Arrival!

WOOOEEEE!! That was the longest flight of my life. HAHA. It started out great! Kirsten (my elementary education travel companion) and I got all checked in and ready to board the plane. As we were head into the plane to take us to Dallas I notice the pilot and think, "what a great opportunity for flat Stanley!" I asked the pilot if he would take a picture with flat Stanley, he said no. Instead, he let me sit in the cockpit while he took the picture of flat Stanley and me in the captains chair!! It was amazing! The layover in Dallas wasn't too bad. Kirsten and I just grabbed some BBQ and checked out the Dallas Cowboys store. I was able to access and Skype my Grandpa, so I know it works! Although, I am now 15 hours ahead of minnesota so be wary of the time when you call... please.

The flight to Dallas was only three hours. A cake walk. I had no idea that the flight down to Australia was going to be 16 hours. I'm glad I was able to sleep through most of it. Not the most comfortable sleep I've had but it was fine. I was able to watch Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall, and Cloud Atlas the rest of the time. It went surprisingly fast! I had my shoes off during the flight and when I put them back on when we landed I realized my feet had swelled. What a weird experience! I was so excited when we landed! It was still dark (5:30am) and raining a little bit. But it was WARM! No snow :)

It was amazing how fast I started to notice little differences. I was looking for the restroom and they were all labeled "toilet" and when we were looking for the exits we noticed that they were all labeled "way out". Little subtleties.

Our guide picked us up from the airport and we were able to visit her home and freshen up; which was wonderful after the long flight. It was 7:00am and we weren't scheduled to meet our homestay families until 11:00 so our guide took us out to see a couple sites in Brisbane. We went up to a lookout and saw an amazing view of the entire city. It was breathtaking! The city was bustling and so GREEN! After that we went into the center of the city and watched the sailboats on the river. I could have sat there all day but we needed to get going to meet our families!! I need to add in that at this point I'm starting to sway from sleep deprivation.

As soon as I met my family I knew that it was going to be a wonderful stay! They are such welcoming and fun people! I have already heard so many stories of their childhood and how they met and got married!! And they are so accommodating! They bought lots of nummy gluten free foods for me. It was very kind. By the time we were ready to make dinner I was shaking! I took a short nap on the couch while it was being prepared and was apparently woken to have dinner--which I consumed and have no recollection of doing so.. But I feel much better today. Not so tired.

We have a full day of shopping in the city tomorrow and then the Australian Zoo on Thursday where I will be able to hold a koala and pet a kangaroo! I haven't figured out how to upload the pictures yet but as soon as I do I will get them up!!

7:20 in the morning your time Minnesota, but 10:20 here... time for bed!!