"Australia is so cool, I don't know how to describe it." -Mary-Kate Olsen

So I only have 3 more days in this gorgeous, amazing, AUSome country. I have an exam tomorrow (eek!) at 8 am and then I have to pack all day. I leave Saturday, and get to the States on Saturday (woo time travel!).

I am actually not going straight back to the East coast; I am visiting my friend Jenny (we went to Israel together) for two or three days in Los Angeles before heading East. I am excited to see her; she recently studied abroad and I think that is a nice way to come back -- to see someone who just experienced what you did (kind of; Jenny actually went around on a cruise ship for 4 months seeing heaps of countries). Not that I don't want to see Mom and Dad (hi guys!); I think it will just be easier to see Jenny first, to see someone who has just gone through and experienced adjusting back to the culture of the States, etc...

Anyway... On Monday, Bella, her friend Em (well we're friends now too...hi Em!) and I went camping at the Sunshine Coast. Bella has an SLR camera and I became camera happy. A little too camera happy. Lets just say Bella had to sort through 450 or so photos.

It was HEAPS of fun. We couldn't camp directly on the beach but we went to a camping site and our view/''front door'' was the beach. Wicked! Here are some photos (I of course did not take all of these). Besides camping, we also went bowling, to a fruit stand, we saw a bush fire on the way back home and we also went to a playground. I had a great time, we had great weather (no rain, lots of sunshine and blue skies!) and I learned to play Hearts. Bella is a huge fan of Hearts and I told her that you guys (Ree, Hal, Mom and Dad) would love to have a 5th player. Haaa.

 

An all natural, Queensland-made ice cream company (Weiss). They should hire me as a spokesperson. Haha.

Em and I trying to imitate the statue behind us.

View from our tent/campsite! :-)

I can't believe my time in Australia has come to an end. It feels like I just got here. It feels like I just started uni and hearing abbreviations and struggling to understand the lingo. It feels like I just met Bella and Meg and Em, and am getting excited for my trip to New Zealand. Its strange to know I am going to the States in 3 days. It doesn't feel like I am going 'home' though -- I feel pretty much integrated into the culture of Australiasia that I am home. I can only hope to one day return to this country and experience it again (and again, and again). Every time I try to e-mail Mom (half joking) that I am not coming back, she e-mails me back telling me how excited she is to see me. Its strange but I wish I could go back to the States for a month or two to see everyone and see how weird (yes, weird) it is that they drive on the other side of the road, but then come back to Australia. Because despite the fact uni is sooo hard here and books are sooo expensive, I love it here. South Bank is my home, St. Lucia is where I go to uni, sausage sizzles make my day so much better, the grading system kind of makes sense now, and my friends here a part of my Aussie fam. Also, abbrevs make everything better. I hope to bring back everything I have learned here to the States. Australia is not really heard about in the States, and I hope I can inform people of the AUSome literature they have and the kindness I have found from strangers (seriously, America, get on the being-nice-to-strangers thing).

I may be American and not totally get every Aussie thing, but I do get one thing: Aussie is a part of me now, and always will be. <3

I am forever thankful to Mom and Dad (and the study abroad office at Lesley) for making this dream possible. It was really hard for me to come to this country, and I remember spending almost 3 full months crying and asking (begging) if I could come back to the States. I am so grateful Mom and Dad suggested that I stick it out and see what happens because the next day I went to a UQ Secular club meeting and made friends and then joined the Women's Collective (a feminist group on campus) and then I sat next to Meg and Bella during Creative Writing and immediately clicked with them. I am not usually a quitter and I am super glad to say I wasn't one in this case either.

Australia was where I was supposed to go. I didn't know why I was coming to this country -- "I just want to go" was the response I gave everyone when they asked me -- but now I know.

It just was.

I don't need an explanation for coming here and doing exchange here. I just needed to come. Australia is where I was/am supposed to be. Not England. Not Europe. Australia, home of AFL, kangaroos, koalas, emus, the Sydney opera house, Uni Queensland, Kylie Minogue, fish and chips, sausage sizzles, spelling things with "s" instead of "z", Tim Tams, pineapple on burgers, saying "zed" instead of "z", some of my best friends, and sunshine.

Sorry about turning this into an epic post, but it will probably be my last one until I get back to the States and write a reflective piece. Australia has certainly been an adventure, in the best of ways, and I am so appreciative of my time here. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everyone who made it plausible for this to happen and who hung out with me and made me laugh and taught me about being in the moment instead of freaking out about the future. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And thanks, Australia, for helping me grow into the me I am today. <3

And now, I leave you with the Aussie national anthem. God Bless the Queen Advance Australia Fair

"Hi I'm American and I'm lost." "Hi...you're in Sydney."

