(Ba da da dum) "It's beginning to look a lot like...Easter?"

It’s that time of the year again, the inevitable consequence of the earth revolving around the sun, when the weather starts changing, the birds start migrating, and it is time to finally change over your wardrobe to…sweatpants and hoodies. I don’t want to rub it in, but as all of you are reluctantly looking forward to having to wear flip flops and shorts and getting forced into a swimming pool though you really don’t want to, I am psyched to start taking twice as long to dress in the morning due to the twice as many articles of clothing I get to put on. You know you’re jealous. ;)

No really though, Australians are rather wimpy when it comes to the cold. Last Thursday, for instance, was a mildly blustery day prompting me to wear a light jumper (that’s a hoodie with a zipper, or a jacket) only to later discover an email from my professor with the condolences, eh em, “Hopefully you are all enjoying our wretched winter weather. Brilliant isn't it.” I wanted to reply that my friends back home certainly enjoyed their wretched winter weather as they tromped to class in their parkas through the seasonal blizzard, but I thought better of it. So so spoiled…

"It's almost winter you say? Nahhhhhh I'm not fallling for that, silly human. You just want me to migrate and keep all your delicious cheeseburger crumbs for yourself." - Barty the Dimwitted Brush Turkey

But there are certain perks that come with the onset of winter. Like, for instance…Easter...?. What could be more wintery than decorations of painted eggs, baby chicks in nests, and cute Easter bunnies? GASP, did I say cute? Bunnies in Australia are apparently not cute. They are, according to my Australia’s Terrestrial Environment instructor, a vile, invasive, habitat-destroying, obsessively-multiplying species that shouldn't warrant celebration on any holiday except “National Let’s Eat All the Vegetation Day.” But fortunately for you little Aussie boys and girls who still want to run around the lawn hunting chocolate eggs (they hide the actual chocolate here, not silly plastic eggs with candy inside), certain environmental masterminds have created a new, completely Aussie way of celebrating Easter:

No, he's not a mutant bunny from Mars. This cute little guy is a bilby, and he’s a real animal, a suspiciously rabbit-like native Australian marsupial that is endangered due to competition with rabbits and other introduced species (thanks a lot, Europeans). A friend of mine, shocked that I’d never heard of the Easter Bilby (I mean seriously, was I raised under a rock?) loaned me her clever children’s book that both explains how the bilby took over the Easter Bunny’s job when all the other potential bunny successors were too arrogant or lazy, and successfully instils into little Aussie children’s hearts that bilbys are in every way superior to those other actual bunnies. It was a such delightfully enjoyable read, I read it twice.

The best thing about the Easter Bilby is, like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy and other vital magical childhood beings, he manages to find you no matter how remote your location. For instance, say, the world’s largest sand island.

Yes, amidst 5 glorious days of dune-jumping...

...frog-hunting...

(he's kinda cute for a toad)

...leaf-analyzing...

(it was a class field trip after all)

...and lake-swimming adventures (ironically we couldn’t swim in the ocean unless we had a strong desire to die by jellyfish, shark attack, or rip current)...

on Fraser Island, we still found time to hunt some good old easter eggs (I even found a whole chocolate Easter Bilby, tasty!)

He didn’t stay long though, as along with cute little critters Fraser Island is also home to the largest purebred population of dingoes.

I know what you’re thinking: “aww he looks just like my sweet, tame, innocent puppy at home!” WRONG. Incidentally, a little girl was attacked by one of these "cute" guys while we were on the island. I’m not kidding: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/26/dingoes-maul-girl-australia-attack_n_853706.html. Don't mess with the cuteness.

Having narrowly escaped dingoes, cars driving 80km on the beach (it’s the highway on the island - watch where you sunbathe), and having to learn about yet another difference between the two predominant types of trees, I returned home from Fraser, only to 6 hours later jump onto an overnight bus on my next field trip. Exhausting? Uh huh. Worth it? Most definitely. Because we were going to the Great Barrier Reef.

(Nemo and friends say "hi")

I have often wondered to myself if there really is some black-hearted person in the sky with a set of knobs an levers who, returning from his Easter vacation, realized he was backlogged on his rain and wind quota and decided to dump it all on the poor vacationers and research students on the “tropical” Heron Island. Yet despite being a perpetual state of wet, and having two boat snorkels, a night snorkel, and a scuba trip cancelled due to 25+ knot winds, we all still had a fantastic time becoming professional plankton-catchers...

