First Day at Uni

Woke up before 7:30 am this morning.  Lou escorted us to Uni; we took the express train from Yeerongpilly to Park Street then hopped on the bus which took us right from Park Street to the Uni.  I am very excited to say that in the entrance to the building in which we have our lectures, there is a very very large crocodile hanging from the ceiling.  He reminds me of the crock in Peter Pan, minus the clock.  

We met all of our professors today as well as the people who run the program.  At 11 am, we had tea time! We all went outside and UQ had trays of pastries and sweets along with tea and coffee set up for us.  Two things that stood out more than anything... 1) they had real china out for our drinks, not the paper crap we always use at home and 2) the coffee was in tea bags!  This is perhaps the most handy thing I have ever encountered and it makes me wonder why we don't have coffee in little bags at home.  Perhaps I'll start a coffee in tea bags company when I get back to the states and make a fortune for my self. :)

After tea time, we were all given our very own Australian bush hats!  They have University of Queensland written on the front.  We were also given our "go cards" which can be charged with money to make public transit faster and a little less expensive; it cost A$3.90 for a one way bus/train ticket to UQ this morning.  I feel like the greatest expense I'll have while in Australia will be transportation to and from Uni every day.  

After the school day (well not school, you can't call it school over here or college either, 'cause everyone thinks you're referring to high school.  And if you ask someone who goes to Uni something about "school" or "college" they'll get offended.)  So anyway... after we were done with our business at Uni, a bunch of us hopped on the CityCat, a catamaran that shuttles people up and down a portion of the Brisbane River.  That was a fun experience in itself; it was a new way to check out the rest of the Brisbane area.  The regular commuters were taken aback by the sudden onslaught of about twenty American students.  After getting off the cat, we wandered around an outdoor mall area for a while checking out the differences and similarities between American and Australian stores.  Alina, Amanda and I had to find our way back from the city to our homestay without the help of Lou, but we managed perfectly well.