Alright, here goes nothing! After a fun 30 hours in planes and airports I finally arrived in Perth, grabbed a cab and moved into my flat. I'm in the Student Village on campus, and I'll put in some pictures as soon as I get my internet on my computer working again. I got lucky enough to be in Flat #1 - which is the closest to the campus as well as the easiest to locate. My flatmates are Daniel, Alex, Alan, Toby, Sarah, Cho, and Stephanie. Only 2 native Aussies, 2 Americans *myself included*, one German, one from Singapore, one from Zambia, and one from Indonesia. Very diverse but they're all really cool people. Been down to the Kardinya shopping centre a couple of times now to visit the Kmart there as well as Coles (which is like an Econo foods or HyVee). Also got to meet some other cool international students (Tracey from Botswana, Kristin from Wisconsin, and Michael from Denmark). The orientation program has been great, they've bussed us to parks, shopping malls, and the Fremantle Market. They also help out a lot here and even fed us last night! Yay free food! I actually bought some hamburger meat yesterday so I'm going to cook, semi real food tonight for dinner. Wish me luck on that account! Today so far I've gotten my enrollment figured out, bought a "Smartrider" card (for student discounts on public transportation), opened up a bank account, and tried to get my internet fixed on my computer. On that note, apparently the gateway is down for most all students on private computers and they aren't sure when it will be back up - so all you Skype and MSN people waiting for me... it might be a long wait :(.

On a brighter note, I've only gotten sunburned on my part on my scalp (how do you put sunscreen there?!) but i think I may be getting some color. The hole in the Ozone layer is right above here so theres like a UV index they broadcast on the radio. Scary eh? The trees here are huge, and some are strange looking. Theres so much vegetation around campus, its sometimes overwhelming! Like the Jungle at Gustavus but it grows wild and everywhere. The birds here are also pretty neat. I've seen some bright green and red and yellow birds, some parrots as well. The crows here make noises like baby sheep! Honestly, the first time I heard one out the window I looked to see if there was some mammal outside. They're also exceptionally smart, I saw one perched on an outdoor water fountain the other day, turning the k*** with its talons and then drinking out of the flow. Other than that, I haven't seen too much wildlife - a couple little beetles and spiders but nothing too terrifying. Michael saw a spider outside as big as my hand apparently - I hope I never encounter that monster!

Well that's enough for now, there's a queue of people waiting for computers all giving me evil looks (not that I'm not used to that!)

Love from Perth!