Landing, get off, immigration (where are the dogs?), baggage claim (they haven't lost it! horray!), then out we go looking for someone to take us to Wollongong. Some five minutes later and I've found him. We get on a car (quite a luxury one) and he drives to Wollongong. There's another man in the car: he's coming from the airport, too. Maybe someday I'll know who he is.
Wollongong is just what I saw from the plane window: a big urban conglomerate. We stop in Corrimal (a suburb), and I'm dumped in a house with a kid, telling me Maryann will be here shortly. Maryann reveals herself to be my temporary host, till Sunday: my homestay family is on holiday (but do they ever work?). Tomorrow we'll get to University. No sooner: I could not survive it.
My impression of the city landscape: chaotic. Hundreds of small to medium shops, selling everything, claiming to be '100% australian owned' and the like. Similar to some English country town, or the outskirts of London, but with a stronger commercial mark. Will I get used to it? Will I not lose myself? We'll see: I've plenty of time to make mistakes.
The house: the kid is fatty, no sign of a man, the bathroom is quite dirty. Then I get it: it's the kid's bathroom. Maryann has another bathroom, opening on the kitchen. Is there a husband?
Dinner with a friend of hers. Beverage: red wine. Asking water seemed unpolite. Japanese rice curry: pretty good. To bed early, I'm tired.