(My what big eyes you have!)

...starfish-hunters...

(chillin' with my five-armed homies)

...and, drumroll, BABY SEA TURTLE RESCUERS!

(Insert collective "awwww" here)

Finding Nemo may pull off a pretty cute surfer-dude baby turtle, but nothing compares to watching one of these little guys make his way all the way down the beach to the sea. TOTALLY WICKED DUDE.

(be sure to turn on your sound)

Alas, my epic mid-semester break adventures quickly came to a close, much like the semesters of my friends are back home, and much like this blog entry is about to. But take heart! Our journey together is long from over, intrepid adventurers. If you dare, we will brave the even more certain dangers together, including...a long 14km hike (okay technically this field trip was last Friday, but I didn’t want to rewrite the entry – check out the link at the bottom of the page for some spectacular views of Lamington National Park and a very-Aussie-hat-wearing tutor!) … a fancy formal “ball” (coming this Friday)....an Aussie-Rules football game (nothing beats watching guys beat each other up)...and more! It will be greater than a chocolate fudge ice cream sundae…on a pancake…which I’m having on Tuesday…now you’re jealous.

(Check out my facebook albums for a more detailed report of my mid-semester adventures!

Fraser Island: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1758383361759.2095319.1304250203&l=c2d2404e65

Heron Island: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1758548765894.2095328.1304250203&l=98683dbddf

Lamington National Park: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1770070213923.2096082.1304250203&l=b6e9f55ec2)

Meet Me on the Melbourne Trail

So I was chilling with some of my Aussie friends the other night when the topic came to childhood computer games (why not?). I thus went off on my typical spiel of the true genius of old-school Oregon Trail. (You remember Oregon Trail? Shoot some bison. Cross the Meramec. Good game.)

I then noticed the concerned looks on the faces of my friends, and a couple of realizations hit me:

#1: Aussies don’t play Oregon Trail. Maybe Outback Trail, or Crocodile Hunting Trail, or Sentenced-to-18-years-on-an-island-penal-colony-for-stealing-a-loaf-of-bread Trail. But there ain’t no Oregon this side of the equator, at least as far as I know.

#2: I must really watch my accent, else I perpetuate a stereotype of sick-minded Americans who raise their children on games suspiciously titled, eh ehm: “Organ Trail.” Ahh nothing beats the classics: “You attempted to ford the river and your wagon tipped over. You lost: 2 oxen, 150 lb of food, and a spleen.”

Speaking of travelling, I’ve been doing a bit of that myself recently – not in a covered wagon, mind you. But I did set out on an intrepid journey last week with Kerryn (my Aussie slash South Australian slash uber-Melbourne-enthusiast) as we decided to conquer: the Melbourne Trail.

[I apologize to my Aussie friends who don't get this]

Here are some excerpts from the trail-log of our weekend adventure:

Thursday, April 7, 4:01pm - You lost the trail on the way back from Fort Bio Midterm. Pay $30 to take the (late) ferry across the river to Melbourne.

Thursday, April 7, 8:45pm – You have reached Melbourne – Cultural Capital of Australia. What would you like to do?

- Attempt to ford the tram river [click]

- Caulk the wagon and taxi it across.

<-- quite a treacherous tram system

Thursday, April 7, 9:45pm – You successfully forded the river.

Thursday, April 7, 10:00pm – You have reached Fort Backpacker’s Hostel. You bought:

- 1 8-person room

- 4 loud Englishmen

- 2 Irish folks with excellent accents

- 2 earplugs

Thursday, April 7, 10:30pm – Englishboy1 has died of fiancé-cheating-heartbreak. What would he like to do?

- sit around and mope

- take money saved to buy a house and travel the world for a year [click]

Thursday, April 7, 11:00pm – Englishboy2 has died of no-work-in-the-northern-hemisphere. What would he like to do?

- move back in with parents

- run off to Australia and hope someone will hire you [click]

Friday, April 8, 9:00am – You found a broken down hostel kitchen wagon, it contained:

- 3 free breakfasts

- 3 free questionable dinners

- 0 free internet (hey, it’s the 1800’s people!)

