What do you associate with the term "winter"? Snow? Ice skating? Christmas? … Certainly not 15C, sun and wearing shorts…? That is, however, exactly my reality after arriving in Perth for my exchange semester.

I got here after two very long flights (10.5 hours to Bangkok and then another 6.5 hours to Perth) on July 18. Luckily, I was travelling with three other Danish CBS students (Emilie, Pernille & Emil) so we had more than enough time to get to know each other a bit better. Getting some sleep on the planes seemed impossible due to the height I have reached and especially two very inconsiderate Australians on the second flight. Therefore, it was a relief to get off the plane in Perth to find nice weather and one of Pernille's friends waiting to pick us up. So we crammed 7 pieces of luggage + hand luggage and 5 people in a Ford Falcon and headed to Curtin.

I was dropped off at 18.00 at Perth Prison (or "Vickery House" as my residence is most commonly referred to) and shown to my cell (2.5 m x 3 m) in an all-male facility. As night fell, the temperature dropped to around 5C and since I only had my sleeping bag with me it was a bit cold. Thus, I quickly went a bought a linen pack the next morning to stay warm during the winter nights. The house is a one-storey house with a small kitchen and living room, six individual rooms, two toilets and two showers. The people living here are friendly and all… but it doesn't change the fact that the residence was actually my 5th priority and that the other people from my school live in other residences around 1 km away. As I quickly realized I would get fed up walking that distance every time I was to meet them, I looked into the possibilities of switching to another residence and it might just work out (fingers crossed!).

Besides the housing issues, everything is lovely down here. Campus is beautiful, but a bit confusing to find your way around. We have been sorting out most of the practical stuff regarding classes, student ID, grocery etc, but the introduction does not start until next week. Thus, we have a lot of time to explore. Perth is a very nice city. We went to the center to have dinner the second evening, and today, we will go there to have a look at the shops.