The Rollercoaster

I hope your interested in a long post. :)

Well, to begin I am writing this first draft, of my first post from Australia in a magazine I purchased in LA. Yes, I thought I needed to start my blog with that and not “Oh my good I am only less than 3 hours away from Sydney” Although of course by the time I get a chance to post this blog, that will be history.

Oh and as I write like the third draft of this post it is raining outside and it is soothing to hear…

Do keep in mind I did start writing this during a very long flight...and continuing it after not getting any sleep since (the second draft of this post)

It was not until I was on my flight from Tucson to LAX did I realize that this was really happening that I was going to Australia. It was then I started to get nervous and wishing I got off the plane. But it was at that moment that the plane started to take off. I was reminded then how much I love flying. My father used to fly private planes and he took me flying once or twice. At that moment any second thoughts I had vanished.

I then get to LA which was overwhelming but at the same time I was awestruck at the beauty of LA, at least the very small piece of it I saw. Seriously, bright lights, tall buildings... I now want to go back to LA for a real visit.

In order to get to Quantas (and most other flights esp. international) I had to go outside. Don’t worry for those who need it, LAX provides a shuttle service to the different buildings.

If you have ever been there, you might now what I mean. If not, I’ll try to explain it…imagine tall buildings everywhere But not only buildings but imagine a dome (it is located in LAX, it is the main control center) and to go with it, imagine it is dark outside. No stars just the lights from the buildings and the bright colors coming from the dome. Also picture roads, everywhere, some even in the air! In the center the roads that are going in the air are tall poles that light up in bright colors!

Once I got through security, found my Quantas terminal, ate (Burger King which btw was my 3rd hamburger that day...haha and I think LA's Whopper Jr. tasted different from Tucson's) it was while I was waiting at Quantas that I had to fight back tears. I had just gotten off the phone with my mom (second time I had called her too since arriving to LA). Honestly, at that moment if there was an easy option for me to go back home I would have. I was freaking out and was unhappy. But I pulled through, I turned on my iPod (second song my iPod played was "Gardens and Graves" by Ryanhood. That song helped make me feel at ease again about the whole experience).

But all my doubts (for the moment at least) vanished once I got on to the Quantas flight. The plane itself was enormous esp. compared to the United flight! Since I've only flown commercial one other time and that was to Florida I was completely breathless by the sight of it all. As was with the lights I had saw earlier. What really hooked me was the free stuff on my seat i.e. a lanyard and socks, along with a pillow, blanket, headset. As soon as I was in that seat I was happy. The flight didn't feel as long as I thought it would. Quantas fed me well. It had movies I had been meaning to see (although I ended up only seeing one movie completely...lol), TV shows I like, and good music. :) I was happy as a clam

Then I get to Sydney, I had two very nice lady's help me through the whole process. I was nervous my ride would leave because it was taking awhile to get all my things. But my ride was there. I meet three other people going to Wollongong too, but only one girl going to Campus East

Sydney is very beautiful too. It has the same feel as LA does. I was watching something on the plane about Sydney and it showed all these things you can do there so of course now I want to do it all. We'll see how that comes about. I still need to feel settled here.

I have to say Australia (from Sydney to Wollongong) is sooo beautiful. It is green and the houses are sooo cute! The houses have character. I counted like 5 McDonald's that we passed from Sydney to Wollongong. Which reminds me of something humorous in LA. I passed 2 Starbucks's within like feet of each other. Kinda sucked for me because I had sworn off coffee till I got Australia

Honestly, if it wasn't for the accents I almost would think I was still in the states because America business are everywhere. For example, there is KFC, I saw a Sizzler (though of course I personally have never seen on in the states I have heard about it), Blockbuster, and even Budget car dealer which for some reason I had thought was a local Tucson thing...

As for my housing...wheelchair accessibility wise it isn't bad. The room is big enough. However, I do miss my dorm back at UA.

Oh, and the beach isn't next to the dorm although all maps say it is. It is harder to get to than the maps portray it. That was disappointing to find out. Just like the train station on the map looks close but it isn't easy to get to too.


I'm glad I have a week to get settled before orientation starts. I need the time to feel settled. Oh and I made a friend who is letting me use his ID so I can use the internet whenever. Otherwise there really isn't anything to do here, yet!

Monday I will be going to the campus to check it out. Although where you are it is Friday (very early) here it is Friday almost 8pm! (second draft)

Continuation of this blog (third draft…)

The rollercoaster continues. Which btw I am not a fan of rollercoasters…

Last night was hard for me and frustrating. For some reason by power chair will not charge. And it seems none of my outlets work which I don’t understand because my laptop had been working in an outlet so I tried my chair charger there and now that outlet won’t work…all kind of horrors of why it isn’t working ran through my head and continues. My biggest fear is that a. the something did happen to my chair while in transit and it needs to be fixed or b. that the outlets here cannot handle the power my chair needs to charge. Either way it doesn’t look good. By the time I realized the problem it was 10pm. No one around. Instead that was the breaking point and I cried my self to sleep. Mostly because being away from home is really hard. I’m used to knowing my family is just 30 minutes away so I really never had to worry about that. To look at this in a semi-positive perspective, I now know how it feels for other people being away from home, really being away, so I hope that can help me back UA when I meet people who are having a hard time.

I know this blog is meant to encourage people to study abroad. But I also think I should be honest with you. The whole point is for people who want to study abroad, in particular those with disabilities can have a basic understanding of some trials and tribulations you may go through during the process. But also everyone can go through homesickness and many other obstacles that I may come across. Plus most people you talk to about their study abroad experience is after, at which that time they can reflect back positively but can’t really remember the hard times. It is those that a person should be prepared for.

Just remember I can never fully convey the feelings that may come along with difficulties plus people handle problems differently. However, a person who is going to study abroad should remember that there will be difficulties but to never let that stop you. Even though feeling comfortable here is harder than I expected I know that I still have plenty of time for all that. I know that even with my chair difficulties that eventually it will work itself out. Pretty much because I remind myself it is because I have no other choice. Although that may sound negative it gives me strength in the knowledge that some how, some way I will get through this.