The End

As this year comes to an end, this blog is coming to an end with it. I've been putting off writing my final blog for about 2 weeks now because to me, it really means Australia is over. Don't worry, I realize Australia is over regardless of if I ever write a closing blog or not. But, I figure I should go ahead and write my blog while experiences and feelings are still so fresh. I'm not sure what the direction of this blog will be exactly, so if I ramble...Sorry I'm not sorry.

First Canberra sunset

August: So long ago, yet I swear it was last week. I have never been so afraid of something in my life. Yet, so very excited at the same time. I'm on the biggest adventure of my life and doing it on my own.  My thoughts are "What am I doing? I miss my friends at home. This was a bad idea." December seems so far away. 

Knew this song very well by
 September

September: I really like this place. It's pretty great, I'm not so ready for December to come anymore. In fact, maybe I'll stay until after Christmas. My housemates and friends are awesome. Sydney, Birthday party, Lighty Tonighty, random Canberra adventures, beach weekend...Life is good. 

 I'm a jumping picture failure,
so we learned in Cape Trib.

October: I'm already half way finished here. Where is time going? Closer friends, inside jokes, Cairns, Cape Tribulation, Great Barrier Reef, tropical rainforest (where it rains), Rummy, horse races, surf camp, most epic Halloween party ever, lots of other partying, not so much uni, heaps of laughter, and no longer Skyping or calling someone at home very often, and totally ok with that because I have people here I need to hang out with. I love the people here, I don't want to leave them. 

Melbourne group!

November: My time here is coming to an end. Oh goodness. I'm not ready for goodbyes. I already dread them. Beach day, Bateman's Bay weekend, Melbourne, Thanksgiving in Oz, Uluru, countless movie and tea nights, even closer friends, heaps more laughter, tears from laughter, tears over upcoming goodbyes, tears over Titanic and never letting go, shorts weather, Lighty Tonighty nights, so many Macca ice cream cones, debit card being cancelled, classes ending, heaps of planes, so many inside jokes, so many great friends.

Last Australian sunset with some of my favorite
Ozzies!

December: I go home this month. Oh, how I don't want to go home. Can't I just stay here and bring a few of my friends from home here and live this life forever? What was I thinking back in August when I wasn't even sure about this? How could I think this wasn't a good idea? Why did I wait until my last year of uni to do this? This has been the best 5 months of my life by far, how am I just supposed to leave? The States are so boring and Australia is so much better. Finals done, New Zealand, glaciers, glow worms, hanging out, summer time, sun, shorts, friends that I just want to bring home with me, so many tearful goodbyes, friends I can’t imagine being away from, one last night in Sydney, beautiful last sunset with my favorite Ozzies, 14 hour plane ride, luggage sent to Chicago instead of Nashville, driving on the right side of the road again, winter, rain, no sun, Christmas with family, missing everyone from Australia, snow, still missing everyone from Australia, everything I want to talk about involves Australia...

This is a pretty accurate representation of how my thoughts changed throughout my time in Australia. It’s actually funny for me to think back to August and remember what I was thinking. I always knew Australia would be great (regardless of my thoughts at first), but I never thought it would be as great as it was. I literally don’t even have words for it. Just...So. Much. Awesome, as me and some friends would say. :) To think that I basically only applied to even go because I was procrastinating writing a paper is absurd to me. Whyyy did I almost not apply? What was I going to miss out on in Tennessee these past 5 months? I laugh at thinking about myself before I left for this adventure.

Being home is kind of weird. While seeing family has been great, I’m ready to get back to Knoxville where I actually have friends. I’m hoping that I will be happier back in Knox, because if we’re being honest, I’m still just mad because I’m back in the States. I want to see my friends who are now scattered in Australia, the US, Canada, Europe...Literally all over the world. I want to be able to text them and see if they want to go to the park to just hang out, go get 30 cent ice cream cones, go to the mall, have movie nights...But I can’t do that anymore. And it sucks. I imagine my life outside of Lawrenceburg, but the life I see isn’t even in Knoxville...It’s in Australia. It’s weird that in 3 days, I’ll be back in Knoxville with the friends who I was so terrified to be without for 5 months. And now, while I am so excited to see and hang out with those friends...I am so sad I’m not going back to Canberra. It’s amazing how something can become your life in such a short time. 

