Reconnected.

I now have a phone that works, my Mac, and WiFi in my apartment. I am reconnected with the world outside Sydney, and boy, does it feel good! 

First things first: my new Australian phone number is: +61 4502 92203. I have unlimited worldwide texting, so don’t be surprised if you get a text from this number. Not sure how much it costs for others to text me (from other countries), so you may want to check that out before bombarding me with texts. 

Family in California: Did you notice what the last five digits are? That’s no coincidence. I could choose the last five, and naturally I chose our Californian zip code. Easy to remember!

I have been in Sydney for less than a week, and there has been so much going on these past few days. Getting settled in, learning my way around, socializing with new people, and mentally preparing for a new semester in a foreign country. So far everything has gone smoothly, and I am loving every minute (except for when I saw a ginormous Australian spider…Yuck). 

Both The Village and the International/Student Exchange Office have arranged lots of events and trips for the incoming students. BBQs, surf trips, movie nights, game nights – lots of opportunities to socialize with others. There are lots of international students here, and most are very outgoing and interested in making new friends. Everyone wants to meet as many people as possible, phone numbers are exchanged, and Facebook friend requests are sent. We are hundreds of miles away from home, and we don't want to be friendless for the next 5 months. Time to become a social butterfly!  Isabelle and I have been hanging out with a group of people we met at a BBQ our second day here. Aside from Australians, we've met people from all over the world: United States, Norway, Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark, UK, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Netherlands, Greece, and Turkey… Just to name a few. Hurray for not being loners at Macquarie! 

The past week has been very eventful. BBQ at the Campus Hub, festivities at The Village, visit to the Featherdale Wildlife Park, trip to Bondi Beach, reunion with our Norwegian friends, karaoke, and (of course) countless of trips to the Macquarie Mall. Tomorrow we have an orientation meeting, followed by a harbor cruise. I haven't had a chance to upload my pictures from my Canon to my Mac yet, but I will share some pictures from the past week as soon as they are uploaded. In the mean time, here's a picture from my iPhone of a cute koala named Noah and myself.

Love, 
Suzy