In Australia!

I am finally in Australia! You can tell by the change in flag.

There really isn't much to say. My dorm is all right; I have my own room, which is bigger than my shared room at Graham-Greenlee was. It is connected to a hallway with six other rooms, and we have a shared bathroom, lounge area, and kitchen. In the lounge is a Christmas tree with empty bottles of vodka and beer strung from it, so I'm not quite sure what to think.

There is only one other person here right now, a very nice guy from Singapore. Everyone else is away and probably won't come back until school starts in a week.

I haven't explored the main campus yet (I will do that today), but we do have a beautiful view from the dorms. The Hall is situated on a hill that looks out over the city to one side and the ocean to the other. From my desk I can see the water, which is a nice change. There is also a huge gum tree outside my window, and in it right now is a huge flock of lorikeets. It is amazing to see these parrots just flying around! Between the lorikeets and the eucalyptus, I might as well be in San Diego. When we were driving in, we saw rosy cockatoos just wandering around on someone's lawn. It was very cool.

Although I am happy to be here, I do have to say that I am pretty lonely. I hope that things will get better as more people arrive. I miss everyone so much!