I can see the Big Dipper again

So I'm finally home. and I've been home for almost 2 weeks.

The last time I wrote in this blog was before my trip to Sydney.

Sydney was amazing. I had a wonderful time touring the Opera House, climbing the Sydney Bridge, seeing the Aquarium, and Sydney Tower. I also cruised the Harbour at night, the Sydney skyline and view of the Opera House and Bridge at night is spectacular.

I met up with a long time pen pal type friend and we walked around a lot and later on met up with her friend and went out to experience the nightlife. We were so tired at first, but managed to stay out until 5:30am. Then it was back to my hostel.

I flew back to Melbourne for my last night. A bunch of my friends were already leaving for trips and home, but the ones I was closest with were still there and had a mini party in me and my roomate's "honor". I miss them!!

Then I flew after a 4 hr delay to Auckland, NZ. Quantas is currently having problems lately with their mechanics on strike, causing massive delays and cancellations. I finally made it to my hostel and rested.

The next day I flew to Queenstown, which is quite possibly one of the most beautiful towns I've ever visited. The town itself is located near a large lake in between mountains which over look The Remarkables. I decided to walk around town for a bit, which is very quaint and filled with ski shops and cafes. Then I hiked up to see a small animal reserve to see the Kiwi bird. After that I took the Gondola up to the peak of one of the mountains and stayed until sunset. I did a "luge" ride, which was this cart that you rode in and steered around twists and turns. Then I went back to my hostel for the night. The next day I woke up early and took a trip to see the Milford Sound, which was beautiful despite the fog and rain. I flew back to Auckland the next afternoon, and went to Waitomo where I went caving for 7 hours!. First I abseiled 100 meters (330 ft), into "The Lost World" and had to climb a 30 meter shaky ladder to get out of the cave. Then I abseiled into another cave, down 3 underground waterfalls, crawled through holes on my hands and feet and climbed real rock walls. When we finally were out of the cave it was nightfall and I hadn't seen sunlight in quite sometime.

The next day I had at my leisure and decided to walk the 20 minutes in the rain down "town" which consists of 4 houses, a convenience store, a pub and a couple of tour operators. I stopped in to see the Angora bunny rabbits, and then walked to the Waitomo Glow Worm caves. Unfortunately from all of the rain we were only able to see part of the cave because the rest was flooded.

After that I caught my bus to Rotorua and toured the geothermal area. I saw the largest HOT waterfall in the southern hemisphere, a mud volcano, lady knox geyser, the champagne pool, devils bath, etc and made a nice visit to the spa.

Then I took a bus back to Auckland where I had another 5 hour delay in the airport. My flight to LAX was actually almost cancelled. We arrived in LAX at around 4pm, causing me to miss my connecting flight to Newark by ten minutes, so I had to wait another 5 hours before I was home in my bed at 6am. The next day I had an interview which I didn't do so great on, I blame in part to the lack of sleep and stress from being in an airport for 15 extra hours. 

and I've been home pretty much going into NYC for Co-Op interviews and eating some fine NJ pizza.

Its weird being home though, because I'm so used of being away and preoccupied with things. Where I live is so quiet and rural, its nice, but very different from Melbourne. I find myself not really wanting to see my old friends either, which sounds bad. I want to see them, but I want to see my other friends more. I miss them. I'm already planning my next trip back as soon as I can afford it.

Let The Beat Control You Now..

So I'm all packed for home.

Of Sorts, have some stuff left to pack, but I'm going to Sydney for the weekend, then the next day to NZ & then home, so I can't really pack everything just yet.

I'm trying to get back in the swing of things back home. Heard Obama won the Democratic Election. I'm not surprised. And I'm still paying attention to  new music releases. I hope I get an internship at Search Party or a job or something it would be pretty sweet. I have three interviews so far for other places.

It feels kind of weird, for the past month I wanted to go home, I missed it really bad, but at the same time, I've gotten used of being here, and this being my "home". So not coming back to my room (with a balcony, I so got spoiled this semester) is going to be odd. I don't know how I feel about living with my family again. I can't wait to see them , but I've become so independent, its going to be kind of annoying having to tell them every place I go and who I'm going with etc.

