We're here!!!! And it is awesome. And we have a palm tree for a neighbor. And the grass is green, oh so green.

We arrived yesterday after a around-a-bout tour of Sydney and all it's glory via our lost University free-airport pick-up shuttle driver. Oh, what a start. But amen to the big man upstairs we arrived safely to Herring Road. Then we did the usual doings for recently arrived study-abroad students, a.k.a headed to the mall down the block and jumped right in to supplies shopping, sheets, overpriced vegetables weighed out in kilograms, a pre-paid communal cell phone, and fantastic hot pink star sheets for Jeana.

Yesterday evening we were feeling a little America bleary eyed so we decided to head down the block (opposite direction from shopping mall) to The Ranch, hotel, casino, bar, restaurant, pool lounge, a chameleon of sorts. However, the night quickly turned into a realization that we were on the incorrect time schedule so we sang ourselves some nursery rhymes and were out by 11:30.

And up by 6:30.

And back at the mall at 8:30 realizing that no matter how expensive the shampoo may be ($9) it is a crucial supply that we must suck up and buy. And hungry at 12pm so headed to the UBAR for the international students BBQ which actually turned out to be an Asian mixer with us being one of 5 students reared outside of the Asian continent. But the potato salad was good and we met some new friends and then spent the rest of the day by the pool! However, it was a really hard day in the life of J&G seeing as there were at least 3 clouds preventing us from crucial sun time. We pushed through though and here we are at 8pm on Friday having some ratatouille and about to go see what Sydney has to offer!

Stay posted, pictures are coming soon!