Change is good... it's called "adventure".

I’m officially in AUSTRALIA!  That’s right… I’m down under.  It all started Wednesday at 3pm.  My mom drove me to the airport where we met my dad.  I flew with my friend Holli.  We arrived at the exact same time to the ticket counter… first good sign.  The lady at the ticket counter was my FAVORITE.  She was awesome – so excited for us and so happy.  I loved it… second good sign.  When Holli and I were waiting for our first flight, I bought a pack of mentos and the first one was pink… third good sign.  And we were off!!  The flight to LA was no big deal.  We talked the whole time and had a blast.  We got to LAX and it was nuts.  We didn’t know where to go, but ended up being just fine.  It’s almost like we’re two very capable adultsJ .  We boarded our flight to Sydney and got all settled in.  They fed us dinner, then turned the lights down.  I slept off and on for a few hours, read a book, watched a movie, then just sat and reveled in the excitement of the approaching decent.  For a 13.5-hour flight, it went really fast!  After twenty-four hours of travel, we had gained nineteen hours and were officially in Sydney.  We made it through customs no problem, got our bags, and I helped Holli find her shuttle before I boarded the train out to my housing at the University.  At the platform a guy saw me walk up with my huge suitcase and perplexed expression and asked if I had just arrived.  He was a talker!  But super friendly.  The rumor is true… everyone that I have met so far has been incredibly friendly and happy!  I got on the right train, but got off two stops too soon – that was too bad, but just back down to the platform and was off again.  It was crazy trying to meet up with Holli – we didn’t have phones or internet… what’d people do before technology?!  I walked around the area a little and then met up with Holli eventually and we attacked the mall.  Well, not “mall”… “center”.  We were actually correctedJ.  We tried to get phones, but the mall closed at 5:30pm – a shock to us for a Friday night.  We’ll get phones in the morning.  I got to see Holli’s apartment and meet her roommates and then we both came back to my dorm room, blogged and tried to stay awake through a couple episodes of Boy Meets World.  It is currently 7:45pm Friday night in Sydney, 12:45am Friday morning in the states, and I have not slept in a bed since Tuesday night.  I’m looking forward to sleep.  We’re off for a big adventure tomorrow!  I don’t know what it’s going to look like yet, or what we’ll do, but it’s my birthday, I’m in Australia and LIFE IS GOOD.  Time for adventureJ.

PS…

A boy, probably 6 years old on the flight yelled, “It smells like yogurt and I’m NOT eating it!”… I laughed SO hard.  It might have been sleep deprivation, but it was still funny.  The universal picky eaterJ.   

And at the mall there is a super cute, small bakery called “Hello Happy”.  The wall says, “When you smile, the whole world smiles with you.”  I found sunshineJ.

Speaking of… 80 degrees and sunny today – SUMMER!