The stressful trip to Australia: The taxi man picked me up and made a bad turn and we moved 20 feet in 20 minutes.. the clock was ticking (I was trying not to stress)... good thing I try always to leave early.. one hour later I get to the airport... Get to the 1st class counter (thank god for air miles and elite status) and I was told I could not board as I needed a visa (of which I did not even think about, nor did I get- go silly American traveler)... the ticket agent said I could possibly get an instant e-visa and took me down to the business center.. where the Internet was not working.. (a little more stress) then thankfully I got taken down into the depths of the Beijing Capital Airport.. get my instant visa! (YEAH Thai Airways and YEAH Australia for having e visas for those of us who never think of needing a visa!)... Get my ticket with a few minutes to spare... get through customs... realize that I forgot Brook's dads present at the ticket counter.... The security man said I did not have time to go back and get the Chinese made walking stick... he saw my face of stress.. and asked a lady to call over and see if it was even still there... I sat down and she had the Thai airways person bring the cane to me :) Drama OVER!! Get on the plane and all is smoother from then on! Brooke came and picked me up with a coffee in hand! (LOVE HER) and barely anyone in the airport! We even missed all the storms!
I am definitely missing my family, but getting an amazing experience here and the Normoyles are taking me in and treating me like family! Trevor is making sure I learn some Strine! (That's Australian- Mate!) It has been unseasonably cold here and quite rainy so far, but each day the weather is getting warmer and I think it is supposed to be a beautiful 28 degrees Celsius.
I got to have a Melbourne experience... We saw Flinder Street Station on Swanson which is where everyone meets under the clocks. (Here comes a little 'strine (Australian) verbage.. "Went into Young and Jacksons had some tucker (food) and VB "(Victoria Bitter beer other wise known as Vitamin B) and saw the famous Young and Jacksons Chloe (Naked woman portrait- google it) I got a chance to see the Australian Philharmonic Choir sing in St. Paul's Church. The acoustics were amazing and you can listen in... It was a beautiful experience!
We went and saw the Myers Christmas Windows where each year they depict a theme.. this year was the Nutcracker. Each window depicted and told part of the story.
Then Brooke and I went and visited some of her friends down by the bay. I knew one of them, Carla, who came out to Beijing last year, so that was fun. I tasted a famous Australian fish called.... and it was lovely!
Lauren, Brooke's sister and i went shopping at.... which was quite fun and yesterday, Brooke and I biked down the Dandenong Range which was really fun and invigorating! We rode through huge forests of Eucalyptus and Paperbark trees.
It is hard to download pictures here as they don't have quick in all of Australia, so I will add more pictures when I get home!
So far I have been welcomed into the Normoyle household with loving and open arms and I feel so lucky to get to be here with Brooke and her family!
More updates later
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