Going on exchange taught me so many things about myself, whether I wanted to know those things or not. I learned I can make friends wherever I go. I learned to be so much more independent and figure things out on my own. I learned things WILL go wrong, but it will be ok. I learned stressing about things doesn’t help whatever the situation. I learned that amazing people are located everywhere. I learned who my true friends back at home are and who would try to remain a part of my life even miles away. I learned to be more open. I learned the US way is not the only way. I learned I cannot keep up with the Ozzie party scene. I learned that even if I wait until 24 hours before a 1,500 word research paper is due, I will finish it in time. I learned I can leave everything familiar to me behind and still be ok. 

I have no doubt that even as time goes on and more and more days, months, and even years come between me and this experience, I will think about something Australia related everyday. I wish I could actually explain how great my 5 months were there. But all synonyms for great, fantastic, awesome, <insert other synonyms here>, cannot fully explain how I feel. I strongly encourage anybody who is the least bit interested in studying abroad to go for it. No matter how many hesitations you have, just go for it. It is the best decision I have ever made.

So, I guess this is it. The end of the best 5 months of my life so far. The end of an experience I will never forget. An experience that taught me so much about myself, life, the world, and other people. An experience I am so thankful for. So, thanks to all my family and friends who supported and got me to this spot in life. And, thanks to everyone who made Australia the experience it was!!

So. Much. Awesome.

Thanks for reading! Cheers!

New Zealand!

I just got back to Canberra a couple days ago from my final adventure of the semester. The latest adventure? New Zealand. New Zealand is by far the most gorgeous country I’ve ever seen in my life. It made me actually believe that all the scenery you see in movies exist. Haha We traveled around the South Island for a week, and it was absolutely amazing.

The Boatshed cafe where we
had lunch

A building destroyed by the earthquake

4 of my exchange friends and I flew into Christchurch on Wednesday, December 5. The group I went with was made up of me, Alex (Canada), Phil (Germany), Dan (States), and Joonas (Finland). We were in Christchurch for 2 nights. We arrived late, late Wednesday night, so we just checked into our hostel and went to bed. Thursday, me and Alex went and explored the city. In February of 2011, Christchurch had an extremely bad earthquake, and the city is still recovering. The CBD is still partly closed and we could see buildings that were still just rubble. I can’t imagine what it looked like considering it’s been almost 2 years and they are still rebuilding. That night, we met up with the guys for dinner and just hung out. 

Drive to Queenstown

The next day, we picked up our rental car to head to Queenstown. We first made a little side trip to Akaroa, which is located about an hour from Christchurch. There is supposed to be a beautiful lookout that overlooks Christchurch and the ocean, but it unfortunately was rainy and foggy, so you could hardly see 20 feet in front of you, much less see what we wanted to see. The rest of that day was filled with gorgeous scenery while driving to Queenstown. We passed New Zealand’s highest mountain, Mount Cook and other amazing scenery like lakes formed from glacier water, making the color of the lakes indescribable.  

Queenstown sunset

We stayed in Queenstown for 3 nights/2 days. The first day we were there, we decided to to do a boat cruise around the lake, which was a great choice. Queenstown is beautiful! We also went up what is called the Skyline, which is up on a huge hill/cliff and overlooks Queenstown and the lake. Up there, there was something called the Louge, which is like a go-cart track that you go down. Except it’s not go-carts, they are just little carts with no engine but instead go because you are going downhill. That was so much fun! Queenstown is the extreme sport capital of the world, and I REALLY wanted to go paragliding or something, but it never happened. Little too pricy, but I still had a great time doing more chill things!

Up on the Skyline! 

