It's Not Goodbye.

The day is here. I am leaving. It is very surreal. Even though I am sitting in an empty room surrounded by my luggage, I can't believe it. I wonder when I will believe it. All I know is that this is NOT goodbye, Australia. I WILL be back someday. I still have a dream of moving here; it's just more intense now.

I honestly couldn't have asked for a better last week in Sydney. It was beautiful every day, when originally it was supposed to rain everyday. For once, luck was on my side. Rundown of my last few days here:

Last last Friday: End of the semester party here in the village. It's amazing how much fun you can have partying with RAs!
Last last Saturday: It was Cait's last day in Sydney. Courtney, Cait and I ventured to the Opera House, walked across the Harbour Bridge, and walked through Luna Park all while taking gorgeous pictures. At the end of the day, we witnessed a rainbow by the Opera House and the Bridge. It was picturesque and one-of-a-kind! Then we had one last Chinese sit-down dinner. Beautiful ending to a beautiful friendship that started from day one with Cait.
Monday: Spent the day at the Botanical Gardens with Angelica and Sarah. It was my last Monday night poker night.
Tuesday: Courtney and I went to Coogee to take pictures galore and hang out on the rocks reading and sunbathing. I also enjoyed my last $5 Tuesday pizza and didn't have to see Mr. Creeper there either. Huzzah! That night we hit up Scruffy Murphy's and for once, I enjoyed myself! The highlight would have to be when Adelia, Abbey and I walked home by ourselves and stopped in the park to play on the zipline. Smart moves for 2AM.
Wednesday: Last minute souvenir shopping at Paddy's markets. That night we headed over to Marly to hang out with the guys, another enjoyable night.
Thursday: I really did nothing all day, but that's okay. One last hurrah at Kelly's for karaoke. I will miss that place! I have so many memories there. Oh, but this was the most awkward night of my life too.
Friday: We tried to go to Watson's Bay but failed due to ferries. Angelica, Sarah and I shopped around The Rocks and Circular Quay. That night, I went to Darling Harbour for the opening ceremonies of the World Cup and the first game. It was FREEZING but such a great experience! I wish the US was more into "football".
Saturday: Finally made it to Watson's Bay after talking about it for days! It was beautiful and a nice way to spend the day outside. Our IES Farewell Dinner commenced that night. Courtney and I had a blast together, including a drunk ferry ride back to the city. How many people can say they did that? :)
Sunday: My last $6 Thai for lunch. That means, no more Thai for awhile since Belleville is so expensive! Then we headed to the Olympic Park to miniature golf. I had been wanting to go there for MONTHS and it never worked out! We finally made it! It took us an hour and half to find the Golf Center though. And miniature golf was the lamest ever. It wasn't necessarily easy, but it wasn't challenging either. We made it fun though! Once we got back, we had an impromptu night of poker.

And now I am sitting here waiting to be picked up for the airport. AH! I'm sure I will make one of those "It's so weird to be home" blog entries once I get there. But I have to get home first. Ew, 14 hour flight, I hate you already!

Until next time, Sydney.

The Home Stretch

One week and 2 days left. We are in the home stretch. I just got back from taking my early Philosophy exam. Here's to hoping that I passed and never have to take a Philosophy class in my life again. I have one more paper before I can say that I am officially a senior, but first I have all of next week to spend time with people and do some last minute touristy things.

It's the strangest feeling thinking about coming home. Yes, I am very happy to see everyone I love- my parents, my sister and brother, all of my friends at home and at school. But yet, I am still sad. The other night, we were talking about how long we waited to go abroad. Personally, I knew before I even entered college that I would study abroad. Granted, the place changed a few times and there were quite a lot of obstacles along the way, but I finally did it. And now, it is over. Life is funny like that. You wait for years and years for one thing, and in a flash, it becomes only a memory.

You know what is strange? I have started swamping USA numbers and Skype names with my friends here. It's crazy to think that I will be saying goodbye to these people that I have seen almost everyday for 4 months. I have to say goodbye to Al tonight and Cait on Sunday.

