eleven thousand miles

I have been thinking a lot about this post. In all reality, I have been contemplating how this was going to end from the very beginning. Yet, I still stumble over how to quantify the things I have learned and the parts of myself which I have come to better understand. Thankfully, an answer came to me today, somewhere between grating carrots this morning and eating reheated candied yams this afternoon. The fact of the matter is this:

I flew over 11 thousand miles to get here, a place I did not know and a place full of strangers. I turned down opportunities for summer internships and fall semester jobs. I never experienced July 19, 2012. In each of those actions, I actively decided my future.

If you had asked me when I applied to this study abroad program or before I left or once I got here what I was hoping to experience, it would not have been this. Not because I did not want what I have experienced, but because I had no way to imagine it. Reading up about politics, looking online at funny lingo, trying to pretend I know what I am talking about when I contemplate what this country will/does look like - none of this could have prepared me for what it was like to live here. To live in Australia.

And that is the thing - I lived. I lived, and so did you - dear internet reader. That is the point of life, after all. Amazing experiences have come from things like swimming in the ocean, and watching penguins come home from sea, and feeling the majesty of the earth after hiking down its rusted rock. More importantly, however, has been the opportunity to discover that 11 thousand miles away from home I am still me. And you are still you. And we're all (hopefully) a semester smarter and we're all (definitely) at different places in our lives. I have come to see opportunities, whether personal, academic, or professional, as experiences which do not have to define us but can and should improve who we are.

Life is beautiful, and  I am thankful for it. I am glad to have been here. 11 thousand miles away from home. 11 thousand miles older, wiser, happier.

I'll see you soon.

Eight, Seven, Six...

I leave this Saturday.
How did time fly away this quickly?

I am also never good with countdowns. Mostly because I never know what I am counting down to, were is the one and where is the zero? Should I count how many days I have left? Does that include the fact that I have a next day layover in Brisbane? Is the count for how many days till I land? And if so, how do I count the strange fact that I am going to live Sunday the 25th for a VERY long time? Also, which time zone should I be counting the days - yours or mine? I don't know. And clearly, I have put too much thought into this.

Yesterday, because all my exams and final assignments have been completed (more or less), I adventured off to the beach. It was so warm out, the sky was brilliant blue, the ocean smelled like fish and salt and laughter. After reading for a while, my friends and I packed up and headed to Beaufort Street to check out a festival of food and music and art and other festival-ly things.

And today is sunny again! And just beginning. I'm going to go out there and enjoy it with my best frannds!!

Destination: Melbourne

I journeyed to Melbourne this past week. I cannot tell you how much I miss cities - of walking around lit up streets, the fast pace of people, how there is no single pattern to the rhythm of life bustling about you.

 
We began our adventures on Phillip Island, a two hour drive from the airport to the bay. After eating a picnic lunch we walked the beach up to a cliff where we saw the pinnacles. Everything seemed a different color green, richer like the trees back home. Later, we drove to the other side of the island and walked a boardwalk looking for fur seals. The night ended at the Penguin Parade, were Little Penguins came back to shore for the night and we got to watch them (standing less than a meter away)!

On Wednesday we started our journeys in Melbourne with a free three hour tour. It was really nice to orient ourselves in the city and find places we otherwise never would, such as graffiti-ed laneways, small cafes, and some beautiful parks. In the afternoon we walked around the Docklands and took too many pictures with all the sculptures which dotted the landscape.

Thursday was ladies day at the races. We all got dressed up and hung out at the track for a long afternoon, getting sunburned on the way. There were nutella crepes with ice cream which we tried happily as we sat on the lawn and people watched.

To finish our trip, we spent Friday seeing as many more sights as we would fit in. The sky was perpetually a mixture of brilliant blue and stormy grey. Nevertheless, a friend and I walked through a Birrarung Marr to Melbourne Park in search of the tennis courts for the Australian Open. Later, we visited the Queen Victorian Markets (with an American food stand selling Goober for $12). I happened upon a mini-museum inside a store inside a mall and another exhibit in the state library. If I had more time, I would have liked to go to all the other free places I saw during my brisk stroll along various city streets! Right before dusk we headed to the Eureka Skydeck 88 to gaze at the city both in daylight and twinkling night. Being from Chicago, I have seen higher breathtaking views, but all in all it was a great view.

In the pre-sunlit hours of Saturday morning, our tired feet headed for the airport as we said goodbye to this city of trams and Krispy Kremes and headed back home to Perth.

check this out

Hey hey hey!

So. I had my last day of class today. HOW CRAZY.

i'm not ready to leave this country!! ahh!

Anyway, if you're at Clark's campus go to the Worldly Women panel!

Here are some other fun blogs to read:
I have a lovely friend here who blogs for her school
Other Clark Study Abroad Bloggers; Cat and Dulara
And some Clarkies in Tassie and Scotland and London!

Comment below if you know of other fun study abroad blogs! vv