Opposites

Throughout the 14 hours I've been truely in Australia (I don't count airports or airplanes) I've noticed many different things. I love my college and hope to love uni once it starts. A few of the weird things that will take adjusting to:
1. Driving and Walking on the left. On the ride from the airport it was very unusual to be sitting in the front seat of the car on the left without the steering wheel. As Chris mentioned (he's from Boston) turning into the left hand side of the road makes you feel like you are going to hit a car. This feeling was enlarged due to the fact our driver seemed to be tailgating and not the best driver. Even watching roads from the airplane the cars seemed to be on the wrong side. I'm starting to learn to walk on the left side now but it feels very unusual.
2. Heat: The temperature when I woke up this morning (at 7:20) was 73ºF. The sun isn't even shining cause it's supposed to rain later. Dressing for the temp to increase to 93ºF (33ºC) is significantly different than dressing in New York where there is snow on the ground. I think I might have even gotten a little bit burnt during my few hours here but sunscreen is part of my daily attire.
3. House: I live in Hutton house (dorm) with 38 other people. On my floor it appears that 3 of the 18 people I can distinguish between genders by their names are guys. I'm not used to being so immersed in a male environment but I'll learn to adjust. I have an RA (Bob) just like at Fredonia.
4. Bathrooms: There are two bathrooms on my floor... both are coed. Although guys and girls share bathrooms, thankfully the doors to both the showers and the toilets latch very nicely. We also have our own sinks in our room which reduces the need to go to the bathroom. As I prepared to brush my teeth today I realized that I did not have to walk all the way to the bathroom which was a nice feeling.
5. Room: As I mentioned earlier, I have my own sink in my bedroom. The room is mostly concrete with nice green trim, curtains, and carpet. There is a bookshelf, a table, a bed (that's high up eliminating the need for bed risers), and very nice closets with five doors and two drawers. Each of the sockets sprinkled around the room turns off with small switches and I have two overhead lights and a fan. Plus the windows are very close the full width of my room and allow lots of light to enter.
6. Creatures: As I tried to fall asleep last night I heard the sounds of many different kinds of birds. These can be seen from my window and on my walks around college. As I moved in yesterday afternoon three kangaroos were hanging out by the door to Hutton House. This morning on the way to breakfast another two were laying in the grass and an additional two joined them in the nearby woods on the return.
7. Landscape: The grass is really green right now because it is the wet season. The fauna ranges from palm trees to trees I have never seen before but are beautiful. Since it is so wet many puddles exist along the grass as I learned from experience... take the stone walkways instead of cutting across the grass.
8. Food: The food appears to be pretty good at the college. It's very similar to high school where only one main meal is prepared. Apparently though when more students arrive the food gets repetitive. Right now only the new college members and some others (like the RA's) are here for O Week but the other 250 will arrive later.
9. O Week: This is college O Week for new students. The schedule seems to be very loose and includes fun things like shopping. The theme is Soldiers and Sergeants. I'll learn more about O Week (which started on Sunday) when I start attending things...in a few minutes.
10. Opposites: Here are a few things that are opposite. The door knobs turn the other way, the light switches you flip up to turn them off, and things start on time.

That's all for right now but I promise that pictures will soon be posted of my room (which will hopefully have some sheets instead of just the sleeping bag liner I brought and the pillow and blanket I took from the airplane), and around the college. It's shopping time now :)