Salutations

7:30 am on the 17th of July - I've awoken at 5:30 both mornings due to jet lag, yesterday I went for a jog, today I thought I'd blog! It seems this summer was (and yes, it is now past tense for me) the summer of adventures as so many of my friends have travelled great distances to see different parts of the world. Having followed - and thoroughly enjoyed - both Gabe and Willy's blogs, I thought I'd do the same to keep friends posted back at home.

I got on a plane at Trudeau at 5:30 pm on Sunday the 13th of July, arrived in L.A. six hours later, and then finally arrived in Melbourne at 9:00 am on the 15th! In total it was a 28 hour trip. Even the brilliance of air travel which most tend to depreciate could not bellitle the distance one travels to get to the world down under. The Melbourne airport really distinguished itself from those in North America with farms and forests brushing the gates of the runway. On arrival I was very happy to get my tub of Kraft Peanut Butter and maple syrup through customs as I'm not the biggest fan of vegemite , (an odd east extract that New Zealanders and Australians adore).

The university picked a few other Americans and I up at the airport and drove us to various colleges (their version of residences). I'm staying at Trinity College, which is essentially a fortified castle built in the 1850s.

Now in my third day here this is what I have picked up:

• The architecture is beautiful here; a nice mix of old and new. You can certainly tell that there economy is in a much better state as all the new builidings have new and interesting designs.
• For some reason all the sidewalks are asphalt instead of cement
• If there was a scale from 1 - 10, where 1 is the most consumer oriented society I would give the U.S. a 10, Canada an 8, Europe a 4, and Melbourne a 6. Obviously this isn't Africa, but there is certainly a smaller variety of goods one can find...and they aren't at the same level of quality as at home.
• People are very friendly
• Contrary to foreign advertising no one drinks Fosters here! In fact you can't even buy it at any liquor store or bar.
• Melbourne is a huge city that has a small city feel.
• Everything costs a fortune, yet minimum wage is something like 15 bucks.
• There winter is a complete joke. Everyone is wearing parkas and scarfs, us North Americans are walking around in shorts and find it hard to sleep at night with the heating on. lol
• "Kiwi" doesn't refer to Willy as Charles Deslile would suggest but rather "New Zealernder," "Slab" implies a "teuf," "blind," "legless," and about forty other bizarre terms refer to being intoxicated (guess they all make sense)
• Aparantly Luxembourg has its own language - sounds like a mix of French of German

Well in my third day the novelty of travelling has not yet worn out so I have not yet begun to miss any of you. However I'm sure that will change quite soon. I'll keep you posted.

Enjoy the summer!

All best,

Jordan