Yesterday was interesting. For my last philosophy tutorial, our tutor held it in a bar, ordered us jugs of beer and let us philosophize and drink at the same time. Only in Australia. Then we went to Kelly's for another hurrah of singing. Al and I sang Jessie's Girl, and Sarah, Angelica and I sang Bad Romance. What a blast! Yes, that is what I did instead of studying for my final.

You know what is AWESOME about leaving? I am leaving a rainy winter for a second summer! I am calling it "Summer 2010 Part Deux!" I wish I still had a tan though.. maybe I will get one back now that I have been under the influence of Australian sun.

For the first time in my life, I feel WICKED...

My Australian experience is complete. I got to see Wicked from for the third time from the FRONT ROW! Best Wednesday night ever!

You see, there is this lottery every time that there is a show. You show up at 5:30, put your name in a drawing and wait until 6:00 for them to call names. There are 10 people called. If you win, you get 2 front row tickets for $30 each. Can you say fantastic deal?

Last week, when Natalie came to visit Al, I went with them to try to win. Naturally, Natalie won and the two of them went to the show. Abbey and I still wanted to see it though, so we went tonight. Abbey couldn't make the drawing to put her name in, so Al came along for an extra person.

At about 5:45, Abbey calls to say that she is on the way and hopes to make it to put her name in. Al decides to just write her info down and put it in, in hopes that she will make it on time. Of course, I think this is a bad idea for our positive mojo! What if she were to win and she wasn't there yet?

And guess what... that is EXACTLY what happened! As soon as her name was called, I looked at Al and slapped him on the arm saying "I TOLD YOU THAT WOULD HAPPEN!" Her name was passed up because you can't just claim you are someone else; you must show photo ID. From that moment, I thought I would not be seeing the show tonight.

MIRACULOUSLY, Al's name was called too! I "litrally" SQUEALED for joy! I was officially seeing Wicked from the front row! I felt bad for Al, even though he had seen it already, because if Abbey would have been there, he would've been able to go as well!

With some time to kill, we had some meat pies with mashed potatoes, gravy and mashed peas on top. Not that yummy, but an Australian delicacy. And we walked around the real Chinatown. Al eventually left us and Abbey and I went inside. We bought some drinks, basically just to get the awesome light up martini glass.

I was giddy with excitement the entire show! Once it was intermission, I wanted it to start over from the beginning! I didn't want it to end!

From My Front Row Experience:
*Flying monkeys are even scarier up close!
*Defying Gravity was absolutely stunning- I had to literally look up!
*You notice interactions between the ensemble that you do not see from far away.
*EVERYTHING IS BETTER!
*Elphaba was absolutely BRILLIANT.
*I should have pursued a degree in technical theatre.

OMG. CAN I PLEASE GO SEE IT AGAIN?

Now, I am going to stay up and listen to the soundtrack while writing the rest of my paper. I could go to sleep, but 1. I am too giddy still and 2. I don't sleep anymore. Might as well get the paper done!

Al is my favorite person ever now.

PS- I am not a very lucky person. Every person that I went with to win these tickets got their named called, except me. Coincidence, I think not. I blame the fact that I have never had an extra candle on my birthday cake, aka the luck candle!

Rain, Rain Go Away

It has been raining in Sydney for almost a week straight. I made the decision today that I would rather live in a place that has snow during winter than rain. We'll see how long I stick to that decision. It wouldn't be so bad, but it rained the whole month of October for me. More rain = yucky!

I am officially returning to the states on June 14 with a mixture of emotions. It will be weird to be back. I just hope I quickly settle back into my old life, but I doubt that will happen.

What have I done lately? Nothing of great importance. I finally had hot chocolate from this place called Max Brenners. It was delicious! I know we have them in the states, but I don't think there are any around me. Oh, I got to go on a tour of the Opera House with my class. It would have been very informative if my headset had been working, but it wasn't. So I just stood there pretending to hear and looking around at the architecture. Last Friday was quite an epic birthday party night. Let's just say that four of us were not quite certain of the details from the night before. Saturday, we went to Darling Harbour to go to the Maritime Museum. There was also a free jazz festival going on. We all got some Starbucks, sat at the Harbour and listened to jazz. It was bliss. That was the one good day of weather. Sunday, IES paid for us to go to a rugby game. Description? Large, bulky men with scary leg muscles that move in weird ways running around a field in very tiny shorts and no pads while tackling each other and only making backward passes. It was... entertaining? Our team lost, big time. The best part of the day was the accomplishment I felt from looking up the train schedules and getting us there. No, really, I was very proud!

