home sweet home in Cleo's

I have arrived in Fremantle (Freo)! So I will be okay if I do not have to fly again for a while. The trip was so long but surprisingly pleasant. Tai and I got such cool people sitting next to us on every flight. From PDX to LA I sat next to a woman named Rachel who moved to Perth 8 years ago and told us all her favorite places around here. She even gave us her phone number and email so we can contact her and learn more about Perth and Fremantle and places that we must see. After our 3 hour layover in LA where we had an expansive not so amazing Mexican dinner and managed to ask 8 people before we found where we needed to be, we had a 15.5 hour flight to Melbourne. In the airport we met a 55ish year old man named John who was a bit creepy and decided to sit in the middle of our huge group of girls in the airport while he pretended to be on his computer and then "casually" joined in conversation and repeatedly asked who would be his drinking buddy and announced all drinks for us were on him...But after boarding, we didn't see John again. On the long flight to Melbourne we sat next to a girl from Boston College who is also studying abroad at University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA). Theeeeeeen, I managed to get lost in the Melbourne airport and struggle getting my bags rechecked and through customs. On the way to Perth we sat next to a man from Boise who was meeting  up with his fiance who is from here. Overall, we got super lucky and I am scared for the flights home because I know I cannot possibly get so blessed again to sit next to such cool, normal people.

So now I am settled in in Cleo's. First thing I did was shower. It's so hot here and after flying for a million hours, it was much needed. The cold shower was amazing other than the cockroach that climbed up my leg. And other than the roaches in the bathrooms, Cleo's is great. I am living in the quad with Cat, Clara, and Tai. We have a family dinner tonight and got some basic info and rules and our class schedules. Cat and I have every class together. I have classes Monday and Tuesday but none Wednesday or Thursday and only 1 class on Friday mornings with all the other American students. The next few days are filled with orientation meetings and events. So for tonight I am off to bed and hopefully I will have some pictures posted on facebook within the next couple of days. (: