Getting to Sydney was an adventure in itself. My total travel time was 20 hours split over two flights. Departing from Columbus was definitely unique. I had departed from Columbus before, but this time was different due to how snowy it was. Sitting in the terminal, I kept looking out to see a snow-covered runway, but it was okay, because I knew that in 20 hours I’d be seeing sunshine and warm weather for months! It was nice to walk outside and see the sun after a nonstop, overnight 15 hour flight.

After 20 hours of travel, I was eager to arrive to the student housing. In Sydney, students from universities all over the country live in the housing accommodations. Right now, I live in a four-bedroom apartment with two people in each room. My roommate goes to Pitt and we get along really well! In addition to that, it’s really nice to live with people from all over the country because in a sense, I get to see how their college experience is different and similar to mine.

Arriving on the 18^th was really nice because I didn’t have to start classes until the 23^rd, however I did have to be at my internship on the 22^nd. It was really convenient that we were all given this period to settle in and explore the city. During my long weekend, I took a boat tour of the harbor and went to Manly and Coogee Beach.

Getting accustomed to Sydney wasn’t too difficult, as the country is really similar to America, however, I did notice a lot of differences compared to our culture within a couple days of settling in. The most apparent one is that people drive on the other side of the road, this makes it kind of weird crossing the road without using the crosswalk (a familiar thing to do on Forbes)! Another thing that I noticed was that everyone walks on the left of the sidewalk/hallway/etc. I can’t wait to be exposed to all of the other quirks and dynamics of the culture!