an end to summer?

officially, summer has come to a close here in perth and autumn has begun, but i don't really seem to notice any of those same signals i would normally see back home. instead of leaves changing color, some of the trees and brush have just sort of remained a dullish shade of faded green from the dryness. i think things will start to get greener in the winter months (june-august) again. one thing in common with the fall that i know and love is that the days aren't quite so unbearably hot as they were a few weeks ago, but are now pretty much that perfect warm temperature for being outside. after having no rain for quite a few months, thunderstorms have rolled through this past week and the rain has also been a nice change from the solid hot days. we took advantage of the great weather this weekend and spent the afternoon at cottesloe beach yesterday. we also got internet hooked up at home on friday - hooray! - so it should be much easier keeping up with email, etc. my first class at "uni" - language acquisition - finally starts tomorrow! i can't even explain in words how nice it will be to get going with this master's program now, after having all this time off! more updates on that to follow soon...