So this past week (or well, 3 and 1/2 days) I was in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. I say this with pride -- from June 13th to June 16th I had my first ever solo travel trip. I did not travel with anyone or go on a plane with anyone or meet anyone at the airport. (I did meet some friends for dinner, but other than that everything was done by myself.) It was HEAPS of FUN! :-)

Though...I almost didn't make it! I bought myself an alarm clock last weekend (long story short, me and technology this semester are not friends) and set it the night before my flight for 5 AM. Or...so I thought. At about 7, I woke up with a start, looked down at my alarm clock and threw the covers off. My flight was at 8.30. I still had to make the train. I still had to get my plane tickets. I still had to get to the airport. I threw everything into my backpack, forget my toothpaste even though I'd just brushed my teeth, and ran out the door. I ran to the train station (literally); I prayed the entire train ride that I would make my flight. I eventually decided if I didn't make my flight, I'd go home and study. Like a good girl. Like the uni student I usually am.

Well I made the flight. I landed in Sydney Int'l Airport and after getting totally lost (their airport I believe rivals LAX), using a pay phone for the first time in about 10 or 11 years, and hopping onto a shuttle, I made into Sydney's CBD. Because it was raining (go figure I didn't really check the weather or buy an umbrella), I asked the hostel if I could check in. After being told I couldn't until 2 pm, I left my stuff in a locked, well, locker and took a free shuttle (the 555 for those still in Sydney!) to Circular Quay. It was a short walk to the famous Opera House. I took a ton of photos of it, but I'll only post a few of them here.

I also went to the Sydney Botanical Gardens and saw a government house. The house looked like a castle and there was a tour but it cost too much so I just looked from the outside. And of course hung out in some trees! ;-)

That night I made plans to meet up with Keryn, who goes to Lesley with me. We've had a few classes together at Lesley and kept in touch during our time in Aussie. It was so nice to catch up with her; I came to this country not knowing anyone except that she would be in Sydney (8 hours away, 1 hour by plane), and it was really nice to discuss about the differences between our unis here and Lesley, something no one else could really understand. :-) Because she had exams this week, we couldn't do that much but we went back to Circular Quay together at night and after went to dinner. The 13th was the last night of Vivid Lights Sydney, which was this cool thing where the opera house and other buildings around were lit up with cool designs, patterns, lights, etc. It looked WICKED! Meg's camera (thanks, Meg!) didn't quite capture it but I tried.

Sorry I cut you out, Ker, but hey...photographical proof we were together! :-P

The next day, I woke up at 6.50 and went a tour of the Blue Mountains. I was really excited to do this; I polled tons of people and asked them what the number one thing to do in Sydney was and their response was to see the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are not actually mountains, but they were thought to be -- the convicts back in the day thought that if you could escape to the Blue Mountains, you'd be able to get to China on the other side. Right... It was POURING when we went to the Blue Mountains and of course do I have a raincoat? No. Do I have an umbrella? No. What do I have with me? My handy UQ sweatshirt and my Northface jacket. I ended up borrowing our guide's poncho but still I got soaked. My pants did not dry until mid-June 15th and I was lucky I had another pair of socks for the next day because mine still aren't dry! Despite the fog, crazy rain and unfortunate view (we couldn't see anything!), I had a great time. I definitely one day want to go back and see it on a better day.

The next day (June 15) I went to Darling Habour. I took a ferry and saw Luna Park (an amusement park in the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie 'Our Lips are Sealed'...yes I am a dork enough to know that!) on the way, and then stopped at Darling Harbour. It is a cute wharf but I have decided if you do not do anything there (go out to eat, etc) it is not much. At Darling Harbour, I went to the world's biggest IMAX and saw a documentary on sea-life and sea creatures, I went to the Sydney aquarium and I also looked in but didn't buy anything at the Lindt chocolate store. :-) Heaps of fun! Though I DID buy an umbrella (finally!) and of course it didn't really rain that hard...

Luna Park

SHARK!!!!

The Opera House from the ferry

That night I met up with 3 of my friends from my New Zealand trip. Madison and Katrina both go to Uni Sydney and Emily, who roomed with me countless of times on that trip, goes to Uni NSW. We met up and went to dinner at Pancakes at the Rocks. Basically it is a 24 hour pancake place, but it is 100% better than IHOP. I got Black Cherry pancakes, which were chocolate chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate ice cream on top with cream, real cherries and cherry brandy. I wish I could go back and try ALL of their options; they had so many good sounding ones! :-)

This morning I got up, checked out of my hostel, walked around Sydney's CBD for a little, grabbed a huge breakfast at a little cafe and then went to the airport. My huge breakfast consisted of 2 huge, thick pieces of toast with butter and Tasty cheese (its a brand here, basically just cheddar but so good!) on top, a medium size bowl of muesli and yoghurt (granola and yogurt for the Americans who read this) and hash browns. I finished about half of the muesli and yoghurt but ate everything else. My time at the airport was pretty nonchalant; I got a smoothie, browsed some books and magazines, bought some lollies for the plane ride and then promptly fell asleep the entire ride back to Brissy. (I also fell asleep on the first plane ride to Sydney as well) If you know me, its very hard for me to nap (even ask my parents! I wasn't a napper as a kid) and so I must be exhausted or sick if I nap.

