My last entry from Australia...

For my last morning here, I wanted to do something memorable, so I decided to get up at 5 am to watch the sun rise over the Opera House. It was so odd to see the city practically asleep as I headed up to Circular Quay on the bus - only a couple places were open and there was no traffic at all. I am now sitting the Rocks side of the Harbour, with only seagulls, pigeons, and annoying flies for company. Unfortunately, there is cloud cover right now, but the wind is shifting them, so I’m going to just stay here till I see the sun. As always, the combination of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge never fails to take my breath away. The city is so peaceful at this time of day. It’s the perfect time for reflection on what has been the most incredible four months of my life, which is why I wanted to wake up at this hour and come to this particular place.

First off, the past week has been absolutely amazing per usual, even with the studying! I started taking photos of absolutely EVERYTHING because I want to make sure I remember totally random details of life here in the future. So I will not post all of the photos because there are a ridiculous number. :) Saturday, I went over to my friend Andrew’s apartment (where I practically lived for the next few days) with some other guys in my space engineering class to study. I have to say, nothing makes me happier than feeling like I can make a group of engineering guy friends anywhere...hehe. We were all sitting around Andrew's table, and I made a carrot cake (because my friend Mike requested it), and we did space problems for a really long time. Then because I had actually studied hardcore on Saturday, on Sunday, I had the most unbelievable beach day with Dana. Before we went, I took a look at the Newtown Festival, which happens once a year and is full not only of awesome open air market stalls but also all sorts of carnival games for kids (which was cute), various bands, and many booths for all these alternative activitist groups. It was interesting to see the character of it because it’s very representative of Newtown having a more alternative and funky vibe than the rest of the city.

Anyway, then I met up with Dana to go to the beach. We started at Coogee (where we’d been the previous Sunday) and decided to do the famous walk from Coogee to Bondi up the coast. It’s about six miles along and essentially hits every Eastern Sydney beach and bay, with absolutely spectacular views from the cliffs the entire way up the coast. We stopped at every beach and took pictures, of course. The weather was perfect and the walk was just so invigorating. Then, from Tamarama Beach to Bondi (which is the biggest and most popular), we saw an exhibit called Sculpture by the Sea, which consists of 100 modern sculptures all over the walk - from the beaches to the cliffs. There were a TON of tourists (understandably, because it was an awesome exhibition), and it was interesting to see how it just got more and more crowded as we got closer to Bondi. I am so happy that I finally got to see Bondi on a hot day when it was just PACKED. I understand why people don’t like it because it’s so touristy and so crowded, but I have to say it is without a doubt the most happening beach I have ever seen. Not the most beautiful, but full of the most activity and definitely the best for people watching! We even went in the water for a bit, which was crazy because the currents are REALLY confusing and scary and waves were coming at us from like all directions…haha. Then we just lay out and relaxed (to the beat of random house music being played from a DJ - I actually fell asleep to it!) for the rest of the day. It was seriously the best possible way I could imagine ending my last weekend here.

Monday was intense with the space engineering exam (which actually went well!), so I relaxed that evening and watched The Castle at Andrew’s place, which is this very famous Australian film and hilarious. This whole week, I was just trying to soak up every Australian thing I possibly could. I spent a lot of time with my Australian friends just LISTENING to their accents and trying to understand how they are so awesome. Every time I try I just sound stupid. It’s such a bummer. But I am going to miss hearing that accent SO MUCH. On Tuesday, I had to learn essentially all of astronomy, so I went to the Royal Botanic Gardens and was able to concentrate really hard on the textbook, which was good. Then I went to the David Jones food hall (my personal heaven on Earth, but I haven’t taken pictures because it’s always full of people and that would be a little embarrassing), got sushi and fresh fruit salad, and ate it in Hyde Park, which was bustling because it was such a gorgeous day. Again, perfect studying conditions. :) Tuesday night was pretty hard because I said goodbye to the girls (and I’m not sure if/when I’ll see Graceann and Sara again!) and also to Andrew and Rowan, who have become two of my closest friends here. It was then that I realized that not only am I going to miss australia desperately, I actually am going to miss the engineering guy friends I've made here too, which I didn't think was going to happen, actually. The guys I met here turned out to be incredibly entertaining and just so sweet to me in terms of helping me out with class and welcoming me in general.

