Australia!!! (Pronounced Aostrayyya here!)

     I am so excited to finally have a chance to blog about the trip!  I did not have Internet access during the first week in Australia, so it is nice now to be able to use the computer (and the Internet in my room is still in and out so I am having to blog from the computer lab!)
     The journey here was long but good.  In total, I spent 22 hours and 20 min alone on travel time-not including the time I spent in the airports for layovers.  When I checked my bags at the airport, the flight attendant printed out all of my tickets and said "You have a long couple of days ahead!"  I laughed and told her that I thought that Australia was definitely worth the long flight.
                                             B'ham to Atlanta (car):  2:30
                                          Atlanta to Dallas (plane):  2:35
                                                Dallas to LA (plane):  3:20
                                            LA to Brisbane (plane):  13:55
                                                                                 22:20
     I met the other study abroad students in LA.  They all seemed so nice and were from all parts of the country!  We laughed for a while about everyone's accents.  Apparently, I have a super southern accent (now, I am trying to avoid saying "yall," instead I try to say what some people say here in Australia which is "yous").  But we could tell who was from different regions of the U.S. just by the different accents.
     The flight from LA to Brisbane was on a 737 plane.  It was the biggest plane I have ever flown on- tv's were on every seat and we were served meals and HOT CHOCOLATE- yuuuummm!  The movies and music keep me entertained and I did sleep some.  Then, we arrived in BRISBANE-yay!  Only one more flight and we would be in Cairns, our final destination.
     . . .or so we thought.  After the flight landed, I heard that there was bad weather in Cairns but I did not realize until later that an estimated level 5 cyclone was headed straight for Cairns!
     But, back to the airport- I was getting all of my bags and heading through customs.  Everything was going smoothly until I was the one person randomly selected from our flight to have the quarantine check.  They checked everything- my purse, backpack, and 2 suitcases.  Then I received a nice sheet of paper that read "You have breached Australian Quarantine Law!"  Whoops.  I had some dirt on the side of my tennis shoes that I forgot about.  Thankfully it was just a warning, but I will definitely think about everything when I fill out the sheet next time for customs!. . .and clean my shoes very well.
     Five minutes later, I learned that the group flight to Cairns was cancelled because of Cyclone Yasi, which was headed straight for Cairns.  So, last minute, the group of 32 students was told that we were going to spend the week in Brisbane instead.
     Even though the news was devastating at first, we tried to make the best of it (and we ended up having an amazing time!)  In fact, a news reporter took pictures of us sitting in the airport and wrote an article about us.  Here is a link to the Internet site: http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/exchange-student-trip-on-hold/story-fn6ck45n-1225998365688.
     The day that we arrived in Brisbane, the group went swimming and to the local mall.  We were told that we should not take a nap so we could adjust to the new time so it was good that we stayed busy.  I will hopefully post more today about the week in Brisbane, but right now I have to head to a Team Building session- more to come "S'avo" (this afternoon!)