After a long planning process and months spent dreaming about this journey, it has finally arrived! For those of you who are unaware of our exchange program, Mandy and I are on our way to Canberra Australia (the National Capital!), where we will be attending the University of Canberra, or UC, as everybody calls it down here.
This blog is just a way to share our travel experiences with friends and family still at home and take note of all the amazing experiences we will encounter.
A drive. A flight. A break. A LONG flight. A bus ride. A tour around the city and FINALLY we arrived safely in the land down under!
Our journey began at the Toronto Pearson Airport with a teary goodbye to our loved ones as we smoothly passed through customs and found our way to the departure gate. At this point, we still couldn’t believe that we were momentarily about to fly across the world, but 5:45pm eventually rolled around and we stepped on the plane heading to the first stop, San Francisco. Flying with Air Canada provided us with the luxury of individual tv’s on the headrests with a modest selection of movies, radio stations, and tv shows. After watching a few movies, almost finishing the crossword in the back of a tabloid magazine, and trying to tell myself that the shaking and sketchy noises are just part of the normal flying experience, we arrived in San Fran around 8pm (11pm in Toronto). Unfortunately we couldn’t see the city, but we did enjoy it’s incredible glow of city lights from up above. The city seemed to glisten as far as the eye could see and the reflection of the lights in the water made the view even more magical.
The airport was surprisingly easy to navigate and we made our way to our gate with plenty of time to find some food at an overly priced café on the way…meeting a woman who also knows someone in Toronto! What a coincidence!
While waiting for our next flight to depart at 10:37pm (1:37am in T.O), the accents began to change and people started appearing in flip flops and tanned skin. Getting more excited as every minute passed by, we fantasized about the beautiful weather, new environment, and new people we would encounter. We finally boarded the massive plane fully equipped with two floors and four engines and headed to our cozy economy seats. Although, my excitement began to die down as I settled into my middle seat and came to the realization that the 13 and a half hour flight would be pretty painful to endure. Thinking I’d be able to sleep for the bulk of it seemed like a joke when I saw how little space there is to get comfortable and heard the constant roaring engines. There was also a lack of luxury, as individual tv’s were not part of this massive aircraft. Darkness was all we saw as we flew over the Pacific for what was surely the longest night of my life…seeing as we flew across the international date line and skipped Friday entirely. A few meals were served during this flight, although my appetite was not quite the same as usual, and the rubber omelet for breakfast was just not quite the same as home. With only a few broken hours of sleep, 7:45am finally rolled around and we found ourselves safely landed in the cloudy, humid Sydney. Finally we could see the water and feel the warmth!
Getting from Sydney to Canberra was also pretty painless as we had James, our friendly helper at the concierge desk, arrange a coach bus for us to hop on. After a relaxing ride through the Australian countryside, our friendly Aussie professor from the University of Canberra, Amanda Evans, offered to pick us up at the terminal and proceeded to drive us (on the left hand side of the road) on a guided tour of the major parts of the city. She also treated us to coffee (flat white) and a “fizzy drink” (aka “pop”) at the beautiful Burley Griffin Lake, which I’m sure we will venture back to. After learning a bit about the history of the city and some of its buildings, we headed to “Uni” and got settled in our residence. Mandy and I are bunking together in a 5 bedroom apartment in “Globo” res…not really sure why it’s called Globo. This week so far has a sort of surreal back-to-first-year-feeling, with getting set up in residence, not really knowing what to expect and meeting many new faces.
I’m not sure if it’s the jet lag, the heat, or the obnoxious birds, but we can’t sleep past 6am the past few days. Hopefully this will change as we get settled into our new surroundings. There are a few things that are different from home and somewhat frustrating to have to get used to, but this is all part of the experience of living on the opposite side of the world. But for now, we’re continuing to explore the campus, soak up the 37 degree weather, and slowly begin to learn the Aussie way of life.
Sending my love from down under!
Laura
