January 8

I arrived in Sydney after a 2 hour takeoff delay in SFO. Predictable United... The delay on the other end was only about 1 hour, so I was pleased that I had 3 hours to make it through customs and declaration before catching my flight to Brisbane. They are really strict about the agriculture that you bring in, and apparently they have search dogs sniffing the premises. EF said that they let her in with Fig Newtons even though it had "real fruit" in it, so I'm not quite sure the criteria they use...

In any event, when I landed in Sydney, the weather was beautiful. 75 degrees. Takeoff was gorgeous. I wish I had whipped out my camera earlier because the water was so blue and crystal clear. You could see the waves crashing on the shores in organized little riptides. I didn't know it, but Sydney is one hour ahead of Brisbane. So what I thought would be a 30 min. flight was actually a 1 hr and 30 min. flight. It aparently had been quite stormy in Brisbane before I arrived, so it was really disappointing to touch down onto a wet and cloudy runway.

I easily met the driver at baggage claim, which I had been worried about. It was really kind of unsettling the way things were left off. The driver dropped me off at the entrance to Emmanuel College, located on Saint Lucia campus of the University of Queensland. I met the lady at the front desk, who checked me in, gave me a key, and basically sent me on my way. So I had no idea what I was supposed to do next or when and where I should show up the next day... wow! Luckily, there was a HUGE group of Stanford students in the lobby when I arrived, including DS and SW.

A whole lot of us decided to wander around campus. I was still wearing pants, and boy, it was muggy. The campus is really quite beautiful. It's so lush and green... I can't really place the feel. Right now, it's just so tropical that it reminds me of Bali almost or Hawaii. We saw some really strange birds--they've all got insanely long legs. It's really too bad that I had forgotten to bring my camera.

We did stop by the Great Court on our small tour around the place, and it really reminded me of this one courtyard in England, outside one of the churches. It was just the shape of the arches, the placement of the trees... But the colors of the buildings are the strangest I've ever seen. Apparently it's made of sandstone, which is a sign of prestige.

After dinner, DT, DS, EG, and I wandered around Emmanuel College trying to find various places. We ran across some tiny geckos and some species of toad. Emmanuel College seems like a really nice place to live during the school year. There are only singles, they have a gym, music rooms, dining hall. Apparently at UQ, your GPA determines what kind of housing you can get.