Hello Brisbane!

A week ago from today, I hopped on a plane from Chicago to Brisbane Australia with some stops in between (Detroit and LAX). The total trip took 22 hours, with the leg of the trip from LAX to Brisbane being 14 of those hours. My mom and dad dropped me off at the airport. It was a difficult goodbye. But as I walked through the TSA line, I knew I had an adventure to start.

I arranged for transportation through my Australian university to drop me off at my new apartment where my friends Sydney and Patrick greeted me with excitement. It was 12pm when I got to the apartment, so I threw my things in my new room and we went out for burgers (delicious!!). Walking around the city and taking in the new scenery felt very refreshing to me. I love exploring new places-- whether the new place is a city I haven't been to, a hike I've never done, or a new restaurant in Chicago. It was also such a beautiful day, high of 75 degF and a low of 55 degF. It's winter in Australia (and the rest of the southern hemisphere) which is normal weather for this time of year. I was getting use to the +80 degF in Chicago, so this is a bit chilly for me. Across the river is the downtown center (where it feels like home) and has many parks throughout the area. The city is not necessarily a concrete jungle--Brisbane has many opportunities to incorporate plants and nature within the city limits. The stores are different too: for groceries, clothes, makeup, etc. is all inside of a  mall, instead of a store having it's own building space.

The jet lag was horrible: going to sleep at 6pm and waking up at 3:30am was a bit of a struggle for the first 3 nights, but this actually helped me explore my neighborhood with morning walks at 7am. There's a running trail along the river near my apartment, and twenty minutes into the walk I stumbled upon a farmers market (too bad I did not have cash on me, or else I would have bought a yogurt for breakfast). There was also a food festival that weekend too! Of course, I bought steamed dumplings, berry ice cream and a mango smoothie. 

I also had orientation at my new Australian university, where I explored both campuses and found some student organizations I will join during the semester (there's a hiking club!). The campus gave the exchange students free "sausage sizzles" which is their version of a hotdog: a small sausage on a slice of white bread (what happened to the poppyseed bun??) with caramelized onions. That was my wake up call that I was not in Chicago anymore. Just wait until I try their version of pizza (haha)! 

On Wednesday July 19th, Sydney, my friend from the airport Maddie and I drove up to Mt. Coot-tha to go hiking for the day! The hike was a lot of fun and the view of the city was amazing! I'm always a sucker for a great city view. Maddie drove in her car and picked Sydney and I up at our apartment. I was a little freaked out when I sat in the front left seat as she drove on the other side of the road, but I'm getting used to it. Usually when I go places, I'll take either the ferry or the bus. There's a ferry terminal 2 minutes away from me and a bus stop up the street, which is very convenient.

There's more to come! I'll be going to a koala sanctuary on Sunday, starting school on July 24th and I'm planning a trip to Sydney, AUS! Enjoy a couple of pictures I took from my first week in Brisbane!

Ferry Terminal