Home is Where the Heart Is.

My last week in Sydney seemed to fly by.  I noticed there were quite a few things that I wanted to get around to and there wasn't enough time left.  I guess when I realized I'll be there for five months at the beginning, things could be put off, but then it seemed to be a rush at the end.  Almost everything that happened in the last week had that ringing sensation in my head as the "last time."  I couldn't shake the feeling of finality.


My first very upsetting goodbye came with an incredible sunset.  This may sound crazy, but saying goodbye to Bondi Beach was one of the saddest parts about leaving Sydney.  I loved the city-life, but Bondi was always there when I needed an escape.  It always seemed to be beautiful and the perfect spot to relax.  I am most happy when I'm at the beach, so I was most thankful that my apartment in Sydney was only ten minutes away.  One of my favorite quotes, that will always help me remember my time at Bondi is "no matter how far you go, you can never shake the sand from your flip-flops or the ocean from your soul."

After my Bondi Farewell, I knew my next stop the following day would be Sydney Harbour.  I don't think it hit any of us, while we walked around by the bridge and the Opera House, that we were actually in a spot recognizable to the world.  It almost seemed like we took advantage of the accessibility of everything that some dream about seeing.  One thing I can say is that every time I was there, I reminded myself of how lucky I actually am.  I couldn't help but pinch myself; everywhere I looked was beautiful.

The following two days were spent packing and studying for an exam that happened to be a day before I left.  I figured I'd try and get a jump start on that because I knew I'd be saying goodbye to everyone leaving and wanting to actually enjoy my time.  Packing ended up going surprisingly well, considering how much I don't like doing it; I also ended up realizing I had WAY more stuff than I came with, which would be an issue at the airport.  Oops!  On the other hand, studying didn't go as well as planned, and I ended up cramming the night before; don't worry, I'm pretty sure I did fine. :)

After the exam, it definitely hit me that I was closing in on my last 16 hours of being in Sydney.  I kept looking out the window, which I'm now positive will be the best view I will ever have, anywhere in the world.  My roommate, who lives in New York, and I were just hanging around while I packed and enjoying each other's company.  In order to celebrate, that night we went to one of our favorite bars in Sydney and had a cocktail.  Considering how broke we both were, we still really wanted to buy a $15 drink to top off the semester; lucky for us, the bartender had fun making them and talking to us about my last night, so we scored them for free.  I love how nice everyone in Sydney is!


The next morning I grabbed a cab to the airport to finally leave the city I came to adore.  I had about 200 lbs. of baggage and I knew I'd have an issue there at check-in, so I got to the airport very early.  I think the worst part of this whole trip was sitting and waiting to board the plane; at this point, I was so sad to leave, but I was really excited to get it over with and come home to my family and friends.  As we flew out of the city, I took a shot of my home for the last few months.  As it faded into the distance, I couldn't help but smile because there is absolutely nothing I would have changed about my time in Sydney; I loved it.

Now, no one has experienced what it means to time travel except for me on this flight.  I was set to leave Sydney at 10:45am on Friday morning and arrive into LAX at 7:20am that same Friday morning.  Talk about a crazy feeling.  One of the weirdest parts of the flight was that we were flying opposite of the sun, so it was light out, then it was dark out almost immediately.  We also flew right into the sunrise in L.A. before we landed.  I had no idea what day or time it felt like because I had seen way too many changes in a matter of 14 hours.  I can say that the stars were beautiful and so was the sunrise, but in all actuality, I was just happy to be back on U.S. soil.

After arriving in LAX, I had a four hour layover, which seemed to take forever.  I was really excited because I have a friend living in L.A. for the summer so she picked me up and we went around the block for coffee to kill some time.  It was so nice to see a familiar face after 5 months, even though it seemed to me like a couple of weeks.  She took me back to the airport and I experienced my first bout of jet lag.  On the plane, which took off at 11:25am, made me realize that it's 2:25pm in Ohio, and 4:25am in Sydney.  Hello, confusion; what is going on? I slept almost the entire flight, which happened to be nice because it made it go really fast.  Once we arrived in Cincinnati, I couldn't wait to get off the plane.  I knew my parents and sister were there to pick me up and I couldn't wait to see them.  I was so surprised and happy to see their faces and the faces of my two best friends who came, as well.  They had made shirts: "I'm broke," "How bout that flight in?," "Mum," "Hoosier Sister?," and "Ohio."  It was the perfect entrance back to real life.  I was so glad to be home.  Even more shock came when we went to my friend's house and they all surprised me with a "Welcome Home/ our annual Catalina Wine Mixer" party.  I thought I would be exhausted, but like the sign they hung up that said "It is 10am in Sydney, Mate!," I was very much awake and excited.  So far, it's been great being home.  I love being with my family and friends and I can't wait to catch up with all of them.