Sunday, me and Alex drove 2 hours to Te Anau to visit the glow worm caves. We got a gorgeous boat ride across another lake before getting to the caves. The caves were full of little organisms that glow. The glow worms are actually larvae that turn into flies, but at that stage in their life, they glow when hungry. It was a pretty cool thing to see!

The group infront of Fox Glacier

On the glacier!

The next day, the whole group headed to Fox Glacier. This is by far my favorite thing I did in NZ, and is my second favorite thing I’ve done the past 5 months (my favorite thing was diving the Great Barrier Reef)! We did a tour that allowed you to actually walk on the ice. So. Much. Awesome. It’s so weird because the glacier is surrounded by a rainforest that isn’t that cold, yet on the actual glacier it is obviously cold since it’s a massive chunk of ice. They explained how it stays frozen, but I don’t understand Earth things (this is why my major is all about people!). Of course, the glacier is melting, but still...The fact that this huge thing is in the middle of a rainforest...So amazing. I wish I could find better words to explain this experience, but I can’t. It was so great and one of those things I think you just have to see and do yourself to understand the true beauty of it.

Hanmer Springs hot spring pools

The next day was a lot of driving. We drove up to Hanmer Springs, which has naturally occurring hot springs. We went to the hot springs pool and stayed for a few hours before heading back down to Christchurch. Instead of sleeping that night, everyone cancelled their hostel and we went to see the midnight premiere of The Hobbit in New Zealand! Our flight was Wednesday morning at 6:30AM, and the movie got out at 3AM, so there was no point in going to a hostel for like an hour. So, after the movie, we dropped of our rental car, and went to the airport and hung out there for 2 hours. And that concluded New Zealand!

Speeding ticket. No use being upset,
it happened and being able to say
my first speeding ticket is from NZ
is kind of funny.

While I loved New Zealand, I can’t say I think New Zealand liked me too much. There were so many things that just went wrong on this trip, but it all kind of makes for a good story. Just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about...We missed our bus to the Sydney airport and cut it pretty close to catching our flight, we had issues getting into the country because you are supposed to have proof that you plan to leave and none of us had our flight itinerary printed, I got my first ever speeding ticket, and other random things just went wrong. Like I said, it all makes a good story, but man...I did not feel the love from New Zealand! Regardless, it was such an amazing trip and so much fun!!

So, if you ever get a chance to visit NZ, GOOO! It’s the prettiest scenery I’ve ever seen and maybe ever will see. Kiwis are super nice (that’s what people from NZ are called). Their towns are just small and cute. Such a great trip, regardless of things going wrong. It all just helped me realize that things will all work out and be ok regardless of things not going as planned! That’s honestly one of the main things I have learned from studying abroad.

Our flight landed in Sydney early Wednesday morning, and I stayed in Sydney Wednesday night. Anna and Katie had gone to the North Island of NZ while we were on the South Island, and they came back to Sydney Wednesday afternoon. I didn’t want to tell them bye before NZ, so I decided to stay a tell them bye in Sydney. That day, me and Alex hung out, went shopping at Paddy’s Market, and just chilled before Alex headed back to Canberra. That night, I went to dinner with Katie and Anna and their Moms who came to Australia to visit. We had dinner on Darling Harbour, and then we went back to their hotel to do our tradition of playing Rummy. Man, how I’m going to miss playing Rummy with them and Mandy all the time! I stayed in the hostel I stayed in my first night in Australia back in August, and it just seemed right that Wake Up Hostel would be my first and and last hostel in Oz. Haha

Goodbye picture in China Town

Thursday, I met up with them again and we went to Paddy’s Market to do some shopping. We got lunch in China Town, then I had to catch my bus back to Canberra. We had a tearful goodbye in the middle of the China Town foodcourt. It’s so weird telling people bye and not being able to say “See you in a few months,” but instead just saying “See you sometime in life.” I’ll be seeing Anna on New Years Eve, but I don’t know when I’ll see Katie again, I just know it will happen! 

