Greetings from the other hemisphere

I've been in Australia for just about twenty-four hours, and it's still sorta surreal. I went from winter to summer, skipped a day, and everyone suddenly talks with an accent. Also, all the trees look different, the seagulls are smaller, and people drive on the other side of the street. It's strange to be in a city where English is still everywhere, but it still has the feel of a foreign city. I'm yet to see a marsupial, but I think I'll take care of that next week. Anyway, it's great!

The flight flew by, (pun intended), and the fifteen hours was full of snacks, lots of on-demand video programming, and frequent tea service. I also slept for seven of those hours. Going through customs took over an hour, but I got to see a food-sniffing dog lead a customs officer to an older woman's tote bag. The dog sniffed and walked around excitedly, before it suddenly sat down right in front of the bag. It turns out she was trying to smuggle in an apple. She claimed it was an accident, but the customs officer didn't seem to believe her.

Then I boarded a bus to take me into the city, and the adventures really began. I checked into my hostel and spent the rest of the day checking out downtown. I went to the Australian Center of the Moving Image and saw an interesting exhibit about Australian production designers in film. They had a lot of intricate models and sketches from various films, and they even had one of the sets from Baz Luhrmanm's new film Australia. I did some shopping, got an Australian cellphone, (feel free to call me at 04 1444 9804), and checked out a few pubs with some other people from the hostel. Okay, this is getting a bit rushed but I'm off to check out the Queen Victoria Market and a few museums. I'll keep you posted...