Friday, April 8, 2:00pm – Emily has caught tourist-fever. You lost 6 hours at the Aquarium, Federation Square, Botanical Gardens, and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

<-- me mingling the indigenous tiki-men

Saturday, April 9, 10:00am – Kerryn and Emily have caught shopping-bug. You lost 1 day looking for deals.

Saturday, April 9, 1:00pm – Your wagon was attacked by a candystore. You lost:

- the notion that Poptarts are a breakfast food

Saturday, April 9, 3:00pm – You find 2 shoppingbag wagons. You found:

- 3 souvenirs for friends back home

- 1 souvenir for a sister

- 0 extra cash

Sunday, April 10, 7:00am – You arrived at the Great Ocean Road. What would you like to do?

- caulk the pocketbook and rent-a-car across

- pay to take the tour bus [click]

<-- Taking the ferry is always a good choice

Sunday, April 10, 3:00pm – Stormy weather. You lose:

- 2 dry pairs of clothes

- 1 frozen companion on the bus

<-- brrr why is Oregon so cccold?

Sunday, April 10, 4:00pm – London Bridge has fallen down. Lose 2 days.

<-- Where did London Bridge go?

Sunday, April 10, 9:00pm – You successfully forded the Great Ocean Road.

Monday April 11, 3:00am - Mymind is lost. Lose 1 night's sleep as you attempt to find the cheap-airfare trail.

Monday, April 11, 8:35am – Congratulations! You reached Home! Let’s see how many photos you received… [check them out here! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=1733220972715&id=1304250203&aid=2090351&l=a03f5c177c]

In other traveling adventures, I attended a school-sponsored gladiator fight, disguised as a “research project,” and won first prize and a couple of squishy fishees:

<-- My sister and I have very intelligent conversations when we skype

If you’d like to meet the contestants, here are their mug shots:

<-- the little guy doesn't stand a chance

I then travelled to another planet, where I took this fantastic shot of a star supernova-ing behind my head:

[more pictures from my Moreton Bay/crab-hunting/sun-setting trip here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=1705573721551&id=1304250203&aid=2088576&l=6b4fb25bce]

I also travelled to the ends of the earth to indulge in two of the greatest pleasures of earthly existence: pancakes and chocolate.

Pancake Manor (aka 24-hour medieval-looking heaven on a plate):

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar (aka OMG everything on their menu is made of chocolate):

Ahh, nothing beats the good taste of my two favourite treats from home. Speaking of home – I finally mailed some postcards today! (Though it's just now midterms here, it kind of snuck up on me that there's only a few more weeks left of classes back home!)

Well that about sums up my travel escapades, fellow adventurers. Check back next time for an exclusive look into my next treacherous journey...the Spring Break Trail.

It's Peanut Butter and Jelly Time...Aussie Style

Wow, it’s been longer than I thought since I last updated. I have this grand goal of updating more frequently and thus keeping my posts shorter than a novel’s length, but it seems my inner verbosity has gotten the better of me again. That or maybe I just got out of the hospital after getting mauled by an angry koala. Don't be fooled by their cuddly looks friends...I have proof:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8oLu7znwQ0

Anyhow, today’s post *dum da da dum* is brought to you by…the letter S:

School (that’s why I’m here, after all)

Shared Birthdays (who knew 21 was a big deal in a country when you’re done gaining "rights" at 18)

Scuba Diving (might have seen some cool stuff)

Some more funny Aussie Anecdotes (which will explain the title of this post, but you’ll have to wait until the end!)

Sorry about the stretch on that last S

1. School

Yes, contrary to what it looks like on facebook and my previous blog entries, I am going to school here. Interestingly (or not, depending on how you look at it), UQ classes are very similar stylistically to those at Wash U, with one noticeable difference:

Class sizes aren’t capped, meaning you can have hundreds of people sign up for a class.

<-- My first Aussie lecture, okay maybe not

I initially thought, as you probably did, that that sounds like a great alternative to Wash U’s screaming mad race-to-sign-up-for-your-class method of enrollment.

<-- This is the first image that comes up when you Google Image Search "people running madly." No seriously. Lentils?

But don’t worry, UQ still makes you feel right at home when signing up for Tutorials, small mandatory break-out sessions that you have to wake up at 6:00 am (yes, I did this) to register for. Ahh uni.