In all I had a GREAT time and I wish I had been there A.during better weather and B.longer. There is still so much I need to see and do in Sydney. I can only hope to go back one day. Now that I am back in Brisbane, I have to study for upcoming exam, pack, clean my room, pack, freak out about packing, leave this amazing country (?!), freak out about leaving this amazing country and say tearful goodbyes to Bella and Meg. But first...I get to go camping with Bella and her friend Emily next Monday. I am super excited! :-)

Can't believe that next Saturday I will be on my way to the States. Crazy how time flies...

"Why doesn't this mall have doors?"

For the last five days, I have been in Melbourne. Melbourne is a city on the tip of Australia in a state called Victoria. I went with my roommate Becca and we met up with her friend Kim and Kim's mom. It was technically study week but since I don't have any finals until the 23rd I felt I could travel instead.

We went from June 3rd to June 8th and I had a blast. Melbourne is a REALLY artsy city so we spent a lot of time looking at alleyway graffiti, going to some museums, walking around the city, and went to a mall. We also went to St. Kilda beach and the Melbourne aquarium. They had trams all around the city centre and people who had been to California seem to say it is like San Fransisco.

We also went to the Great Ocean Road which was started after World War I. The soldiers had gotten back from the war and did not have jobs, so they helped build the Great Ocean Road. It took us a whole day to see the Great Ocean Road (we didn't get to see the London Bridge formation because it was dark out by that time). You can do a 3 day tour but 1 day was good enough for me. :-) It was really windy that day and so I had made some very interesting facial expressions. My hair was everywhere for every photo just about and it even snowed/hailed a little! Craziness!  It definitely felt like winter there. :-)

I am really glad I went on this trip and next up I am going to Sydney from the 13th to the 16th of June, and then I come back to study for finals. Ugh! But it has to be done. I can't believe my time here has flown by!

xx

"Frosty the snowman..."

Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
and two eyes made out of coal
Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale they say
He was made of snow but the children
know how he came to life one day
There must have been some magic in that
old silk hat they found
For when they placed it on his head
he began to dance around...

Oh, Frosty the snowman... 

Despite being a person who is cold often, winter is one of my favourite seasons. I grew up in an environment where Christmas music was always played in the car for as long as the radios would play it, hot chocolate is a must and we go to the movies on Christmas (though I have always wondered about what it is like to have a Christmas tree in your house and run down the stairs on Christmas day...Kelsey can attest that I asked her this many times when we were roommates). I love watching the snow fall and blanket the earth. (I also really love when classes are canceled.) I love jumpers, mittens, scarves, wearing tights and two pairs of socks, coats and hats. One of my favourite memories from sophomore year is when Laura and I "trekked" to EDS campus in the snow.

Which is why I was REALLY excited to get a second winter while I was here abroad in Australia.

However, there is no snow in Australia (you have to go to New Zealand for that!). And...its June. Thats right guys...its winter and its June! As someone who grew up in New Jersey and goes to uni (school/college/university/undergrad/whatever you wish to call it!) in Boston, I have had my fill of snow, cold weather and running around in multiple layers.

Today, though I wore these:

That's right, everyone back home, for the first time in my entire life -- I wore THONGS (flip flops to everyone back home) to uni. I did have to wear a jumper (see next photo), but I wore a t-shirt under that.

As I told some Australian girls I have class with on Wednesdays, "Its not winter if I'm wearing thongs."

So this is an unusual winter for me, though I did get quite a winter this past December/January/February with all of that snow. Despite loving the jumpers, etc. of wintertime, I do love the fact I'm wearing thongs in June (kinda like I would be back home! I was told that it's 32 C* back home). 

Its crazy but tomorrow is my last day of class. This week is our last week of lectures and tutorials and I cannot help but to admit - Thank goodness! As much as I love school and learning, I am ready to be a summer bum (or I guess here, a winter bum) and do tons of reading and tanning by the pool.

I have one more paper to write and finish up, I am going to Melbourne in two days with Becca and then I need to sort out my Sydney plans. I am also having a sleepover with Meg and Bella in which we watch Disney movies, Emily and Bella and I go camping on the 20th, I have to study, and then I take a final on the 23rd. So uni is technically not over with, but...close enough. I mean, all my friends from the States/other study abroad programs are done! Why not me? (I kid. I love it here. But I could just do the traveling abroad minus the studying thing! ;-))

I am spending my evening with my BFF, Tim Tams (the BEST biscuits EVER. I am bringing back lots and lots and lots of boxes.  and Doctor Who season 5. My friend Emma lent me Season 5 and some of Season 6 so I am almost caught up! Very exciting. Now I can go home and chat about it like the sci-fi geek I am. Ha.

xo!

Me and a value! pack of Tim Tams