I Made it to Melbourne!

My weekend was a bit of a blur, but I arrived in Melbourne (Melbun, if you're Aussie) in one piece and with all my luggage this morning. My departure out of Atlanta Friday morning put me in LA at 1pm, at which point I spent the day enjoying LA (that's my friend Anh and I above, after biking up to Palos Verdes) before departing at 11:40 Friday night. Fifteen hour flight later + fourteen hour time difference = goodbye Saturday, hello Sunday morning 8am in Melbourne. That's 6pm Saturday evening, Atlanta time. Trust me, the experience was as confusing as its recount. I did manage to sleep quite a bit on the flight, even more than I sleep at home sometimes :) So I arrived wide awake, ready for an adventure. I guess you could say my taxi ride from the airport to my apartment was an adventure. Australians drive on the left side of the road, so I don't think I"ll try that any time soon, seeing as how my driving abilities aren't the best to begin with in "normal" driving conditions ;)

2.bp.blogspot.com/_EFnRjkRXmpo/RrYhA-f2eMI/AAAAAAAAAAs/JhfqVBWsSQA/s1600-h/Picture+030.jpg">My apartment is great! It's very modern, white, and simple - you can see my kitchen on the left. To the left of my suitcase is an all-in-one washer/dryer, which should be quite interesting to try and figure out. The picture on the right is the city view I have from my balcony! Also, after careful inspection, I was disappointed to find that my toilet does not flush counterclockwise - or anticlockwise, as they call it down here - but rather, straight down.

I spent the day walking around the city with my friend Lane, a fellow Alpha Chi at Georgia Tech, and now a co-worker who was shipped down here after one week with Amdocs. It was chilly, about 50, so we brought our coats. Apparently, August is a windy month in Melbourne, but they tell me the weather will start getting quite nice around mid/late September. Our first stop was the Queen Victoria Market, about two blocks away. Hilla, you would love this place! A little pricy though, a kg. of cherries cost $10AUD. The exchange rate right now is $1USD : $1.17AUD.

After we left the market, we ran into a couple of camels in the middle of the street. Carson later informed us that camels are actually quite abundant in Australia. You don't say.

There were quite a lot of people out and about enjoying the day. The demographics here are interesting - lots of Asians. The city (CBD) is fairly small and planned better when compared to the Atlanta metro area. You can walk from one end to the other, and it is split into ethnic districts - Chinatown, Greek streets, Little Italy. The fashion is also interesting. I believe Melbourne got stuck somewhere in the 80's - I don't think I've ever seen so many leggings, boots, and brightly-colored, oversized sweaters in my life. But the people here are so nice and friendly!

We also took a stroll to my new office. Behind the cathedral in the picture on the left, you can see three buildings. The tall skyscraper in the middle is the Telstra office, our telecom client down here. The left-most building is our new Amdocs office, which is where I'll be working. I'm quite excited to be able to walk to work, a new concept for me given that my previous daily commute in Atlanta was 45 miles round trip. In fact, I'm pretty excited not to have a car at all :)


Another co-worker, Sammy, who will become my salsa dancing partner down here, met up with Lane and I afterward, and we ducked into a quaint little coffee shop close to the office. That's Sammy and Lane on the right.

All-in-all, not too much of a culture shock. There's even a Target here, complete with 80's style clothes! But I am definitely feeling the jet lag (14-hour time difference), seeing as how I woke up at 4am this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. I will probably need a few doses of caffeine throughout my first day tomorrow. Till the next time, cheers!