Sydney!

Yesterday, for the first time in my life, someone said to me, "Are you queuing?" I was about to look at him like he was crazy, then realized what he meant and said yes, and he got in line behind me. I'm also still having a little trouble remembering that in places people drive on the lefthand side, they also walk on that side. No collisions yet though. Today was Day 2 in Sydney, having arrived at 8 am yesterday after the 14 hour flight from LA, but I managed to learn my way around the city as well as stay awake until a reasonable hour for bed. Day well spent! I'll be here through the weekend, a total of four days, then catch a train down to Wollongong an hour and a half south to meet up with the Colgate study group for the day, then a 12 hour train journey to Melbourne on Tuesday for our conference. And by Tuesday I mean 17 hours ahead of west coast US, 14 ahead of East.

The first thing I saw from the plane as we were coming in was the Opera House. I walked up to it from my hostel first thing too, and was surprised to find that many of the domes are separate from each other! Who knew? I've been walking around the main part of Sydney these two days, and then over to the Darling Harbour area today, visiting the Aquarium and Maritime Museum. I've actually been walking so much that my legs are sore, but its fun, and the weather is beautiful: 60s, windy, sunny. It's winter here; the sun is down by 6 pm. Another weird thing is that the sun arcs across the northern sky, rather than the south - this is my first trip to the southern hemisphere.

This is also the first time I've blogged in almost a year, but that's because I haven't traveled as much this year as last, or as I expected. My travels have mostly taken me to Washington State and home to CT - family visits - and to Victoria, BC for spring break, but not exactly the kind of trip for this blog. This also looks to be my last big crazy trip for a little. It's time though, I think, to settle down a little.

Pictures will come soon once I get online with my own computer, probably from Wollongong, or maybe even Melbourne.