2. Birthday!!!!

So, I fully expected to have the lamest 21^st birthday ever, as I was becoming “legal” in a country where “legal” is soooooo three years ago. Not true. America must have truly infiltrated Australia when they make such a big deal about a birthday that changes absolutely nothing except that all your birthdays from now on will be pronounced in three or more syllables.

Aside from talking about it for what seemed like weeks beforehand, my friends made my first birthday away from home incredibly special, complete with a beautiful hand-painted card,

...super touristy Aussie thongs (that’s a flip flop, folks)

...an epic music video starring two very, uh, talented people, and TWO packages of Tim-Tams.

Have I told you about Tim-Tams? They. Are. From. Heaven. No seriously, the best chocolate biscuit (that’s a cookie, folks) I have ever tasted. I don’t know why we don’t have them in the states. The Aussies must be hoarding them all. You are all trying one because I’m bringing back a lifetime supply (finances depending).

=

Oh, how could I have forgotten, I discovered during O-Week that I share my birthday with someone. Err, I mean, with someone else... ;) This someone else not being my twin but an absolutely awesome Aussie friend of mine (who turned 19), who also happens to be the inspiration for the title of this blog, but will remain anonymous because this is the internet after all.

3. Scuba Diving!!!

As the title of my Facebook album so keenly (that’s an Aussie word that means pretty much whatever you want it to) puts it, I spent this past weekend “Down Unda’…the Sea!” I went diving with a UQ club called Unidive, which I’m glad I didn’t join just to “meet more Aussies” because pretty much everyone in the club is international: Canadian, Swiss, German, Colombian, New Jersey-an, you name it. I guess everyone wants to take advantage of the amazing diving while they’re here, and we certainly weren’t disappointed. Four dives at North Stradbroke Island showed us green seaturtles, huge manta rays, and, well you can just check out my album to see what else lies in the deep blue down here:…

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2086767&id=1304250203&l=433ddb31bc

Oh, and here's a plain, boring old video of some fish...at least it was going to be:

4. Aussie Anecdotes (Back by popular demand…more or less)

[Disclaimer: In case my friend is reading this, this convo has been enhanced for dramatic effect. A lot. Blame it on my poor memory. Or my uncanny flair for the dramatic.]

Me: Man, I’m glad I’m living at Duchene, because last summer when I had to cook for myself, I pretty much lived on PB&J.

Anonymous Aussie Friend: PB&J?

Me: Peanut butter and jelly, it’s pretty much a staple of the American college diet. Along with Ramen.

AAF: Really? It seems kind of gross to me.

Me: Couldn’t be grosser than your Vegimite sandwiches.

Another AAF: Hey, don’t diss the Vegimite.

AAF: No seriously though, I tried it once, putting jelly with peanut butter and toast. It was…well…interesting…

AAAF: Dude, that’s because you're not supposed to use jelly, you use jam.

AAF: Nah weren’t you listening? The J stands for jelly, not jam.

After getting my fill of amusement from this conversation, I finally revealed what was in fact so funny. In Australia, “jam” = American “jelly”, and “jelly” = well…

Trust me, Americans may be on the other side of the world, but our taste buds aren’t quite that upside down. Then again, it probably still tastes better than Vegimite... :)

Let's do the Timewarp Again - "Freshers" Week 2.0

Have you ever looked back on those first few weeks of freshman year and wished you could do it all again, now that you finally have a handle on college life? You know, getting to meet a whole lot of people jumping at the bit to be your friend, stuff yourself silly with free food and drink, and stay up till dawn at crazy dress-up parties without the lingering fear that people won't like you, you'll get lost on your first day to class, or you'll accidentally dye all of your clothes red because you've never done your own laundry before? Well, let me tell you friends, this past week I have done just that, and it was FANTASTIC. Being the only 20 year old (almost 21!) amongst a bunch of nervous 17/18 year old Aussies made me realize how much more self-confident I have become since my own "fresher" year two and a half years ago. The past week I have met a fantastic bunch of friends, who love to try to imitate my accent (it usually sounds pretty hick) and with whom I celebrated the end of O-week yesterday with shopping, a movie, ice cream, another movie, and Friends episodes until 1 in the morning. Sweet.

