Greetings from Indiana, the Crossroads of America

I've been in my apartment here in Bloomington, Indiana for a week now and am settling in well. The weather is stinking hot and very humid. But I guess I should savour it before winter comes and it starts snowing.

When I first arrived I stayed in one of the dorms temporarily but it wasn't the most comfortable place and they set a 3-night limit on my stay. So I looked at a few apartments and, after hearing from various people where not to live, I found a tiny 1-bedroom apartment 10-15 min walk south of campus, which is perfect for me.

It's also walking distance from a laundromat, a big supermarket and a small international grocer. Before I left I heard horror stories about not being able to get various Australian products but this little grocer sells Cadbury chocolate and even Milo (but not Vegemite, so I'm still glad I brought that with me)! And Bloomington even has a farmers' market on Saturdays with real Amish selling veges!

Orientation was pretty straightforward. They didn't make me take the English test! But I think I'm the only international student this year with English as my first language. The others are mainly from Korea, India and China, which makes me feel far less of a foreigner, especially when they assume I'm American!

I've completed the special orientation for international students and have another week before classes start. Talking to other students I found that Business, IT and Law all have week-long orientations for their programs. My department has a 2-hour meeting Wednesday arvo and then a party Saturday night!