Well I guess my last post was about 2 months ago and I still had a long To-Do list. Currently I am in America, stuck inside of my house due to the 2 feet of snow covering my sidewalk. I don't normally enjoy snow but after leaving the summer time in Australia and Fiji, it makes this much worse. I guess this is why I decided to finish my blog - to keep me entertained! I have taken my list from the previous post, commented, edited and added so that I can be reminded of all the fun I had while I was over there almost a month ago! I am more than positive that I will forget to write about many things but here's what I can remember off the top of my head - its quite a lot!
October 20th:
Fairwell dinner with my Study Abroad Program - had a wonderful and filling dinner on a docked ship/restaurant in Darling Harbour. It was a fantastic chance to say goodbye to some of the people I started my adventure with.
October 26th:
Huge final paper for my Indigenous Australia class due! - finished and passed the class!
October 27th:
All of my Art class stuff due!!! So much stuff! - Worked almost through the night to mount my prints, make my calendar case with etching and inking, wrote 3 essays about my museum visits and my chosen artist, organized and pasted everything into an Art Journal to turn in. Passed the class!
Valete - fairwell dinner for the third years in Wesley. We all got dressed up, said goodbye, and had a huge party (just like Victory Dinner and Christmas in July) in the courtyard. Was just as I had expected - courtyard parties are relatively the same however they're always so fun! There was a live band this time and I got to sing a little! haha
October 28th- November 4th:
MOM CAME TO VISIT! We went to Featherdale Wildlife Park - pet the kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, emu - Mom and I got kicked by a kangaroo and we have it on video! The emu would come up to you from behind with their long necks and grab the food right out of your hand that you were using to feed all of the animals. We hiked the Blue Mountains, walked around Sydney - Hyde Park, Botanical Gardens, the Opera House, The Rocks, Darling Harbour and all the in between. Even two days after Valete (that big party) Wesley was a disaster, especially my hallway. The boys got way too rowdy and broke a whole bunch of these plastic containers all over the floor. So when it was my Mom's turn to come see Wesley, the mess was still there. I did warn her though so it wasnt MUCH of a surprise - but I was used to that kind of messy at this point, at the beginning of my trip, not so much. So we toured the campus, Wesley, Kings Street and a bit of Newtown, went to Coogee Beach and walked all the way to Bondi Beach observing all of the Sculptures by the Sea along the way. We went to a show at the Opera House - Best of Broadway - which played for 2 nights only so that was pretty good timing. They sang some really good songs and they were all SO good! The one judge from Dancing with the Stars was there and he was hilarious - definitely my favorite. After the show we waited in a very long line, took pictures, they signed autographs and went back to the apartment. That Sunday was Halloween so I went back to Wesley and had an American Halloween in the girls room. Australians don't really celebrate Halloween so we had standard red party cups, costumes, decorations, Americans, and standard American drinking games. Australians came as they pleased and hopefully had some fun! The next morning, bright and early, Mom and I left for Melbourne! We went on a wine tour, a tour of the Nobbies, and to watch the penguins come out of the water to find their homes! It was so cute, they were so little and waddled everywhere. The next day was the 75th Annual Melbourne Cup. I bet on one race, changed my mind right before I went to the counter and didn't bet on the winning horse like I was originally going to. Oh well, I broke even because my horse got 3rd! My friends made $75+ so that was good!
I met up with some of my American friends there that took the trip as well so having them there made the experience even better. We all wore pretty dresses, hats and shoes only to find that it was raining and cold at the race track. We were all sitting and sinking in the mud while our hair and shoes got ruined. It was still a lot of fun even though the weather didn't cooperate! We left the next day to go back to Sydney and Mom's week was almost over. We had one more night together and she left the next afternoon! Overall I think we packed her trip with so much to do the I don't think we could have added anything else! It was awesome having Mom come over to not only pay for my food but to get to see all of the touristy things again!
November 10th:
First of two finals - Engineering Materials - Wasn't too bad, spent a whole week studying so we had enough time to do well. Also, one of the boys that lived in our building had failed the class the previous year so was taking it again. By this time he knew most of the material so he helped us study and answered all of our questions. He was a big help especially because we passed the class!
November 12th:
Ashley's 21st birthday!!! Big party for her here! Australians actually celebrate 21st birthdays here like we celebrate sweet 16s! its kind of funny because 21 isnt really a big deal here because you can drink when you're 18! It was so much fun! we all got dressed up, had a little predrink/gift time up in the common room where we showered her with gifts, alcohol, and poems. We were there for so long we almost didn't make it out! While we were out, we met up with another group of friends celebrating another one of my good friends 20th birthday. We all had such a good time out because it was one of the last where we could all be together.
