Brisbane Week 1

Today marks the end of my first week in Brisbane, Australia. Everything is so different here than in the states. There are no four-way stops, instead they have all these round-abouts that I guess helps to keep traffic moving but are annoying and make streets harder to cross. I have also yet to get used to the fact that you need to look to the right before crossing the street instead of to the left. There have been so many times where one of us has walked out into the street and nearly been run over because we look the wrong way before crossing the street. The weather has been unbelievable. Warm and sunny. The last two days; however, have been very, very hot, making the walk to campus almost unbearable. Speaking of walking to campus, it is a nice walk, not too far and not too many hills and there is a "Ghandi Mart" on the way there that we stop at every now and then.

The view from our rooftop is gorgeous. You can see parts of the river, uni, and several parks that are located on the river. The river can be a pain in the keister, separating the city in two and making it necessary to find a bridge to cross. To help make this easier, the city council has started the City Cat, a high speed ferry system that can get you through the city and also to other parts. There is also a lagoon here, and it is cool because it is more of a beach type thing with sand and stuff. It is located right on the river, so you look out over the wall and see the river that we are not supposed to swim in because Bull Sharks have made the river their home.

During one of our days here, we went down to the Gold Coast and spent the day at Surfer's Paradise. It was beautiful but also very touristy so that kind of put a damper on things. Classes start again on Monday, it has been weird being here not doing anything and hearing from people from back home and how they're studying for finals and all this crap. Hopefully school goes ok and doesn't make me want to kill myself. I shouldn't be under too much pressure since my grades don't transfer back so we'll just take it easy and not worry too much so that I can hopefully make the best of the short time I have left in the land down under.