And then there's seeing my old friends, who I haven't seen in a year. See for others seeing their friends after 6 months isn't probably weird feeling, but I literally have been away from home for so long, almost a year straight now, and away from Boston for a year, (it will be another semester until I'm back in Boston), so I don't know. I'm coming back to friends, but I feel like the best friends I have ever made in my life are from this program. I'd do it again in an instant.

oh and sidenote: I am going to frequent asian grocery stores a lot more often now. I'm addicted to Japanese Soda etc. that my room mates introduced me to.

I'm officially on vacation

Today was my last final, although the semester doesn't end officially until June 25th. 

Two essays on Australia's identity and multiculturalism. I finished in an hour, everyone else took 2. That kind of worries me a bit, but maybe I'm just used to writing essay exams quickly.

So now its time to pack and clean and do all that junk I don't want to do before I head off to Sydney and New Zealand. 

Oh and get those petitions for course credit filled out and blahblahblah. I just want to have fun my last couple of weeks here.

I'm going to really miss all of my friends, its going to weird I guess going home and not being around people from other countries. I've gotten so used to having friends from norway, sweden, malaysia, hong kong, just everywhere. The people I've met are amazing, I just hope I'm not bored or disappointed with my American friends that I haven't seen in a while. One went to France for a semester so I guess we can talk about that. I'm just so used to different view points and cultures now, not that America isn't a mixing pot, but meeting people who were born and raised in other countries is a lot different than meeting people who are from a different country but pretty much adopted the American Culture.

I don't know how I feel about that. I'm going to try my best to keep in touch with my friends I've made here, but I wish I could bring them all back with me! Even more so, I wish I could study abroad with them in another new country so we could learn about that country together too. I really felt like I was part of a group, we were all different but here together, far away from home, you all want new friends and you just get that sense of real friendship I guess because you're all in the same situation, experiencing new things, and have the same interests. I wish I had more time with them.

But I am excited to be coming home too. Its the same way I felt when I came home from omaha and missed my friends I interned with, you go some place for 6 months, you adjust and adapt and get used to the lifestyle and then you suddenly have to leave it. I don't think it'll ever get easier to do. I liked feeling like I was a part of something. But all things come to an end and then you start something new, like my upcoming internship in NYC.

The Final Stretch

This week is for the most part the last week of classes. Then finals "begin". 

I say that because I've already had one of my finals for American Music and Popular Culture. It wasn't too bad, but the listening was still really hard. I guess I just couldn't get used to the style of teaching they have in some of their courses. 

Next Wednesday is my Contemporary Australia final. I really enjoyed that class, I think perhaps because it was taught the way I'm used to. Although we had a lecture and a tutorial once a week, the way the professor engaged the students and made us active participants in class was a lot like NEU. I gave a presentation for the class yesterday and I think it went over well, the Professor wants me to email him my charts that I found from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

My drawing and painting assessments are really soon! I'm actually quite happy with how my final painting assignment turned out and I think I'll get a better grade because of it. Let's hope for an HD, but probably more so a D (Distinction).

After that I really don't have to do much, besides see the city some more, and get ready for Sydney and New Zealand and home. I'm ready to be home. I've been ready for a month. 

And I have at least two interviews in NYC for Co-Op to come home to! All my friends are graduating this year, and of course I can't wait to see my pets and family. So I have a lot waiting for me.

To be or Not To Homesick

Not so much homesick anymore, on and off. I am really ready to get back home, I think its because I'm just excited for the future. 

I haven't written in here in a while because nothing too out of the ordinary has happened. The same old class, projects etc. I'm working on picking up my grades, and going to study pretty much the next week for my American Music and Pop Cult. final. I think for the semester that was probably my biggest concern, keeping my grades up while trying to see as much of Australia and experience it, as possible. So the grades might have slipped a bit.. although I did get that HD on my first paper (A+ =) ), but in the long run, I went and did things, and I'm glad I have more memories of Melbourne besides a classroom.

I've been having to deal with a lot of issues back home. Financially its been tough, my mom broke her wrist in three places and so she's on disability, which means less disposable income, which means less of everything. 

I also had to fix a big problem with Co-Op. It is difficult to get a good Co-Op while abroad. I would recommend not going on co-op after a term abroad, I'm doing it mainly because I don't have time left in my schedule to wait a semester, but I only have one interview because companies don't want to wait to interview me in person. I was kind of surprised though honestly, you'd think more companies would be interested in hiring a student who has been abroad and has had experience with other cultures and what not.

