My first impression of Australia, that is, the first hour after I got off the plane in Brisbane, was honestly not a good one. I got detained by the customs officer in which he proceeded to thoroughly search through my luggages, just in case I happen to be trying to smuggle in any illegal items. The officer takes out everything I had so carefully packed into my luggage just days before, and then stuffs everything back in so that they didn't fit and my lugagge wouldn't close. And this is all happening 30 MINUTES BEFORE I HAD TO CATCH MY FLIGHT TO TOWNSVILLE!! Not only that, then he takes out my journal and starts reading it right there! Since when did a basic luggage search involve reading someone's journal?
After the officer was done I managed to close my bag and was trying to figure out where to go to board my next flight. Turns out, the international terminal and the domestic terminal are 2 miles apart; I had arrived at the international and needed to get to the domestic terminal. And the quickest (and cheapest) way to do that was by bus; so with only 15 minutes left before departure, I spent another 5 minutes at the bus stop waiting for the bus. And when I got to the domestic terminal, I had to go through yet another security check.
After I got done with security, I didn't know what gate to go to in order to get on my flight because it wasn't written on my boarding pass. As I was asking for help from one of the officers, I heard over the speakers "Ms. Ay-kinsanmi, please report to gate 21 to board your plane, your flight will soon depart". Then I started running towards gate 21 (which, I realize now, must have looked really funny because I was carrying a lot of stuff). I almost ran into some people, but I think they understood my rush.
I was the last to get on the plane and the first thing I noticed was that everyone, I mean EVERYONE, was in some sort of business attire, complete with suits, ties, and perfectly shined shoes. They all looked like they were going to an extremely important meeting. And I walk in, out of breath, wearing my purple lambda phi xi shirt with my bright pink Purdue shorts (not that I was trying to show school pride or anything) flip flops, and holding a pink snuggie. I pretty much looked like a 12-year old, not to mention, that everyone on the plane looked at least 30 years or older. Worse, my seat was all the way in the back, and as I walked by, a few people looked at me in a way that said "You're not from around here, are you?" However, I successfully made it to my seat; but not before, accidentally, hitting a couple of people in the face with my giant purse.
Then I get to Townsville and they tell me my luggages did not arrive on the same flight as I did.
On a brighter note, the people at James Cook were really helpful. They helped me find a place to stay and showed me around the town. I took a mini tour of the university and it's really beautiful. It's surrounded by palm trees and there's a giant mountain right behind it that I would really like to climb (pictures coming soon). There's also a night club right in the middle of campus. I can't stop laughing about that.
