After 24 hours of consecutive travel, I finally made it to AU! The trip, thank you Jesus, was fairly uneventful. I think the worst leg of it was actually the Nashville-LA portion. For some reason that flight seemingly lasted forever. I had a bit of a heartattack in LA I arrived. I went to get my bag (because usually when you fly internationally, you have to recheck your bag) and after all the luggage was out, my bag was missing. I tried to control the panic welling up inside of me and went to tell the baggage service people about my missing luggage. After standing in line for 20 minutes or so, I was finally helped and told that my bag was checked all the way through - a nice surprise after thinking that I would be luggage-less in Australia. Just before I boarded the plane I began to get panicky and so I popped a Xanax (thanks Dad!). I slept for the first 5 hours or so and then just watched movies (Harry Potter and Julie and Julia) and 30 Rock.
Landing in Australia was surreal. I felt totally at peace and kept thinking "This should feel weirder than it does" but was glad that it didn't. The customs people were really nice and the man who stamped my passport talked to me for about 10 minutes. I had no problems going through and then just had to find my ride.
I found Dale and Dot with ease because they had a sign with my name on it. They were both extremely nice and instantly put me at ease. For those of you who don't know, Dale is the one who manages the house I am living in. Dot is a woman from the church and she came along with Dale to collect me from the airport. The ride from Brisbane to Gold Coast was about an hour long and we all just talked the entire way. I was very comfortable being with them and that can clearly only be attributed to God. We got to the house around 10 in the morning and after a quick tour, I headed to my room to unpack a bit and force myself to take a nap so I would be able to stay awake during church at 4. My roommates (flatmates, I guess) were not around when I arrived but I met them later. I will post some pictures of the house later but it looks just like the pictures I was sent so if you saw those, you know what it looks like. The front of the house is where Dale and his wife live. The kitchen and living area connects to two areas of the house. There is a bedroom just off the kitchen that is vacant but will be filled in January I believe. My room is off the living area and is next to the bathroom and toilet. Sue (my flatmate) has a room across from mine. The two of us share a bathroom. My other flatmates, Emma and Vivian, live in the garage that has been converted into two bedrooms. They have a separate bathroom.
I went with Dale to church that afternoon. They were showing a movie called Expelled, by Ben Stein. It was very interesting and dealt with Intelligent Design vs Darwinism in the context of the creation of the earth. I would recommend seeing it. I met a few people at church, including Jordan, the guy who set me up with my accomodation. We didn't stay long after church because I could feel the jetlag setting in and was feeling a bit wobbly. I don't remember feeling this way from other flights but it was as if I had my sea legs and hadn't gotten used to being on stable ground again. Anyways, we got back to the house a little after 6 and I was in bed by 7:30 or so. I slept pretty soundly and did wake up at 4 am but was able to make myself go back to sleep until 7.
I have been awake now for about 3 hours and have yet to accomplish anything. I have considered wandering around and may still do so but for now I think I am going to force myself to get some work done for my online classes. I have some reading to do...
PS: I have Skype so if anyone wants to download it (for free) we can chat! My name is baileykgaw
2/1/13
9 years ago
