ARRIVING IN SYDNEY

Arriving to my study abroad was very daunting and exciting at the same time. I surprisingly did not cry when I said goodbye to my friends and family (partly because I was in denial about leaving). I first had an hour and a half flight to Los Angeles, a short layover, and then a 14-hour flight to Sydney. My first flight departed on Friday at 9:30 PM (MST) and my second flight was scheduled to land on Sunday 9:00 AM (AEDT) so I knew it was going to be hard to adjust to the local time. One of the things I was most nervous about was the long flight. I had downloaded movies, snacks, a neck pillow, and a blanket so I was ready to go. I was going to try to stay up the first half of my flight and sleep the second half to try to adjust to the 18-hour difference between Phoenix and Sydney. That did not happen because I fell asleep for two hours in the beginning of the flight and then slept for another two hours the second half. I had a window seat and was nervous to ask the people next to me to get out so I could walk around, so I ended up only getting up once halfway through the flight to use the restroom and brush my teeth. This was a horrible idea because my feet were so swollen from the pressure and sitting for that long to the point of not being able to put my shoes back on. It is safe to say that I will be upgrading to an aisle seat on my return flight. On a brighter note, I was very excited to land. I got really emotional when the plane flew over the harbor and I could see the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. That is when it really hit me that I finally made it to Australia, and I was going to be here for the next three months.