Submitted by Ruby Sultan on the 2016 spring semester exchange program with Bond University in Australia…
Having never flown on a plane by myself before, flying all the way to Australia was a big deal for me. I wasn’t sure what I was more nervous for; the flight, my layover in Hong Kong, traveling from the airport in Brisbane to the Gold Coast–it was all so new to me. However, with great accomplishment I can say that I successfully was able to get here, safe and sound! However, it was not the easiest journey. Being on a plane for 26+ hours was not so comfortable, and it wasn’t too easy to fall asleep. However, the six hour layover in Hong Kong was definitely a nice break, and the airport was beautiful! It looked like a mall, with different extravagant stores like Coach, Micheal Kors, etc.
Once I finally reached the Brisbane International Airport, I had an Uber take me to my motel, and unfortunately the WiFi was not working, so I had no way to contact any of my friends or family. It was really hard to be alone in a new country with no means of contact, so needless to say I wasn’t the happiest person around and I started to feel homesick. The next day, I made my way back to the airport to meet my roommate so we could travel to our apartment in the Gold Coast together. Unfortunately, after hours of waiting for her, I could not get in contact with her and decided I should just travel to Bond University alone. I wasn’t expecting to have to figure out the train and bus systems by myself, but with the help of friendly locals I was able to make my way to my apartment and finally unpack. I was so relieved to have made it all the way to the Gold Coast by myself. I feel a new sense of confidence and no longer have any fears about traveling alone!
Even though I didn’t want to admit it, I was definitely jet-lagged for the first 3-4 days that I was here. On Tuesday night, my new school was throwing an ABC party as part of their orientation week and my roommate and I were so excited because it was supposed to be our first opportunity to meet new people. We went out and bought costumes, and just before getting ready at around 8:00 pm we decided to take a nap because we were a little tired. We ended up sleeping through the night and waking up at 4:00 am, which was definitely the trend for our first few nights. Now, we are finally accustomed to the time change and are back to our normal sleeping patterns! I look forward to spending the next four months traveling Australia and meeting new people from all over the world; I’m sure it’ll be an incredible experience.