Orientation Week and Encountering Australian Wildlife

Well, I've nearly completed my first week in Australia, and I've already made a few friends. I moved into my on-campus residence, and my housemates are wonderful. Even though I'm in the International House only one other student and myself are not from Australia.

Here's a quick story about my first encounter with Australian wildlife. My second morning at the dorm brought in a guest: a 4-inch grey, furry spider! He or she was over my door, so I rushed out of the room and knocked on a couple of the guys' doors, hoping that someone would still be in their room. Thankfully, one guy was still in the house, and he grabbed my boot and killed the spider. Of course he did this all very calmly because as an Aussie he knew that the bigger spiders are generally not the poisonous ones. But let's just say that my attitude toward the preservation of all God's creatures ceased when I saw the monstrous, eight-legged creature in my room.

In other news, this week was orientation week, a kind of Gig 'Em Week, for everyone familiar with Aggie lingo. So I enrolled in my classes and signed up for a student organization. I also met my host Rotarian club, the Rotary Club of Ginninderra, and the Rotarians are really great people. I'm looking forward to getting more involved with them as I settle into a normal routine. Also, I went on my first tour of the Old and New Parliament Houses today. Ian Foster, my host counselor, drove one of my Australian friends and me to the civic part of Canberra and guided us around these buildings. It amazed me how little I knew about the history of Australia, yet Ian seemed to know quite a bit about the history of the U.S. He's a good teacher, though, so I should learn quickly.

Next week, I start classes, and I'm looking forward to using my time in a more productive manner.