February 9th

"Resurrection Fern", Iron & Wine

Greetings from the future!

I arrived in Melbourne this morning after a flight which was not as bad as I thought it would be. I sort of slept through the night and while I'm still pretty jet-lagged it's more like a feeling of extreme fatigue as opposed to an urge to fall over and die somewhere, as so many people have told me they wanted to do after flying here.

It was so HOT when I got out of the airport it nearly knocked me over. I hate it. It's like 35 degrees and the sun is a lot stronger than it is back home. I was pretty liberal with the sunscreen so I think I was spared the worst of it. I met 3 other new students briefly when we were being shuttled back from the airport (one from finland and the other two from Canada) but I've yet to cross paths with them again. We all wanted to get to our rooms and shower and such but I'm sure we shall cross paths again.

The campus is nice. Very wild and filled with a lot of animals but everything is a little spaced out, especially from where my temporary housing is but it is only for a little while. I hope to get out of here and into a bigger and more comfortable place as soon as I can.

I ventured to the nearby tram station and nearly died of heatstroke on the way. I don't know how they stand it like this but they all seem happy enough. The accents are lovely and the people are super friendly as well. They're happy to meet a Canadian after hearing my own accent. The tram trip was in order to get groceries from the local "Coles" supermarket (a big chain down here). It was very nice inside and was, thankfully, air conditioned. The prices of things seem a little higher than in Canada which I suppose I expected but I'm now stocked up until Friday or Saturday. By that time I hope to have a bike or a better grip on the shuttle system that leads to the tram.

The notable sightings of the day include a "pet washing station" at a nearby petrol station, a significant selection of Vegemite products, and in general a lot of different nationalities represented. All who read this should understand that I already miss you and miss being home. Seriously. I can't wait to see you all or hear from you again. Give me some time on the postcard/mail thing. I'm still trying to figure out where I am. More to follow soon!

Ian