Melbourne and Thanksgiving in Oz

The past week and a half has been packed with adventures, as always. Adventures truly are unlimited here, and I think I will be so bored when I come home.

Last Wednesday was the last night going out to the Lighty with everyone. It was definitely an awesome night, and I never really went to bed. I took about an hour nap on a couch and then moved to my bed for another 45 minutes before having to go to class. I thought watching the sunrise with friends was a better option than getting sleep, so that is exactly what I did. I went to half of my class before leaving early because I was heading to Melbourne! There were 6 of us going to Melbourne, 2 left Wednesday, me and Katie left Thursday, and 2 more came Friday.  We arrived to our hostel late Thursday night, and I was nothing short of exhausted since not really sleeping on Wednesday, so I slept well our first night in Melbourne. (Side note: Ozzie’s pronounce Melbourne as Mel-bin.)

View of Melbourne from 88 stories up

Friday morning me and Katie got up and decided to do a free walking tour to get our bearings of the city. It was a 3 hour tour, and we got to see a lot of cool things! After the tour, we got lunch, then went back out and explored and met up with the 2 who had flown in on Wednesday. We all went and ate dinner in China Town, then headed to the Eureka Skydeck to watch the sunset from 88 stories up. It was awesome to see the sunset over the city and to see all the lights slowly start to come on. After the Skydeck, we went back to our hostel as it had been quite a long day.

Perfect tree to have a picnic under

Having fun at the huts!

Saturday, we met up with everyone for a picnic lunch under an awesome tree me and Katie discovered on our walking tour. After eating, me, Katie, Anna, and Shelby headed off to Brighton Beach to see these ‘colorful huts’ we had been told about. They are just little storage units all painted colorfully and lined up on the beach, but it was actually really cool and we had heaps of fun taking so many pictures with the huts. We headed to St. Kilda for some shopping and dinner, where we decided to try Thai food. This was my first time having Thai, and I must say, I’m a fan.

Sunday, we started our day off with some shopping at the Queen Victoria Markets. These markets are MASSIVE, and we easily spent a good couple hours just shopping. I bought some souvenirs, and they had a stand called “Americandy.” It’s so funny to see all these American products being sold like a treat. They had Dr. Pepper’s and Reeses, so you know I had to get both of those. :-) After that, me, Katie, Anna, and Shelby all went to meet up with our friend, Leah, who we met in Cape Tribulation on our week long break. Melbourne is famous for coffee and little cafes, so we wondered down an alley and found a cafe to get lunch and coffee. After lunch, Leah took us to a pub called Ponyfish Island which is a little ‘island’ under a bridge on the river. We enjoyed an expensive ($9) drink there and just hung out. Afterward, we were treated to a BBQ Ozzie style. Anna and Shelby were actually staying with a lady in Melbourne, and she invited us over for a BBQ. It was sooo nice to see a place that actually looked like a home and to have somewhere to hang out. We ate and played cards for a while before me and Katie headed back to our hostel. 

12 Apostles

Monday was a big day as we went on our Great Ocean Road tour! All 6 of our group went, and the day was filled with amazing views. The 12 Apostles was one of those things I’ve always wanted to see, but figured I never would actually see. Words cannot describe how amazing it was. It’s another one of those things that you have probably seen pictures of, think how awesome it would be to see them, but you can’t fully appreciate it until you’ve actually been there. There were several other stops on that trip, including Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge (Google them if you’re that interested). We also got to spot wild koalas and feed wild birds! Overall, just such an amazing day. When we finally got back after being gone 13 hours, we headed to where Shelby and Anna were staying to try Vietnamese food and eat leftovers. It was such a long day, but so great!

Tuesday we revisited the Queen Victoria Markets for a few minutes, then headed to the Greek precinct to have Greek food for lunch. I loved how many cuisines I tried during this trip and how Melbourne had places for all different types of food. Greek may have been my favorite, but it’s really hard to say. After that, we went to an alley that is COVERED in graffiti. It is a legal area for graffiti in Melbourne, and some of the artwork is just unbelievable. I could have spent a long time looking at everything, but we unfortunately had to catch our plane that day. I must say, that was an awesome last thing to experience about Melbourne. Overall, Melbourne was great, just in case that hasn’t already been made clear. It was SOOO much better than Sydney. It is a city full of character, and I loved that so much!

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving in Oz. While it is so weird to not be at home, I celebrated with some of my closest American and Ozzie friends. It was great to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with those who I now consider family. And, not many people can say they’ve had an Ozzie Thanksgiving. It was even complete with us watching cricket on TV. True Ozzie Thanksgiving right there. 

I just got out of a final exam about two hours ago. It’s weird how much I did not study and how much I did not care. I truly don’t think you can understand the meaning of having no motivation for school until you study abroad. (Don’t worry, Mom! I know I passed!) Also, the exam was 3 hours long, but you were told you couldn’t leave in the last 15 minutes of the exam. So, I guess that means it was 2 hours and 45 minutes? I’m really not sure, but I was told that in my other exam as well and it makes absolutely no sense to me. Also, you hardly ever write your name on assignments here. It is always just your ID number, and I really don’t like that. I feel like it is so impersonal and it makes me feel like teachers could care less about students. Although, not going to lie, that’s the impression I’ve gotten so many times with school here. I e-mailed a teacher 2 times asking for help with an assignment and never got a reply. Teachers here are so not available, and I never valued office hours until they weren’t there. I guess it’s just nice knowing that teachers at home spare at least a couple hours a week for students if they need help.

Also, by now, I would have been listening to Christmas music for a good two months (judge me, but Christmas music rocks). However, I can’t bring myself to listen to it because I feel like it’s May. Christmas music reminds me of the cold, and here it’s 80 degrees (that’s 26 for all my Celsius friends who need a conversion) and I wear shorts and a t-shirt everyday. It does not feel like Christmas is only a month away. And I don’t think it’s going to feel like Christmas until I land in Tennessee and walk outside the airport and find it cold. 

I have already had a few freak out moments about leaving. It hits me at the most random times. I was scared and sad to leave my life in Tennessee for the unknown. I’ve lived there for 22 years. I’ve lived here for 5 months and am equally as sad and torn to leave all the wonderful friends I’ve made here. It’s going to be weird to go home. This is what I’ve known for 5 months, and this time, I don’t have the fact that I’ll return to this life in a few months to help me deal with leaving. Once I leave my life here, there’s no coming back. Even if I return to Oz, my exchange friends will be gone, my housemates won’t be living together in Globo Building 11, and it would be so different. I’ve not said any actual goodbyes yet, but my first one that I am aware of happens next Friday to one of my closest friends here. I already dread it, and that’s just the beginning of a long string of goodbyes.

Anywaaaays, I thought this blog would be short, but I don’t think I know the meaning of short when it comes to blogs. Oh well, more memories for me to look back on. :-)