Day 1

(Note: to the people I promised an update as soon as I was settled, know that I was doing so when I decided to "rest my eyes" at 3 pm and woke up 13 hours later. Eyes sufficiently rested.)


Four million people. The largest metropolitan city in the world located in a place so vast that cities are built to last off rainwater, rainwater collected because the ground is too arid to retain it. A city where an 11 year drought is not out of place and is known for the worst right turns--thank God I'm not driving.

Melbourne Airport.

Arrived in Melbourne at 8:10 a.m. after prying myself from the seat. Don't get me wrong, Virgin Australian is the best airline I've been on, but any seat you've been sitting in for 14 hours gets old, especially one that's molded to your body. I received my first Australian stamp in my passport, chased down my 6 months worth of luggage and managed to lose my travel partner for a few moments. She was stopped because she had checked yes on the incoming passenger card for the possibility of her shoes retaining foreign soil since they had been recently worn at a lake.

Rest assured, her shoes were in no way soiled.

We were greeted by a stout looking woman who was both cheery and very much Australian, holding a "TO GO TO AUSTRALIA" sign. Not very descriptive if you ask me, but a free airport pick up is after all free, no matter how poorly labeled. After meeting other students along the way from Illinois, Virginia, London and Serbia, we were all routed out to our bus driver. Now talk about typical Australian. The man burst out of his bus complete with baggage trailer and puts his hands on his hips while surveying our tiny group of what I'm sure read, "Tourists." (I may or may not have had my camera out.)

"So this is the newest lot ye'r bringin' to me? Couldn't do any better?" he says to our guide.

"I'm afraid this is it."

So he starts calling out the names of our destinations of which were all a little confused until we realized what he was doing. The luggage of the farther destinations went in the back and so forth. After having his fair share of commentary on the weights, colors and sizes of our luggage we were all seated in the bus and ready to go.

"For you Americans, you ready to learn how to drive on the right side of the road?"

I'm pretty sure he meant right in both senses of the word.

Let me tell you, our driver was well versed in politics, economics and small irrelevant details of not only Melbourne, but of all of the cities represented on the bus. He gave a fantastic tour of the city, beaming with pride the whole way. Of course, he had more to talk about with the boy from London. I'm afraid it's true. He was more knowledgeable in worldly happenings than the rest of us.

(Now, as a journalist, you may think I took this as an offense and began to at once go around consuming as much info on international affairs as possible. Nah. I comforted myself with one important fact. The boy was English.)

A mere reflection of the sun.

Back to Melbourne. From what I've seen so far, which is surprisingly little, it reminds me of San Diego as far as how spread out the city is. It just feels clean with growth of different trees scattered about. The main part of Melbourne is a giant rectangle so public transportation is set up on a nice grid. It is winter now, and I only wish our winters were like Melbourne's. It was around 57 degrees when we stepped out of the airport and the sun was out. It's one thing I'll have to get used to. The sun puts off so much more light in Australia than in America. It's very bright and quite unwilling to go unnoticed.


Anyway, the chill in the air was not unlike early fall mornings in North Carolina when you step out with a coffee onto the dewy grass only to realize if you are going to stay any longer, you might need a jacket and pants.


Regardless, with the warmth of the Australian sun, I think winter will be most enjoyable.


There is a large Asian population in Melbourne and it is amazing how fashion conscious the whole city seems to be. Even little kids, who were surprisingly in the elevator without their parents, were dressed in pea coats, stockings and boots that I'm sure were costly. There are large skyscrapers, too. I think whoever planned the city said plan up and plan wide. However, every so often you will stumble across pockets of the "old Melbourne," which, all in all, are refreshing.

 I ran into a little bit of a doozy at the hotel. You see, must hotels require a holding fee, which I was well aware of. What I was not aware of was the fact that the clerk managed to push the magic button that wiped all of my money from my banking account instead of the required amount. Figures.


China Town in Melbourne.

So, for now, until they can get in contact with my bank (not until Tuesday here) I guess I will meander moneyless. Haha don't worry, I have Australian cash. This reflects back to the most important travel tip you can really give anyone. Prepare for the worst. Pessimistic, eh? Helped me so far so I'm not complaining.


Anyway, it's getting early, so I'll wrap this up. Walked around a little with my travel partner and discovered China Town. The place is freaking awesome. I've never seen so many authentic Asian cuisines in one place in my life. (Then again, I've never been to Asia either.) Unfortunately, we didn't get to explore the whole of it as our stomachs were starving, so we ate at one of the first Chinese restaurants we came to. The Singapore Rice Noodles were legit. I was happy to correctly identified leaks, which were included in the dish. It's the small things.


Other than that. Back in the room. Safe and sound. And my sense of time is nonexistent.


Will post soon!
Cheers.