With all of the last week activities and enjoying my final few moments in Sydney, I know I'll go back.  It's impossible to have such an amazing experience in a place that now feels like a second home and never return.  I'm so thankful to be back with my family and friends, and to my favorite city in the entire world: "until next time."

Minor Speed Bump in Studying.

School has been winding down in Australia for the semester, meaning Stuvac just passed; it happens to be my favorite week in Australia because classes are cancelled for "student vacation," which is supposed to mean: study for your exams.  Considering my exams didn't start until about two weeks after the end of classes, I took the opportunity to go to Whitsundays and Brisbane for a week instead of studying.  I'd have to say it was the best week of NOT studying of my entire life.


I went to Whitsundays with two friends from Brisbane so we could sail across the islands.  Basically, Whitsundays is a cluster of islands that is off the northeast coast of Australia, somewhere between Cairns and Brisbane; I'd also like to now refer to it as "Tropical Paradise."  Our trip was three days and two nights, living on a sailboat with 10 people and 2 crew.  It was a pretty small boat, but we all had so much fun.

When we first boarded the boat, it was pretty overcast and looked like it was about to rain.  We were a little upset about the weather because it's supposed to be dry season up north because it's winter; did I mention that the temperature in this so-called winter was in the 70s?  It lightly rained as we headed for our first snorkeling spot, but as luck would have it, it stopped right when we got there.  Our first spot was called Caves Cove and it was right over a beautiful spot in the Great Barrier Reef.  I've already snorkeled and scuba-dived out in the reef when I was in Cairns, but I can honestly say it is impossible to get sick of exploring one of the most mesmerizing creations in the world.


In these instances, I'm really thankful of all of those painful years of ridiculous breath training for swimming; I was able to dive down about 15 to 20 feet along the edges of the reef and see some of the most vivid colors of reef and fish.  There was one fish that was as big as half of my body; it was about two and a half feet long and shaped like a circle.  It swam right by me when I was pretty deep so it originally scared me because I thought "of course I'll be the one person that actually runs into a shark."  When the freaking out subsided, I was relieved and pretty excited that such a cool thing swam so close to me.  I'm convinced that some of the fish are so used to people snorkeling around them that they follow us to see if we have food.


After snorkeling for a while, we got back onboard and raised the sails.  We were pretty far out from our destination in the morning, which was Whitehaven Beach, so the Skipper wanted to sail for a while before anchoring for dinner and bed.  I don't know if it was just in the moment or not, but I think nothing can beat relaxing on a sailboat, cruising around tropical paradise.  I love being on a boat.  Whenever I'm on the water, I'm always at peace; maybe I should have been born a fish.  The just such a serene and calming place to be; I definitely could have sailed on that boat forever and never come back.

It was still a little cloudy throughout our first night, so it was hard to see the stars.  It also made it almost eerily dark; I don't know if I've ever been on a boat that late that hasn't been docked.  I thought that falling asleep to the world in pure silence except for the sound of the water, while rocking away to the waves would have led to a great night sleep, but we tried to fit all three of us in our little, tiny cabin like sardines.  If I could find a way to make a boat really spacious below deck, I would; it was a tight squeeze for all of us.


In the morning, we woke up on our way to Whitehaven and we were SO excited because it was sunny and hot.  The day before I thought the water was blue, but nothing compared to the sun shining off of it.  The water was a combination of turquoise and emerald blues that literally just sparkled.  We had all morning at the beach and took a ton of pictures, while every single person got fried.  Sunscreen seemed to be at the back of everyone's mind and it definitely showed that night when we were all glowing pink.


After the beach we sailed away to another fantastic snorkeling spot and spent the afternoon playing around in the water.  Whether underwater or out of it, everywhere I turned was beautiful.  As we were traveling around another island, the sun was setting, which was unbelievable.  Everyone onboard just kept saying "it doesn't get much better than this." 

The next morning, we woke up bright and early and sailed into Nara Inlet.  There was a short hike up one of the islands that led to an Aboriginal cave.  We got to see some paintings that had been there for hundreds of years and look at some of the territory which old tribes lived in.  Our Skipper told us that the reason people came to Nara was for the protection from storms.  It's almost surrounded by islands which causes a shelter from bad weather and hurricanes. Whether someone went for protection or just to see the caves, the place was incredible; it looked like a painting.

After exploring the inlet, we headed back out to our ship.  There was about a three hour sail back to Airlie Beach and we had absolutely perfect conditions.  We all had a blast on this trip and I would have carried it out for a few weeks if I could have.  If I ever get the chance, I'd go back to Whitsundays in a heartbeat; it's definitely my kind of paradise.

That same afternoon, we took a flight back to Brisbane and I stayed with one of my friends for three days to explore the city.  It's a lot smaller than Sydney, but we definitely had a lot of fun.  A river wraps around the city, so it's still by water, which in my opinion makes it awesome.  The weather wasn't great, but I still had fun exploring, shopping, and taking pictures.

