Happy Australia Day!

'ello mates! Today is Australia Day which is an Australian national holiday celebrating the day in 1788 that Captain Arthur Phillip arrived in Sydney cove with the First Fleet of eleven convict ships. Australia's first settlers were British convicts but no worries... a lot has changed since 1788!

Now you've had your dose of Australian history for the day! I've been reading the book In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson because it's required that I read it before I get to Australia. There's going to be a test over it for one of my classes. There are many more interesting things I could tell you about Australia but I have more important things I need to get to. So if you're interested, go buy the book.

The real reason for this post was to tell you that I now have a place to live once I arrive in Australia! I will be living at the home of Marina and Michael Glinatsis in the suburb of Burwood. They are a Greek couple who have three sons that are grown up and living on their own. It's seems kinda funny that I will be living with a Greek family in Australia, but then again, Sydney is a very ethnically and culturally diverse place. And since they are Greek I'm assuming they aren't descendants of British convicts which is a very comforting thought! Burwood is about 5 miles from my school and 7 miles from downtown Sydney. This translates to about a 30 minute bus ride to get to school.

I also just got my community service placement. The study abroad program requires that I do at least 40 hours of community service. This is cool because it will give me an opportunity to see a different side of Australian life and be more involved with locals in the community. Anyway, I will be serving at Hillsong Impact Kids (www2.hillsong.com/kids), where I will be helping with a Saturday morning program.