I actually quite like Sydney now. Maybe that is because I know I am leaving soon and I want to savour it, but I finally feel at home.

Rewind of the Past Two Weeks

So much for saying that I was going to blog on Sunday about the past week. Now I have two weeks to review. *sigh* I'm a horrible blogger.

Last week was highly eventful. I met more Aussies last week than the amount I have met in 2 months. Sad, I know. Now I have to leave them all!

Courtney and I had been continuing our walking. We finally walked all the way down King Street to see what there was. Some really cute expensive stores and food. The end.

Wednesday nights now have a tradition of hermit crab racing! There is this local pub in Glebe that does it every Wed. Basically, you buy a crab for $2 and name it. One week mine was Kim Possible and this week it was Guido. If your crab is in the top 6 then you have to participate in some contest. The first week I went, Cait's crab won. She had to eat a donut covered in chocolate. Yum, right? Until they pour salt all over it! It was HILARIOUS. But I can't laugh too much because this week I had to do it as well. What a fun time! I secretly loved it. There are other contests such as blowing up a balloon until it pops, hula hooping, eating a large saltine and trying to whistle. All in good fun! I love the atmosphere of that pub and we've been spreading the word amongst friends. Although, I did get attacked for saying the words "I don't like Sydney." It's not true- it was just taken out of context! This past week was awesome though because Guido got second place over all, winning me a Jack Daniel's hat and bandanna. Two dollars well spent!

Adventures from last week also included meeting Australian band boys and scoring free tickets to a concert for Sunday. We're not sure if we are going anymore. But some Aussies really do love American accents.. no idea why! Courtney and I did the BRUTAL walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach. It was beautiful, but a total work out! I was so tired that I was asleep at 9PM.. then I went out. Saturday we hung out at the Botanical Gardens for awhile. It was great weather and I just enjoyed relaxing. Ah, Sydney life, isn't it pleasant? Oh wait, until a creeper started following us and wanted pictures with us. Why does this always happen when I'm around?

Finally went dancing again last Saturday too. I really had no idea where we were most of the night, but it was fun! Then we saw an epic Jersey Shore style fight in Maccas. (McDonalds, no lie, they call it that!) This fight started in Maccas, went out to the street, to on top of a police car. It was some crazy shit.

Rest of this week? Met Cait at her school. We went shopping on George Street. Karaoking again last night. Just a bunch of hanging out most nights.

All in all, I'm very content with my life right now. Sometimes Australia feels like a dream, but I know it's not. I just don't believe I am here and living it up in the land down under.

My Future Home: Melbourne

Not really sure why I have been putting off blogging about Melbourne, especially since I adored the city! I've just been busy I suppose.

We left last Thursday at 9PM. We arrived in Avalon, about 45 minutes from the city, at 11:30PM. We just took a cab to our bed & breakfast. The driver drops us off in the pitch black darkness. There was one light guiding the way. We have no idea where to go. We were told by the people that we were in room number 1 and the key would be in the door. We start to approach what we assumed to be the main area of the place. PITCH BLACK. Al opened the door and we realized that we had to find our room in the dark. We all got out our little handy cell phones to light the way. They did jack shit! It was seriously like a horror movie. I thought we were going to die within 5 minutes of our trip starting. We found a room, which we assumed to be ours. Al opens it, realizes there is stuff on the floor, realizes there is someone in bed, and shuts the door. I feel very sorry for that person. I hope they didn't realize what was going on!

We continued to walk around the perimeter for about 5 minutes. We had no idea where to go. This B&B was seriously out in the middle of nowhere. If I didn't know better, I would have thought I was in hickville or Millstadt, for a closer reference to home. We finally found our correct room. Then there were bugs in the bed, crazy lights and cars driving by complete with weird noises outside. It was an adventure, that's for sure.