As for the week itself, here are some highlights of Duchesne's "crazy" parties:

"Ugly" Party (don't judge please)

"Beauty and the Beast" party (we dressed up, the guys looked like, well, their beastly selves)

"Tropicana" party (not "Hawaiian," as I incorrectly called it numerous times)

Toga Party (yes, that is my only bedsheet)

You might be wondering, perhaps, what is this "Doo chez nee" place Emily keeps talking about? Well, first off, it's pronounced "Doo shayne", and it's a residential college on campus, but much more self-inclusive than Wash U res colleges - think Harry Potter, but no magic, no boys...and no air conditioning (yikes). It's not too bad as the climate's temperate, but there are lizards in the bathroom which can scare you in the middle of the night, 'cause they leave the windows open. Here's some pictures of my room:

An interesting aspect of Duchesne that I wasn't expecting is that most students here are from rural areas. Most urban/local people commute to campus, so for many of them it's their first time in a big Aussie city too!

My favorite thing about the past week was the fascinating conversations I've had with the Aussies I've met, which along with being mesmerized by my accent (I've worked on toning it down a bit - I've even managed to get a few people to guess I'm Canadian before American, for what that's worth) love to discuss US/Australia differences such as:

- why we have silly $1 bills - 1 and 2 dollar coins are the way of the future, mate

- why the heck we don't use the metric system (I told them I have no idea either)

- why we call people who are anti-abortion and big government "conservative," while they call them "liberals" (our "liberal" = their "labor" party, just a bit confusing if you're daring enough to initiate a political discussion)

- how amusing it is (apparently) to imagine Mexicans literally "jumping" over our southern border fence

- if frat parties are really as wild as what they show on GREEK

In fact, apparently 90% of what Aussies know about the U.S. comes from what they see on our TV shows. "Oh, you're from Chicago mate?" A toga-clad fresher inquired to my friend Friday night, "Oi yeah, I know the place. It's where ER takes place, right?"

But speaking of frat parties, I was pleasantly surprised to find that, unlike Americans who merely grind with their more-or-less-significant-other all night on the dance floor, Aussies (for the most part) actually dance. Radical concept, I know. Though they do share our problem with underage drinking - the drinking age is 18 here, which is kind of a problem with 1/4 of the freshers being only 17...

I've got to go to dinner, but I'll leave you with a few pics from the Lone Pine Koala Park, the highlight of which being I CUDDLED A KOALA, yep yep yep. Good times.

KOALA FRIEND!

Life is good.

Lorikeets - the most beautiful birds I have ever seen.

If you're interested in checking out more pics from my adventures so far (and don't have facebook), click the links below. Ttfn.

"The Land Down Unda" http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2085118&id=1304250203&l=6db45bc1b9

"G'Day Sydney" http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2084390&id=1304250203&l=c08e39a5b6

G'day from Australia!

At last, my intrepid blog readers, I have access to the internet from my laptop! Which can only mean that I am alive and well in Brisbane and must now attempt the feat of condensing the past week’s cyclone (that’s the Aussie term for “hurricane”) of activity into a succinct-ish post that wont use up an entire month’s worth of internet for you to read it…oh wait, internet access isn’t paid for per gigabyte in the states! Just one of the many rather subtle cultural differences I have already taken note of here in the land down unda. Check out a sampling of the list so far:

1) Everything is more expensive in Australia. Everything. For instance, I sauntered into the local Subway (yes, they have them here) and discovered this awesome deal:

Okay maybe it's just $2 more than the ubiquitous "$5 footlongs" in the states, but hey, it adds up.

Of course, when you consider their small population size (20 million vs. our 300 million) and isolation from the rest of the planet, the price difference makes a bit more sense, but it doesn’t make me any happier about paying $16 for a tube of sunscreen. Speaking of sunscreen…

2) There’s a hole in the ozone above Australia. Nobody bothered to mention this little fact before our overcast two hour beach walk, during which I applied sunscreen twice and still got burned to a crisp. Ouch. Lesson learned. (Note: I just checked the interwebs, and it looks like the scorching UV rays are due more to the direct angle of the sun rather than a weak ozone layer.)

