Arrival and the First Week

Hey all, sorry it took a little bit to get this going but I have been busier than all believe. Whether it was taking the bus to the city to get some food or enrolling in the school system I've been pretty busy. But a quick run down of what has been going on and what is good is as follows. The flight half way across the world is a long flight, luckily the long part across the Pacific I had some decent leg room and was able to catch a few Z's. Once I got of the plane in Adelaide I was greeted by a student from Flinders who drove me to the housing office. My first Australian mistake was trying to board the van on the right side, well guess what there is no sliding door on the right side only the van driver can enter on that side of the van. When we arrived at the housing office I was walked to my room which happened to be about a quarter of a mile away almost uphill the entire walk. Mind you I just got off the airplane with all of my luggage which consisted of 2 rolling bags, a backpack, and a laptop case. It would have really been nice if i didn't have to walk up steps and could have used the wheels on the suitcases like they are meant to be used. After I unpacked my bags and made my bed I thought WOW it is really quite here and I have yet to see anyone I know. Just about that time Stick (a friend from W&J) walked into the apartment and was I sure glad to see him. For the first couple days he led me around showing me what he had learned about the area for the short time he had been here before me. I am slowly getting accustom to the stores only being open from 9-5 and thats it. Hardly anything is open past 5 unless its a fast food restaurant or some type of pub/bar. We have gone out one night to a bar called Shenanigan's which was really enjoyable. It's not much different than the US except people try to get you to speak with an Australian accent then laugh at you, but all you have to do is have them say something in an American accent and laugh back right at them. I've enjoyed my stay so far and tomorrow we are heading to a wildlife reserve where we will get to see kangaroos and hold a kola bear. I will hopefully get some type of picture site set up and I hope you enjoy to read about my travels through Australia, but of course I still need to do some studying.