On Friday morning, we picked up our rental car from the airport and started our drive to The Great Ocean Road. The nice man at Thrifty even gave us an upgrade to a pretty sweet car! Only problem: I had to drive the whole way. *shhhhhh, this didn't happen*

The Great Ocean Road was basically the Headlands of San Francisco on steroids! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! I couldn't get over the natural beauty! It's amazing how blue the ocean looks when the sun is shining too. We drove all the way to Port Campbell, about 4 hours from Melbourne. We got to see the famous Twelve Apostles, London Bridge, and Loch Ard Gorge. Basically, giant rock formations rising out of the ocean that were created millions of years ago! They are phenomenal. No idea how they are still standing! Port Campbell National Park really was like heaven on earth.

We made plans to sleep in the car on Friday night. WORST IDEA EVER. It would have honestly been fine if it wasn't sooooooo cold! We found a little parking lot in Port Campbell to stay in. We played some card games, walked around a bit, random things to make the time pass. We finally got in the car around 9:30 because we were exhausted. Well, sleeping was another story. I barely slept- maybe 3 hours that whole night. I even journaled at 5AM. I would fall asleep and wake up freezing, so my body wouldn't allow me to sleep anymore. Needless to say, we didn't sleep much. We got back on the road around 6:30AM.

We saw the sunrise and our first wild kangaroo ran in front of our car! It fascinates me that kangaroos are just like deer for Aussies. Cray cray! We made it to Melbourne in record time which meant that we had quite a few hours to mosey around before we could even check in to our hostel. We stopped near this lake and it was the spitting image of Chicago. We all felt it. We also walked through a zombie parade that was going on! I've always wanted to experience one and now I have.

That night we headed to Phillip Island to see the Little Penguins come home! Basically, you pay to see penguins come back from a day of swimming in the ocean and come home for the night. IT WAS AWESOME! Who knew penguins could be so entertaining?! The side of the beach that we were on had an epic battle between the penguins and the seagulls. The penguins would get scared and waddle back in to the ocean. It took this group about an hour to get back! Poor penguins! We got to "hear" some penguin hanky panky. The night sky was simply phenomenal out there as well. I didn't see any shooting stars, but then again I never catch them! They also warn you to check under your car for penguins when you leave. Sadly, we didn't have any. On Phillip Island, we also saw about 4 more wild kangaroos. Success!

Saturday night was the best night sleep in the history of night's sleep since we were all exhausted. We spent Sunday just roaming around Melbourne. I LOVE THE CITY. Part of me wishes I would have studied there. Although, I do like Sydney Uni campus more than Melbourne Uni. The city just has more personality and it suits my personality more too. The architecture is random- some modern, some historical. It's gorgeous! It is easier to walk and I just felt more at home there. I'm not going to tell you what we all saw this day because it was a lot. I enjoyed everything about it though!

Our plan for Sunday night was to stay in the city until late and then head to the airport because our flight was at 6AM. We ended up seeing Iron Man 2, which came out a week earlier here, and that made the time pass rather quickly. Thank goodness! We drove to the airport, only to find that the gates were closed until 3AM. Well, back to a parking lot to hang out for a few hours. I was so sick of that car by the end of the trip. But all in all, everything worked out. I had a bunch of fun, found my future home, and saw lots of wildlife & wonders of nature.

I've had quite the eventful week, but I will blog about that another time. Maybe tomorrow?

Calling Sydney Home

Ever since we arrived here, I have heard from multiple people about how they only travelled to Sydney for a short amount of time, fell in love with it, and then moved here. Up until Saturday, I just really didn't understand why.

We walked from Coogee Beach to Maroubra Beach along a beautiful Coastal path. Although sometimes this path was climbing over rocks, it was an adventure. I love the houses by the beach. And this is where I decided that if I moved to Sydney, I just wouldn't live in the city. Living in the city has had its perks, but I have learned that a big city isn't really for me.. at least not one this big. Chicago even looks dinky compared to Sydney, and Sydney is very hard to become acquainted with. If I were to move here, I would live in the suburbs by the beach. In fact, I picked out a few houses I liked on Saturday.

I can officially see why people fall in love with this place. It's not always the city they fall in love with but the surrounding areas.

Oh, and Happy ANZAC *let's get totally fucked* Day!

PS- I'm not getting totally fucked, if you were wondering.