountains, beach, and/or trees, but i keep oooing and aahing at everything and i think it is partially due to the fact that i live in a flat, treeless, coastless land...not that there's anything wrong with that. ;) but i found it kinda...funny. in other words, i'm soaking up all the different landscapes!

yes, yes i'm here during their winter. i know many of you were "concerned" about that. the temperature has been probably in the 60's lately. they measure in Celsius so i'm just going off the emily thermometer. but it has been comfortable - mostly sweatshirt and jeans weather. it was perfect for the hike today!

well, i'm off to a campus party. "freaks and geeks" is the theme...i guess i won't have to dress up for that one. hardy har har...that's the overused joke going around here. (not just about me....;)

okay, thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers! toodles!