November 17th:
Second and last final - Math: Partial Differential Equations. Worth 70% of my grade. Felt confident going in, less confident coming out. I passed the class and my final luckily, but was very disappointed afterwards. I was so happy to be done that it really didn't matter what my grade was on the exam!
November 18th-19th:
People leaving left and right. Makenzie and Ashley both left Wesley which was really sad. I wasnt sad saying goodbye to Makenzie because I was flying up to meet her in Cairns to spend the next 3 weeks with her. I was very sad to see Ashley leave because I had no idea when I would get to see her next!
November 20th:
Went out with whoever was at Wesley for my last night out. Aly and I were the only Americans and there were minimal people left to party with. Still a fun night out with the girls nonetheless.
November 21st:
Said goodbye to the rest of my Wesley friends including Addie. That was really sad to do because we had become so close in the 4 months I was there and it all went so quickly! I kept telling everyone to come visit me in America so hopefully they will but not all at once! Saying goodbye to people that you are unsure if you will ever see again is one of the hardest things to do. Although there were no tears, I was very upset to leave my new home and friends. I was off to travel Australia though, so my trip wasn't completely finished!
November 21st-December 8th:
Road tripped down the east coast of Australia in a Wicked Van. These vans are the most hideous things on the road! The three of us had to learn to drive a van, with a stick shift, on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road. We were successful in making it to our destinations but it was definitely a scary struggle at first. I have finally learned to drive manual which excites me though because I've always wanted to learn. We hit 20 different locations in 16 days! Cairns, Mission Beach, Townsville, Airlie Beach, Whitsundays, Gladstone, Agnes Water, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Rainbow Beach, Fraser Island, Noosa Head, Brisbane, Surfer's Paradise, Byron Bay, Nimbin, Armidale, Tamworth, Narromine, and Sydney! We had Thanksgiving dinner at McDonalds in Gladstone because obviously Australian's dont celebrate and what a better place to celebrate an American holiday than a McDonalds! We saw all of the most beautiful beaches, forests, lakes, bays, wildlife, sand everything of Australia. Not only did we get to see all of the famous stuff along the way, we got to see some of our Wesley friends! One night we stayed in Armidale with Lily Morgan. Her house is beautiful and they ended up having they're extended family over for dinner so we had a feast! Especially compared to the peanut butter and jellies we had been having for every meal in the van. Did I mention that we actually lived out of the van? slept in it, changed in it, ate in it, watched movies in it! It was so much fun. The next night after Lily's we went to Jess Shanahan's house. Her house and hometown are gorgeous! We went out that night and saw a whole bunch of Wesley friends making our trip worth it! The next day we went on a little detour away from Sydney all the way to Narromine. We got to stay, kind of surprise, Lily Walsh! She made the best dinner for us and we watched Christmas with the Cranks. Very funny movie that I had never seen! The next day we were off to Sydney to finish our adventure. We stayed with another Wesley friend, Faf. We saw a whole group of Wesley kids that lived around the area so we all hung out, watched a movie, and said goodbye for the last time. When it was time to leave the country, Kenzie and I were off to Fiji!
December 8th-December 15th:
Vacation in FIJI with Makenzie! We spent 5 nights on the Yasawas Islands - Waya Levu at an amazing resort called the Octopus. We heard it was the best, and from what we experienced I can't imagine it being any better. We had beautiful snorkelling right off of the shore, beautiful diving all over the island, and clear blue water to admire while we were basking in the sun. We had activities throughout the week - voi voi weaving, jewelry making, bula dancing, game night, hermit crab racing (which we won! $30 bar tab! and ended up paying for all of the milkshakes we had earlier in the week), coconut tree climbing and coconut cutting. We had an amazing time in Fiji but we were ready to get back home and see out families! We were gone from America for 5 months! It was time for us to get back to reality.
December 15th:
We flew back to America - only a 9 hour flight - sitting next to each other. We had to say goodbye in the airport in LAX but we weren't sad because we knew we would see each other after 3 weeks and skype when we missed each other. We became proficient skypers after this trip.
Obviously, if you've been reading from the beginning, you'll know that I had the time of my life and lived every day to its fullest. I can tell you all about my trips, friends, and my activities, but I cannot explain the experience I felt while over there. I would love to go back to Australia if given the opportunity, but I had an amazing experience that I don't think I could ever get again. It was a once in a lifetime thing that I will remember for the rest of my life. And when I'm old and I forget it, I'll just have to read my blog to try to remember. I want to thank my parents for supporting me not only financially but emotionally. Also, the rest of my family who was so excited for my opportunity and my homecoming. I love you all and I honestly believe that I am one of the luckiest girls alive!
