Long Flights, Sushi and Tim Tam Slams

Oh my goodness, I can not believe I'm in AUSTRALIA!! My flights were great. The Salt Lake to Los Angeles leg was quick and easy, and I practically slept through the entire 16 hour flight to Melbourne. We boarded the plane around 11 PM, and they served us 'dinner' around 1 AM. The food was really yummy, and completely shattered the 'awful plane food' rumor I've heard all my life. During 'dinner' I popped back a melatonin pill, and shortly after they had cleared my plate I was sleeping. I slept for 8 or 9 hours, because the next thing I remember was the flight attendant waking me up for my breakfast order. I think my flight went so well because we left really late at night, and I got to sleep through the time zone change.
When I landed I got herded around like a sheep through customs and baggage claim, probably looking like a lost little puppy all on my lonesome. Connor had given me directions to find him the day before my flight, so I kept repeating to myself "White shirt. Long line of people, white shirt". I had collected my bag and followed the crowd of people and we all turned a corner; I could immediately see this long line of people he had talked about. I immediately started scanning the crowd for my tall, blonde friend wearing a white shirt. He was all the way at the end of the line, and he saw me in my red striped shirt and started waving like crazy. I (embarrassingly) started running down the isle toward him with this massive smile on my face. Best reuinion ever! We hugged and he took my suitcase and lead me outside. It was cold outside (it is their winter after all) but it felt like Utah's fall season. Jordan had driven to the airport and was driving around to avoid the expensive parking fee, so Connor called him up and we eventually found his tiny little car. Jordan saw me and came crazy running down the street towards me. When I say crazy running, I mean hands waving about in the air, run/skipping at full speed. It was awesome. We all piled into the car, and Connor lead me to the driver's side... only to remember cars are opposite in Australia! So I climbed in the 'passenger' seat and sat on edge as we zoomed past cars on the wrong side of the road on the freeway. 

We drove to Connor's flat in Prahram, which was this adorably tiny little place in the center of the city. I brushed my teeth and fixed my hair and we headed back out into the city. Jordan had to leave for work about an hour after we got there, so it was Connor and me for the rest of the day. 
Melbourne has a lot of art and museums, so we spent the day looking at beautiful architechure and spent a few hours at this exhibit where we got to see the costumes from dozens of movies. For lunch we got sushi, and I was so confused when we walked up to the store front. Connor ordered 2 sushi, and being american I  figured he would be handed 2 little slices of sushi. I figured I'd follow suit and ordered 2 as well. The lady pulled them out of the container and they were logs of sushi! It's very common to buy sushi rolls in Australia, and it's not super common to have sushi served on a plate all cut up like they do in the states. So we ate our sushi rolls and sat outside in the I-can't-believe-this-is-your-winter weather. We finished out our day looking at all the different bridges across the Yarra River, and got mud all over our shoes from a park nearby. We went back to Connor's place where I washed my poor red toms and stuck them outside to start drying. Connor made dinner and we sat and talked for a few hours. 

Finally Naomi was off work and was able to come get me from Connor's. It was so good to see her again!  The best part about my first day in Australia was all the reunions with the people I have missed so much.
 
Naomi had work again today, so I caught a train at 8:30 to meet up with Connor at Flinder's Street Station at 10:22. I came here determined to see all the beautiful graffiti in Melbourne, so we spent a good portion of the day walking to different alleyways filled with artwork. We checked out some beautiful cathedrals and churches and the fantastic archetechure at all the train stations. I'm sorta jealous Connor gets to live here and walk through all these beautiful stations and buildings every day. 

RMIT

The ceiling of the library

The main library room

The weather has been really nice. Connor keeps saying I've broken winter, because it's usually a lot colder than it has been. It's really windy here though, and the wind is ice cold. I wish I would have packed some gloves and ear mufs, because those are the two body parts that are the coldest throughout the day. 

Seriously, the wind was ridiculous

We had meat pies for lunch; can I just say they are DELICIOUS and we need to make them a popular thing in the states. Mine had steak and mushrooms covered in this savory gravy, all wrapped up in flaky pastry crust. it was seriously divine. I'm salivating typing this right now, I want another one that badly. Connor pointed out a bakery Naomi loves afterwards, so we checked it out and I bought a 'cream horn' that tasted like a rich eclaire without the chocolate on top. Oh man, I want another one of those too. Connor showed me around his university, RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) and we walked through the Melbourne Library, where he does a lot of his studying. These pictures don't do the building justice. It was incredible. We saw the singing clock at Melbourne Center Station go off, and I noticed a group of sister missionaries talking with people at the station! I thought that was quite cool, but I didn't get a chance to talk with any of them. 

The random singing clock

By this point my feet were killing me, so we headed back to Connor's for dinner and we played Mario Kart while we waited for Naomi to get off work. Naomi brought Tim Tam cookies with her so I could have my first Tim Tam slam. She made it look so easy! It took me a few minutes... and a lot of laughter... before I successfully did one. Connor just thought it was sooooo funny. He fell on the floor laughing at one point. I blame the fact that he gave me his huge Tigger mug, which meant i had to shove my face into the cup to suck up enough Milo. It was seriously delicious though. The melty choclate inside and the slightly crunchy cookie... ohhhh man. I'm going to get fat on this trip for sure.

So that's day one and two! Naomi and I are going to see the Penguin Parade tomorrow! I'm excited for the penguins, but I think i'm more excited for the chance to hang out with Naomi all day long! Yay for the weekend!