 One of my favorite things that we got to do in Brisbane was visit the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, where we got to hold koalas!  Most animal sanctuaries in Australia don't let anyone hold the koalas, just pet them, so we were SO excited to cuddle with them.  After walking around and playing with kangaroos, we finally got our chance.  It took all of my control to not take the koala and run; it was so adorable!!! The fur was soft and really thick, and the cuties just curl up around you.  One thing that the guides made sure for us to do was stand completely still, almost like a tree; apparently, koalas aren't that big into people, so as long as you stay stable enough they'll hug you.

I had such a fun week on this trip and I'm so glad I didn't sit home and study.  I'm sure all of my professors would have made the same decision I did and enjoyed the week.  It was my last vacation from vacation in Australia and I had a blast.  I can't believe my time here is winding down.  I only have a week left until I'm on a plane and I'm not sure how I feel about it.  Obviously, I can't wait to see my family and friends, but how do I leave the perfect city?  One thing is for sure, I will come back; I've only been here for 124 days, but it's become a second home.

Living Life and Loving It.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had quite a few awesome opportunities thanks to my internship and my competitive nature.  All of us can't believe that we are leaving here in a couple of weeks, so we are trying to do everything we haven't had the chance to and take advantage of this awesome country.

I'm interning at International Goalkeepers Academy and I was lucky enough to be invited to the Johnny Warren Football Foundation Gala Dinner.  I was excited for the invite because I thought I would be able to learn a lot from the experience; I'm planning an event for The Academy so I was hoping to get a few tips on the evening.  However, with as much as I learned, I also happened to have a blast throughout the night; we were down in Darling Harbour so the restaurant over-looked the water and it was incredible.  When we first arrived, there was a cocktail hour and everyone was able to socialize and talk.  There were quite a few big names in soccer that I was able to meet, including the men's Socceroo's coach, Holger Osieck, and Marcos Flores, one of the best players in Australia.  Everyone was really friendly, and we were luckily able to snap a few pictures with them.  One of my favorite parts of the evening was the actual dinner; considering I am a college student in a city with a VERY high cost of living, I haven't exactly been eating anything spectacular, but we actually enjoyed a fantastic three-course meal.  We had a great night and it was nice change to feel like an adult in the business world instead of just a student!

A few days after my first gala, I had my first-ever business trip.  One of my bosses had a colleague of mine and me take a train up to Newcastle for a couple days.  It's about three hours north of Sydney and the whole place is gorgeous.  When we first arrived we were shown around the city, which is right on the water.  There are stretches of some of the most beautiful beaches for miles up the coast and fantastic views from every hilltop.  One of my favorite parts about Australia is the terrain; there is a combination of either hills, cliffs, ocean, or water inlets visible in almost any city.  Every time I think I've seen an unbelievable view, I turn around and there is something that tops it.


After a tour of Newcastle, we went to dinner at a fantastic Thai restaurant.  I never really ate Thai back in the States, but I've come to appreciate it a lot more and it will most likely become one of my take-out usuals when I get back.  We called it an early night and went back to our hotel rooms in preparation for an early morning.  The next day, we had a meeting all morning in order to get us all better acquainted with a new marketing website that has recently been launched.  It was incredibly interesting to hear about the business ideas and concepts from the people that developed the site.  There was another college student besides myself, and we were there to give our opinions and hopefully some new insight into the business; it was exciting to be able to contribute ideas and have them valued and incorporated into an actual project.  I learned so much throughout my trip that I'll actually be able to use in real situations; I'd say my first business trip was a success.


When I first got to Sydney, my program had an orientation and we participated in Study Australia's Amazing Race in order to get better acquainted with the city.  The prize of winning was a dinner at the Opera House, and my team happened to get the dinner.  With all of our busy schedules, we hadn't gotten the chance to go yet, but this past week we finally made the reservation.  The restaurant is one of the best in the city. Just the atmosphere of the place is phenomenal because of the location; it is in one of the "sails" right up the front steps, directly over-looking the skyline.  It was so incredible to be able to eat in one of the most recognizable buildings in the world.  As a group, we wanted to play the part, so we all got really dressed up and enjoyed an unbelievable meal; I had scallops for the entree and snapper for the main.  This evening will definitely go down as one of the top nights in all of my time here.  

We were really fortunate that we had to wait so long to go to dinner because our timing was perfect with Sydney's light show: Vivid.  The city has a spectacular display of lights throughout the harbour and they are designed as a show over the city buildings and the Opera House.  The lights create designs on all of the buildings which are so cool; across the Opera House sails there were rainbow effects, jellyfish swimming, and bright colors splashed all over.  Tons of people were there to see the show, listening to live music and enjoying the beautiful weather.  Seeing all of the people and the environment made me realize that I'm really going to miss Sydney.  I've loved my time here so far and all I can hope is that I'll be able to make it back here someday!