Arrival

Few days of flying

Finally! I’m here. It took me two and a half days to get to Australia, I can hardly believe I made it in the end. My first flight was in Brussels Airport, where WEP welcomed us and gave us everything we needed to succesfully make the journey. I met a lot of amazing people and after 2 days of travelling together, we really became good friends.
I have never taken a plane outside of Europe before, so I was amazed by the size and the personal screen and the food. I thought it was pretty cool.

I travelled from Brussels to Istanbul in Turkey, where I bought a rather expensive neck pillow because I wanted to be sure it was a good one and I do not regret it! Then we took a plane to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. It is a beautiful country and I definitely want to visit it sometime. From there I got to Sydney, in Australia! We passed the biosecurity after a little bit of confusion and we saw the people of WEP to welcome us straight away. Some of my friends were picked up there, but the journey went on for me! Airport of Istanbul Airport of Kuala Lumpur

After I had lunch with the last person who was left, he needed to board already and I had to wait for my last plane all alone. It became hard by then because I was so tired and worn out, but during my dinner someone asked to sit with me and with a lot of good luck she happened to be travelling to Griffith too. We had a really nice chat and I was very grateful I wasn’t all alone anymore.
My arrival in Griffith was, as you can imagine, very emotional. My hostmom and -dad were there, but also my hostsister and her son. I loved to finally meet them and we left the airport as soon as possible, wich wasn’t very hard because they don’t even have security here in Griffith Airport!

First morning

After a good night (and part of day oops) sleep, we went for a drive (on the left side of the road!) around Griffith. I really expected a lot less, I must say. Griffith has got everything! I am really excited and looking forward to visit all of it and meet all the lovely people that live here.
We passed a dead kangaroo laying on the side of the road, it is the one and only kangaroo I have seen so far, wich is pretty sad.
On the lookout nearby the airport, you have a beautiful view of a part of Griffith: I used the rest of the day to put my clothes in the wardrobe and to get to know my hostfamily a little bit better.
In the evening, there was an event in the center of Griffith where they light up the murals around town. I really wanted to go, so even though it was cold my hostparents took me there and afterwards, they told me they were glad I took them, because the three of us had really enjoyed it. I really love my hostfamily, they already mean so much to me!

Second day

I really hadn’t slept well. I woke up at 4 in the morning and although I tried everything, I couldn’t go back to sleep. Jetlag…
We went to church on this lovely Sunday morning, in a little chapel of the christian high school near by. There was no organ nor choir, but everybody sang along and I thought it was beatiful. Everyone participated in making this little mass enjoyable and nice.
We met the parents of a girl that goes to the same school in wich I will be enrolling and asked if it would be alright if we could walk together to school. It is amazing how fast I have found a walking buddy! After church we went to the pharmacy and my hostmom knows the owner quite well. He asked me straight away if I like to run and invited me to join them on the hill run on Saturdays. Amazing! I really love how nice and open people are here. They invite you to all kinds of happenings even without knowing you at all. I love it!
In the evening the daughter and grandsons of my hostparents who live just around the corner, joined us for dinner. It was really nice to get to know them and also to try new foods. So far, I’ve tried Tim Tams (yummy), vegemite (not sure yet) and even Dutch products like appelstroop (really good) and zuurkool (suprisingly tasty).

Pupil free day

Even though it is Monday, I didn’t need to go to school just yet, because it was a pupil free day, for the teachers to sort everything out after winterbreak. So we sorted out some practicalities and the grandsons came by for lunch.
The principal had invited me to come and see the school for a bit, so I went there and the year coordinator showed me around. It was really nice. The building is very confusing, so I hope I will get used to it soon, but all the teachers I spoke to are really nice and I love that I can take a lot of courses they don’t have at my school in Belgium.
I talked to the principal for quite a long time, and luckily it wasn’t because I was in trouble, but merely because he is such a nice person and loves to talk about whatever. One of the things we talked about were the deadly animals and we had a great laugh.
I’m very excited to go to school tomorrow, even though I am also a bit scared.
I’ll be alright.