3) The “Green” movement in Australia puts the U.S. to shame. Every toilet has dual flush (as opposed to only the fancy “LEED triple platinum plus yada yada certified” buildings in the U.S.), power outlets have on and off switches, you get nasty looks if you don’t recycle on the airplane, and most buildings have minimal AC or heating because the weather is temperate and who needs to be wearing a sweatshirt indoors in the middle of the summer anyways?

4) “School”, “College”, and “University” are three entirely different things. School = grade school (K-12), College = where you live while at University, University (aka “Uni) = your academic institution. I thus endured a share of confused looks informing my Aussie friends that I “go to school at Washington University, a college in St. Louis.”

Much more to come on that list for sure, so stay tuned. But now we must turn to:

Emily’s 4-Day Sydney Travelogue (the Abridged, Condensed, and Painstakingly Shortened version)

Friday: Spent over 30 hours in transit, including an 8 hour layover in which I paced laps in the very short LAX terminal with a woman named Kate, who, after passing me suspiciously two or three times going the opposite direction with her wheely suitcase, caught on that we had the same technique for passing the time. She was super friendly and memorable because she claimed she just saw Snookie in the airport bathroom. Alright.

Sunday: Wait, where did Saturday go? Who knows. I’ll let you know if I find it in my luggage someplace, because I arrived in Sydney a whole 16 hours ahead of you slowpokes back in the states. Ask me anything about the future and I’ll be taking your questions in the order I receive them. Our tour group of approximately 24 college students stayed at a super nice hostel (as far as hostels go), and took a walking tour of Sydney, which looks similar to most American cities except for this little guy pecking around everywhere like an Australian robin:

Needless to say, I felt about as touristy taking his picture as someone taking a picture of a common gray squirrel back at Wash U, ‘cause these ibises were pretty much part of the landscape.

Monday: I PETTED A KANGAROO. LOOK AT ME:

My life is complete. No really though, Featherdale Wildlife Park was full of native Australian animals including kangaroos, koalas, dingoes, emus (they were really ugly, the poor things), and dangerous, man-eating crocodiles (no men were harmed when we were there, fortunately). Here’s an awesome video of one jumping to grab his dinner:

We also went to the Blue Mountains, part of the Great Divide Mountain Range (I believe it’s the third largest in the world). It was a bit foggy/gross, but we did visit a beautiful rainforest down in an old mining valley that was truly worth the steep 57 degree angle tram ride down and up:

Tuesday: Beach walk on Bondi Beach AKA toaster oven (see anecdote above about the sun). Beautiful beach though. Pete our trip leader grilled us some super cheap “bangers” on the “barbie” (translation: sausage on the barbecue).

Wednesday: Emily became a surfer chick. Okay that’s a bit of a stretch, cause surfing was TOUGH. Lots of fun when you do hop up on your board ahead of the ominously encroaching wave behind you, and find you’re standing on water for a few brief seconds, but swimming back out to sea towing a giant slab of foam against a strong current and an angry sea god pelting you with waves is exhausting (as is that long run-on sentence I just wrote). Fortunately I bloodied and bruised my knee pretty bad on the shallow sand, so I got to take a rest early. I was, of course, a bit worried about this but the surfer dudes simply quoted me the popular Aussie phrase: “no worries” and offered me a band aid. No worries.

Thursday: Flight to Brisbane in which I sweet-talked my way out of a $40 excess luggage weight fee, so I felt pretty good about myself. Met Ann, our on-site director, at the airport, who is just plain awesome and eternally young at heart. Moved in to Duschene, my res college at UQ, in the pouring rain, and met Sister Catherine, the most archetypal all-women’s catholic college principal (read: “headmistress”) I have ever met (old fashioned dress and incredibly sweet demeanor). I'll do a more detailed post on Duschene later.

Friday: Due to the rain, my exploring of the campus was delayed until Friday, when I walked outside to discover the view from the front porch of my college:

Yep. I am going to school in a legit tropical paradise. Complete with, you wont believe it, wild cockatoos right outside on the lawn:

Too. Cool. (Though, if it makes you feel better, they are a bit loud, and the birds plus the ridiculous humidity and no AC makes sleeping at night a bit of an adjustment.)

Okay, I think I’ll stop there for now. Orientation Week starts Sunday, so I’m sure I’ll have a lot to report on after that’s all done. I'm in the process of uploading my many more pictures to facebook albums, and will posts the links to them here as soon as I do. TTFN!