Oh and I managed to break my toe this weekend on top of things. I have to figure out first if you can even treat a broken toe besides icing it, then find a hospital around here, since I'm pretty positive the school doctor doesn't do xrays.

On a positive note, we celebrated 3 of my friend's birthdays. It was a good time and I got to finally go out in Melbourne and really enjoy it.

Right now I'm thinking about finals and projects. My flight home is June 20th, but I'm going to Sydney on the 13th - 16th. Then a few more days in Melbourne before I leave.

On the way home I'm going to  be stopping in Auckland, NZ. I'm pretty excited for it. I never thought I'd make it to Australia, let alone New Zealand. I wish I had more time to travel to other countries nearby too, but I'm only 22 so we'll see!

I'll be seeing the Glowworm Grotto, Black River Rafting & Abseiling, hopefully the Champagne Pool, and ending my abroad experience with a nice trip to a spa/hot springs. I think that's a good way to end it.

of course I'm already thinking about finding a way to do a summer semester in Cambridge, just because, its Cambridge!

Am I a Monash Student?

So, its that time of the year when the assignments and tests are piling up. Today I took another music listening test, it was so difficult. I think for me it was hard, because I just can't get used to this "taped lecture" style of learning, where the professor barely interacts with the students and only reads his lecture notes during tutorials. 

But there is good news too. I'm almost done with my major research essay for my Contemporary Australia class. I've been avoiding it to be honest, but now that I'm 1400 words in, I'm actually quite excited to be learning more about Australia history. My paper is on Anzac Day, and whether or not it should be considered Australia's National Day. Its quite a controversial topic. I'm somewhat in the middle on the subject.

With that almost out of the way, I have to catch up on drawing and painting, and do one more presentation, then its smooth sailing until final exams and home. This has given me some time to reflect lately on what I want to take from my experience here. I spent the first two months traveling around the country, seeing things, doing crazy things I never thought I'd do like Skydiving, Swim under a waterfall in the Daintree Rainforest, Feed Kangaroos, See The Littlest Penguins waddle ashore at night, Learn to Surf, See the 12 Apostles, and Dive The Great Barrier Reef.  I spent April being homesick, shopping, and doing assignments. Its made me realize what a great first two months I've had, and what a not so good April that I've had. I know that actually "studying" while abroad is important, and its allowed me to meet some really great people, but the Abroad part is more important. I say this because I want to encourage everyone who is about to embark on a similar journey, to not get too focused on the wrong things. Enjoy the things while you are away. Be a tourist. Do touristy things. The things I've seen and done are the things I treasure most.

after this period of unending work closes, I'm going to Sydney, and hopefully I'll have time and money to go back to either Cairns, Perth, or Uluru. I'm not sure yet. But I have to do something that gets me out of this current rut and back to how things were in February and March, because those are the experiences that make 30 hours on planes and in airports worth it.

So it has been a really stressful week for me. I was dealing with issues with getting a Co-Op, still have to write two papers (one a major research paper), and do a presentation. I was supposed to do my presentation with this girl Natalie for my Contemporary Australia class on Australians at Work and Play, but she dropped the course. Fortunately, that problem was resolved and I have a new partner.

I went to a concert last night, for which I have to write a 600 word mini review on for class, that was due on Monday (oops), then I have to study all weekend for a test on Monday. I had to change my plans to go to Sydney until June (sigh), because I have a major paper due May 1st, so that needs to get done this weekend too. So much stress. I contemplated really wanting to go home and not have to deal with the everyday difficulties of being abroad and all this work on top of it. But things have calmed down and I have really great roommates who have reassured me that everything will be fine.

A boy back home sent me lemonade because I missed it and I know this is silly but I think my parents might send me some kool-aid too. So I do get a little bit of home every now and then to keep me from being homesick. I've realized its a lot easier to be homesick when all the cool new things are over and you have to get back into the routine of school work, and not going on amazing trips and seeing marsupials and surfing etc. Then it just feels like everyday life only far away from the typical people who are right there to help. Is it weird to be homesick in the middle of the semester versus the beginning?

I'm not sure, but I really do think in the beginning I was too busy meeting new people and seeing new things for it to really hit me yet.