I’m still in disbelief that this experience is basically over. I go through stages where I am ready to come home, but I’m still mostly not ready to come home. It’ll be great to see family and friends, but I feel like I should just be at home for Christmas then come back to Canberra. It’s weird because so many of my friends have already left Canberra that it’s already not the same here. It’s weird to think that we’ll never all be together at the same time again. Even if I were ever to return to Canberra, the people won’t be the same and the people are what made my life here so great. Even my Ozzie friends will probably be somewhere besides Canberra. I know by now that life is constantly changing, so this change is nothing really new or unexpected. I just don’t particularly like it. I left my life I’d been living for the unknown. I made my life in this unknown place that I called home for 5 months. And now I’m leaving that life I made to return back to my other life...Except, my other life will change as well. It’s been 5 months since I’ve seen everyone. I’ve changed in that time. Things have happened with friends that have changed them the past 5 months. I’m going back to my old life, yet I expect things will be so different. Ok, enough with the deep life reflection section.

In other news, I will be the RA for the International Floor in the Apartments Residence Hall this Spring semester! I am SOO excited for this opportunity because I dreaded leaving all my friends from other countries. I enjoy getting to know about other lives and cultures in different countries, so now I can just learn things from residents! And hopefully they can also learn from me in return! Super stoked about this opportunity! 

Yesterday, final grades came out for the semester. Considering the small amount of effort I put into anything uni related, I did really good and better than expected! I got 3 Distinctions and 1 Credit, which is pretty good for Ozzie standards. I think Distinctions would be like an A- or B+ and a Credit maybe a B? That would be my guess. It’s hard to convert Aussie grades back to the American system because their grading is so different here!

Ok, well, while I could easily write more, I think this is long enough already. My next post very well may come from the States, which is CRAZY! Where did this semester go??

Outback Australia

This past week, I traveled to the Northern Territory and did a 2 night/3 day tour which included Uluru, Kata Tjuta, and Kings Canyon. All these sites are out in the middle of nowhere in the desert.  Just to give you an idea of how far Uluru is from Canberra...Think of the distance from Nashville, TN to Los Angeles, CA. That is about how far Uluru is from Canberra (according to the reliable source of Google Maps). It was such an amazing trip full of indescribable views.

Uluru sunset

Tuesday we flew into Ayers Rock Airport, and straight away went to visit the Cultural Center and do a base walk around Uluru (Uluru and Ayers Rock are the same thing-Uluru is the Aboriginal name given to the rock). I did not realize how massive Uluru was until I was standing next to it. I’ve seen multiple pictures, but none of them do it justice. Uluru is a very sacred site to the Aboriginals full of tales about how it formed. Although it is still legal to climb Uluru, the company we did the tour with highly discourages it because of how sacred it is to the Aboriginals. 35 people have died attempting to climb it, and I’m honestly not sure why anybody would want to climb it. After the base walk, we went and viewed the sunset, which was nothing less than amazing.  

Sunrise over Uluru

Karingana Lookout 

The next morning, we got up at 4AM to go watch the sunrise over Uluru. Yet another amazing view. We then went to do a hike through the Valley of the Winds at Kata Tjuta, which ended at a lookout called Karingana. We went back to our campsite to eat lunch and chill in the pool before making a 3 hour drive to our campsite for the night.  We went to the pool, made dinner, showered, and spent time just hanging out with the other people on our tour Wednesday night. It’s amazing the awesome people you can meet on a tour like this. So many different stories about what everyone has done with their life and why they are in Australia and what their future plans are. I’ve met some truly inspirational people through all my traveling this semester, and this trip was no different.

