A Week is Worth a Thousand Words

It would be impossible for me to sum up the week in one sitting, so what I'll do over the next few days is try to write out some of what I've done and couple it with descriptions of those I'm with. For today, though, I want to start with the setting.

Perth is a hell of a place. I've been here a week and I can already tell that it's the kind of town I enjoy. The house I'm in (46 Gratwick Tce Murdoch, WA 5160) is similar to some I remember from Walnut Creek. It's a ranch house built to stay cool in the summer. The front door has a major overhang to avoid direct sunlight heating the house's walls. It's made of yellow brick that has just enough iron in it to cause stains that look a little like burn marks.

Inside is spacious - each of the four housemates has his or her own bedroom. We have three living rooms, a kitchen, and a covered back patio. It's more space than we need or deserve, but I'm not complaining. We have gone grocery shopping so the pantry and fridge are not empty. It's a particularly guilty pleasure for me to sit on the patio and play my guitar since it's warm during the day.

The problem with our house is that it's built to stay cool, and right now, it's downright cold at night. Even at 10 a.m., the house is a good ten degrees colder than it is outside. This means that even at noon time, I can be found wearing my fleece vest if I'm sitting inside, but must shed it immediately if I am to go outside.

Aside from temperature though, the house creates no complaints. It is as close to campus as many houses on The Hill are in Boulder. We are about a two minute walk from a bus stop that can take us 20 minutes to the cool part of town (Fremantle, or simply 'Freo') or 30 minutes up to Perth itself.

The campus of Murdoch Uni (as Aussies are prone to abbreviating 'University') is much smaller than that of CU Boulder, from whence I came. The school only has about half the enrollment, so that makes sense. Bush Court is the center of campus. It's surrounded by concrete buildings housing various student services like banks, the bookshop, and a food court with a restaurant named "Absolutely Kebabulous." No, I didn't make that up.

Wandering campus right now is a strange experience, as only international students, who make up 2000 or Murdoch's 17000 strong student body, are here. Germans, Swedes, Japanese, Chinese... You name it, we've met 'em. Except Australians. Since classes haven't started yet, there are very few Australians around. What's more, since they aren't directly involved in the international student activities, we've had little chance to interact with them. The irony of traveling however many thousand miles I flew to Australia to meet largely Germans is not lost on me.

Our weather has been, to this point, somewhat of a mixed bag. Our first five days were constantly rainy, gray, and generally crummy. But in the last few days, it has become sunny, and the days are very nice. Nights are still cold, and I wake up with cold toes each morning. I know the obvious solution is to wear socks, but I would much rather have cold toes than deal with that odor.

There is Perth (Well, mainly the suburb of Murdoch) in a nutshell. Soon I'll crack it...