"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia."

-Charles M. Schulz (American cartoonist, 1922-2000)

It's a funny feeling waking up in Australia, realizing everyone is still at sleep back home… But that also means that I have taken care of a long list of things, before people get out of bed in Denmark. A very busy week has passed since my last update. First things first: I am going to Bali at the end of next month… Oh, and I am out of Perth Prison (Vickery House). Last Thursday I transferred to Erica Underwood House on the other side of campus, where Emil and Pernille are also staying. My new room is a lot better than the old one (not to mention, twice as big) and my flatmates are all open and welcoming. I now live with two guys (from Japan and Taiwan) and three girls (from China, Indonesia and Sierra Leone).

The weather has been treating is kindly the first week (around 20C and sun some days) so we have been out exploring the city and its surroundings. On Wednesday we went to see the beautiful waterfront of Perth along Swan River, and on Sunday we went to Heirisson Island in the river and were able to check "See a kangaroo" off our to-do-lists. The first week also included a trip to the biggest mall in Western Australia (which wasn't actually that big) and our first night out on the town, which included a horseracing track, a lot of crazy Australians, a guy with a compass, and much much more…

Besides exploring the area, time is passed cooking dinners (and playing games) in the evening at each others' flats. We have been cooking a variety of dishes, and usually we are joined by a couple of flatmates (e.g. from Mauritius (!), China and Australia). The game of Cluedo has also seen its resurrection with a lot of interesting strategies being employed… In our common room at Erica they have table tennis (got my ass kicked by my flatmates), pool (have yet to play), a football table (undefeated champion), along with PS3, Wii and Xbox that we can borrow if we feel like it.

At Erica, the new trend seems to be "testing fire alarms". They have gone off four times in just three days in different apartments, mostly due to some Asians' inability to cook and use the fan, each resulting in a 300$ (~1500 kr) callout fee from the fire department. The first time I heard it go off was extremely amusing (probably more for me than for the guy receiving the bill) as the first thing I saw was a desperate Chinese guy running down the street to let the office know that there was no actual fire. Then, with the alarm still sounding all over Erica, the Australians (apparently used to the drill) took out their garden chairs to enjoy the sun, the show and wait for the fire trucks to show up. All along, the alarm from the apartment in question was sounding with a message taken straight out of a science fiction movie where the space ship has been shot to pieces or is burning up: "Evacuate now!... This is an emergency!... Evacuate now!".

Besides all of this, I can report that the long-awaited comeback of me to the football/soccer fields is under way, since I intend to join the prestigious (yes!) Erica Underwood House team to play against the other residences. I have been scouting more or less all shops so far for a good pair of soccer boots, but so far no result.

And finally, our introduction week with the other exchange students at Curtin started on Monday with a lot of boring speeches followed by a free lunch at The Tavern - the bar/pub at the school. Yesterday, 25 of us went on a trip to Perth, Fremantle (the port city of Perth), Cottesloe Beach, and Kings Park in Perth with Julie and Daniel, the exchange coordinators at Curtin. It was a very nice trip and we (the CBS people) got to meet a lot of nice people from other countries including Sweden, England, and the US. After the trip we all met up for a game of beach volley only to find that the people from the US play on their school team… Still fun though! Friday, many of the exchange students are going on a wine-tasting tour to Swan Valley south of Perth which promises to be a lot of fun. I'm sure there will be more about this in my next blog…

Take care until next time,

Michael

PS: Should any of you be interesting in sending me a postcard, my address is:

Michael Olesen

Unit 33

Erica Underwood House

209 Kent Street

Karawara 6152 WA

Australia

PPS: I also have an Australian phone number now, which is +61 0450642776, but it is probably expensive to use, so just send me an email or a message here on my blog if you want to contact me.