Another openin', another show

Well, folks, after much trial and tribulation I have finally arrived back in Sydney and am gearing up for my final five months here. I had no idea that getting back to the land of Oz was going to be such an...adventure, but I did arrive in one piece and, ultimately, my roundabout journey worked out for the best. For those of you who missed out on the excitement here is a brief summary (comprised entirely of incredibly long run-on sentences):
I was scheduled to leave Ohio on Tuesday, Feb. 1st but because of the insane winter storm system that swept across the states my flight was cancelled and rescheduled for Thursday evening. I spent the next two days at home in a sort of limbo and then departed Ohio on Thursday at 6:25pm and landed at LAX a little after 8pm where I discovered that I was on a standby ticket for a flight that had been overbooked. To make a long story short, after sitting at the gate for about two hours, I realized that there was no way I was going to be getting on this flight so the kind people at Delta put me up at the Hilton for the night gave me three meal vouchers and $650 Delta dollars and put me on flight with Qantas flying out Friday at midnight. Incidentally, while at the gate I met another student flying to Australia who was also stuck for the night and who I hit it off with immediately and who I ended up spending the following day with sightseeing in LA. The Qantas flight that night went off without a hitch and I arrived in Australia on Sunday morning, three days after my intended arrival date.
So now here I am in my new room in the year 8 boarding house (Vindin) getting settled and reorganized and feeling slightly jet lagged. For some odd reason, in spite of my great fatigue, I keep waking up ridiculously early which is not helping at all with said jet lag. However, I am pressing forward (and not taking naps) and staying quite busy. Since I missed the entire first week of school here at Abbotsleigh, I have to make up all of my 32 hours for the fortnightly pay period in one week. Yeah. It's actually not so bad, though. Vindin is certainly a step up from McCredie. I'm only looking after 26 girls instead of 60+. The boarders actually listen to me. Bedtime is 9:15 and the house is completely quiet by 9pm. I have a ceiling fan, etc. etc. Basically, I'm very excited about working here for the next two terms. It also helps that I have a suitemate (Sarah from the states) so when ever I get lonely she's just a walk through the bathroom away.
Speaking of loneliness, I'm definitely not experiencing the homesickness this time around that I did the first time I arrived in Sydney. Knowing that I was coming back to friends who were excitedly awaiting my arrival made the whole transition incredibly easy. It's funny how we residents have created a litte surrogate family for ourselves since we're all away from home and living on our own. Working and living here would certainly not be the same without my support network.
The weather here has been quite pleasant (and a huge change from the frozen tundra of Ohio). Apparently, when I arrived on Sunday I hit the tail end of a week-long heatwave here in Sydney. It was in the 90s all week with 80% or more humidity and when you live in houses without air conditioning, let me tell you, it is not fun. Thankfully, this week it's going to be in the mid-70s and low 80s and I couldn't be happier. Not exactly beach weather, but I enjoy not being drenched in sweat from the moment I get up until sunset.
I will be posting a video of my new room in a few days (once it's been beautified) so keep an eye out for that and of course I'll be putting up regular updates, videos and pictures.
So fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gents, 'cause here we go again!
Cheers!