After three airplane rides and some missed connections I arrived in Perth on Dec 31st.  I was met at the airport by my exchange partner who graciously drove me to my new home, gave me a tour and then headed off to the airport herself to head to Calgary.  The weather was warm, ok they were having a heat wave in Perth area and I arrived to 38C "above zero".  My first challenge was to adjust to the weather as my exchange partner's air conditioning had broken down the day before and of course over the holidays there was no way to get it fixed.  She was so apologetic and felt awful.  It is amazing how one adjusts to new challenges and I was able to sleep through the night.  I think I was feeling relieved to be out of the deep freeze in Alberta so a warm night was just a blip.

My first impressions of Western Australia are how friendly and welcoming everyone has been.  I received two phone calls from friends of my exchange partner,  offering to meet and help out if I was needing anything.   I was able to finally visit the ocean too, and the hues of blue and green were spectacular, just like the tourist brochures.  Now I am really motivated to learn how to drive to the beach!!  I even took my beaver and moose friends along for their first ocean encounter!!  they were on the lookout for sharks!!