Just for variety’s sake, I post a series of short stories which documents my two-year stay in Australia.
The cacophonic combination of the plane’s hissing air brakes and screeching tires welcomed me to Queensland on February 2004. From the window–a stunning view of Australia’s Moreton Bay… and the suburbs of the city of Brisbane played a more important role in setting the solemn mood.
I flew to Australia with a friend, Yanz, who had gone to the country a semester earlier. Since I was a new student at the university, the admin office arranged a bus for me to the city of Toowoomba, 150 kilometers west of Brisbane. My friend was picked up by a Filipino and his Bruneian partner, the very first people I’ve met since my foremost arrival in the country.
The loneliness and excitement heightened four-fold when I got on that bus, the “Airport Flyer”. For the first time in the next couple of years I was to fend for myself. It was a two-hour ride to the “Garden City” and the view of the vastness of Queensland’s plains at Warrego Highway’s vantage point was splendid. The mountains far on the horizon added to nature’s artistic display. I had become a huge fan of wide, open spaces since then.
