Sydney at last!

It's fabulous! I'm here and I have recovered. At least from the jet-lag. Let's start at the beginning. I left Hamburg at 7 am and arrived at London a little after 8 am. I wasn't able to check in for the London-Sydney flight in Hamburg, so I had no boarding pass. At no point did we go to a ticket counter or get directed to a ticketing area, so I arrived at the gate sans boarding pass. I eventually got a pass and spent some time bumming around the airport. The first leg of the flight from London to Singapore was okay, besides sitting next to a man who used absolutely no deodorant. Luckily the ventilation was in full swing and that helped a little. We flew over Pakistan, Iran and India, which could have been interesting to see if it had been clear skies. Qantas takes very good care of their customers, but still don't give them more room than other airlines. We got lots of food: candy, fruit, sandwiches, soda, water, you name it. There were at least 50 movies showing, including documentaries and foreign films. There were tv shows galore: news, sports, Discovery channel shows, House, Bondi Beach Rescue (my fav)... There was also Tetris and plenty of music to choose from (including good REM albums). All this is very important on a 22 hour flight! We had one hour to get off the plane in Singapore while they cleaned up and restocked on fuel and food. We flew in over the NW corner of Australia and down across over Ayers Rock and into a cloudless Sydney at sunset. I got through customs fine and met my contact person in the lobby. Leaving the airport I was suddenly very aware of where I was - the landscaping includes these big tropical plants with massive leaves and the weather was amazing. A clear sky, 80 degrees, a slight breeze.... Wow. The woman drove me to what they very generously call an apartment and basically dumped me off. We are living in what is an old psychiatric hospital, and it looks like it's been abandoned. I won't be walking around at night, not because it's dangerous or anything, but just because it's a little creepy with all the old buildings and overgrowth and tall trees. Inside it's a long dank hallway with small rooms and unisex bathrooms - I've heard there are two guys staying here, otherwise it's all girls. It was a very sad impression I got of the place, and I was really looking forward to the morning and daylight so I could have a better look around. I hadn't had any dinner and the other two girls I'm living with were out for dinner and drinks, so I took a very long shower, ate a bag of peanuts and called it a night. My room had dead insects on the floor and some mites in the bed (live), but I killed them all and went to sleep. This morning I woke up at 5:30 to sounds I've never heard in my life. I don't know if it was a bird, an insect, an amphibian or a mammal. The racket was so obnoxious that I couldn't get back to sleep. Luckily the other girls couldn't sleep either, so we got up, got out and walked to a nice little place for breakfast. This summer has been a bad one for Sydney, with lots of rain and low temperatures, but yesterday and today were both in the low 100's and fabulous. Really amazing weather for a girl who is coming out of Denmark in February...! This suburb reminds me a little of Portland, the cafés boast free-range eggs and cruelty free bacon (how that one works, I'm not sure). Things are expensive, though, so I doubt I'll be eating out a whole lot, or maybe just not around here. After breakfast we walked around the grounds and took lots of pictures of the humongous spiders overhead suspended between the tree tops. We're not talking a buffed-up daddy long legs, we're talking tarantulas on steroids. There are bats and spiders and everything else to be afraid of, but so far no bites or dangerous incidents. We walked down to Rozelle Bay and dipped our feet in the warm water and decided to head out to Bondi Beach as fast as we could. A taxi drive later and we were there. Glorious! Absolutely glorious! People everywhere, blue water, nice waves, attentive life guards, it was glorious! Two hours later we were so cooked it was painful. In this time of pain and suffering, I comfort myself with the thought that my poor, schmuck classmates are back in DK riding their bikes through miserable weather on their way to their Danish departments while I'm sitting here basking in the sun in AUSTRALIA. Anyways, pictures to come later. A little heads up, we are borrowing Internet from other girls here, so I am not on regularly until I find an Internet café or get hooked up at the hospital on Wednesday. But hopefully I'll be able to get on reguarly and give updates. Tomorrow we're staying out of the sun and going to see downtown instead - supposed to be another great day! Only problem is, I miss Steffen... I don't think, after reading about the spiders, that he's going to make it down... :-( Talk to you all later!