At the top of Kings Canyon

Thursday we once again woke up at 4AM (ugh), ate breakfast, and headed to Kings Canyon to do another hike. The first part of this hike is what is called “Heart Attack Hill” and goes to over 100 meters high. It led to an amazing view, and after climbing all those stairs and chilling for a while at the top of the canyon, me and a few others decided to head back down and do the Kings Canyon Creek Walk through the middle of the canyon. After Kings Canyon, our tour was pretty much over, and we headed to Alice Springs where everyone was staying for the night. After having time to hang out at our hostel, go for a swim, and shower, we headed out to meet up with the other people from our tour and have dinner and a few drinks. After dinner, me and the 2 friends I was traveling with went back to our hostel to hang out and just talk because it was the last night I would spend with one of them in Australia. :-(

During the tour, our sleeping arrangements were literally out under the desert sky in a swag and sleeping bag. There was a shelter at both campsites, but I did not sleep under the shelter either night. The first night it was cloudy and actually rained at one point and instead of moving under the shelter, I just zipped my swag up more and went back to sleep in the desert rain. And I was totally ok with that. The next night, the moon was so bright I had trouble sleeping because I felt like a light was on. It was amazing to be able to just lay under the stars. Even when camping, I’m always in a tent, so sleeping without a roof over my head was different from anything I’ve done before! Since we were in the middle of a desert, it was super hot. It was a different type of heat from the Tennessee heat I’m used to. Instead of the disgusting humid heat, it was a very dry heat. It was so much more tolerable than Tennessee heat, in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, it was WAY hot and I was sweating the entire 3 days, but I would prefer that heat over the humidity from home. It was so nice to get to our air conditioned hostel in Alice Springs and be able to shower without sweating the literal second you turn off the shower water and then have to walk back to camp in red dirt. It was a great experience for my 3 day tour, but I’m not sure how people actually choose to live in those areas. More power to them if they do.

Yesterday was my first real goodbye to one of my closest friends here. It made everything seem so real that this experience is almost over. We had a tearful goodbye at the Alice Springs Airport (tearful at least on my side) as I headed back to Canberra and my other 2 friends headed to Melbourne. It would have been much more tearful, but I already have plans to go visit her in California in June, so it helped being able to say see you in 7 months. Still not a fun goodbye as it did remind me that our group of friends will never be altogether again in Canberra.

Also, while I feel like I always seem to make everything seem like it is perfect and nothing goes wrong, I feel like I should inform you that things do go wrong. Way wrong. It is something that you learn to deal with while traveling and you just have to take things and run with it. This is a good life lesson to take back with me, although I feel I’ve always been a pretty chill person who just goes with the flow. The latest and one of the worst thing to go wrong for me yet? My debit card being cancelled due to a fraudulent charge while I’m on the other side of the world. That was a fun thing to deal with the night before leaving for Uluru. I would love for a guy in Spain named Paul to have a miserable life for thinking it was a good idea to make a $220 purchase from the Spanish version of Amazon using my debit account. Even if not abroad, a good life lesson: Stressing over things doesn’t help. Try to make the best of things. It’ll all work out somehow. 

It is December 1st here, which means this is the month I come back home. I do not know where this semester has gone and I do not like thinking about coming home. I miss my family and friends and it will be great to see them but man...I’m going to be angry at the world for being back in the States. Ask me where I see myself in 5 years, and I can no longer even tell you the continent I’ll be on. I can’t tell you what I’ll be doing with my life. I can’t tell you anything besides it’s going to be an adventure that I am so excited for. There is so much more to life than the US, and I would give anything for more Americans to realize that. I completely understand why we have a reputation of being ignorant, and it sucks to meet people who say that about Americans. It sucks even more to know it’s so true. 

One thing I am actually excited to leave behind here is the drinking culture. I am so sick of EVERYTHING here involving alcohol. Even on our tour through the middle of the desert, we stopped to buy cider and beer. Like...Seriously...EVERYTHING involves alcohol. Other things I won’t miss: everything being so expensive, not having a car, the stupid crows and their dying baby sounds, the Australian school system, and that’s about all I can think of. 

My next adventure starts on Wednesday when I’m headed to New Zealand! That’s going to be so awesome, and I am so excited! I have an exam on Tuesday, and until then, I’ll probably just be chilling with friends and maybe studying a little. We’ll see how the study thing goes...