 |
Whitney Waking up on board a train to the never-ending sounds of rattling and creaking from the doors and windows is a unique experience... not to mention being surrounded by hundreds of other people who have gone just as long as you have without a shower. This is how we woke up on Saturday morning, while very much anticipating our arrival in Alice Springs at noon after 20 hours on the train! Due to many of the descriptions and stories I had previously heard about the city of Alice Springs, I was quite honestly expecting a tiny town with dirt roads and no phones or internet. We had also been given warnings of how "scorching hot" the weather was going to be here, anywhere from 115 to 130 degrees. To our surprise and relief, Alice Springs has proven us all wrong. Granted, the hostel we are currently staying in is definitely providing us all with a lot of "culture;" yet, with only a ten minute walk away we have found a definite taste of home with places like Subway and Baskin Robbins. Both of which will most likely be frequented on more than one occasion! Furthermore, the weather here is averaging 104, which still seems pretty intense to us but is said to be a "cool summer day" here in Alice Springs. For once we are not complaining about the weather not being hot enough, and we are more than thankful for our showers being cold. After being cooped up on a train for almost a full day, most of us decided to explore any night life we could find. Surprisingly enough, we found a place that surrounded us with people our age and had a very entertaining live singer who played his own unique acoustic versions of well-known songs ranging from Ben Harper's Steal My Kisses to Jackson 5's I Want You Back. Being in this type of atmosphere never fails to remind me that despite many of the small differences we have, Australians and Americans really are quite similar. It is strange to think that we have less than a week left here in "the land down under." I am going to miss many common aspects of life down here -- such as not having to leave a tip at restaurants, not having to add in your own tax to retail items and especially the concept of "working smarter, not harder" to make a living. Australians are definitely all about "working to live" instead of "living to work," like we tend to be in the United States. I think this is quite a commendable outlook on life, one that we should perhaps pay more attention to. Hopefully we will bring back the best of what we have found in this world and keep it with us when we re-start our lives back home.
Back to Off-Campus Studies >> Online Travelogues >> Australia Study Program >> |
|