Then yesterday, I spent time in the morning cramming more, took my astronomy final in the afternoon (which went well thanks to my intense studying!), and then was DONE. So the rest of the afternoon and evening was just me going around the city a bit to visit my favorite places for the last time (like Darling Harbour!) and saying goodbye to some more people and then doing the heinously exhausting job of PACKING. I am incredibly proud that I was somehow able to accomplish this task without my mother!

So, I hate goodbyes, but no matter which way you look at it, today represents the close of what has perhaps been the most significant chapter of my life so far. Before I say anything else, I just want to take the opportunity to thank both my parents and both my grandfathers for making this all possible for me. You guys will never know the true extent of what you have enabled me to become by letting me come here and fully supporting everything I do. I can’t express my gratitude adequately with words, but I can try. Thank you SO MUCH for always being 100 percent behind me - without you, this never would have been possible. I also want to thank those of you who’ve read this blog; I write it for myself, but the fact that you all want to read it and be a part of my life here and the changes I’ve gone through makes me feel very honored.

Where can I even begin to sum up my experience here? I have done more new things in the past four months than I had in the entirety of the rest of my life before July 2007. I’ve climbed the Harbour Bridge, scuba dived in the Great Barrier Reef, kayaked in Milford Sound, petted kangaroos and koalas, paraglided over Queenstown, hiked up Fox Glacier, seen penguins and Tasmanian devils up close, met people from England to Sweden to Germany (just to name a few!), visited Royal Botanic Gardens in practically every city I saw, tried out basically every café and Thai place on King Street, learned how to surf, traveled to Melbourne by myself, and seen natural beauty so spectacular that it has literally taken my breath away. I have become obsessed with open air markets. (I think I have actually seen (and bought things at) ALL the ones in Sydney. Paddy’s, The Rocks, Glebe, Manly, Bondi, Paddington, Opera House, Good Living Growers, not to mention the fact that I went to markets in other cities too... yes, I consider this quite an accomplishment.) I have gone from being scared of living in a city by myself to relishing it. I vividly remember my first few days here, when I felt so lost and had no idea how to even navigate the bus system. Everything that is so comfortable now felt so overwhelming then. I have made a life for myself here entirely by myself, and I truly feel that Sydney is my home now. Leaving here is going to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, because I don’t know when I’m going to be coming back. But I do know that I will be coming back to Australia, because I have never felt such a personal connection with a place in my entire life. I was thinking about naming all the things I am going to miss about Australia, but that would make this entry about ten times as long as it already is. So, I’ve decided to name the things I will NOT miss:
- Having to pay for Internet
- Doing laundry (so expensive and annoying)
- The flies (once the warm weather started, these became the most annoying pests in the history of the world. They don’t bite you; they just swarm all over you and BUZZ.)
- The fact that the lift in my building breaks all the time
- The really bad skating rinks and how they are really far away

Yeah. Okay. So out of every single miniscule aspect of life here, there are FIVE things that I will not miss. That is just meant to give you an idea of how perfect I consider my life here to be. Seriously, though, that doesn’t mean I’m not excited to see everyone. It’s just that leaving this place where I have discovered so much about myself is going to be very hard to do. I now know that I am capable of doing literally anything completely by myself. I can plan out trips, navigate confusing public transport, and go to foreign cities totally on my own. I’ve learned that I need to make travel a part of my life, because exploring a new place and making your own experience in that place is the single most exhilarating thing I have ever had the fortune of doing. And by traveling the world, you truly gain a new perspective not just on humans and society in general, but also your own place in the grand scheme of things. There have been nights when I haven’t been able to sleep just because I am so inspired by the sheer beauty of Earth.

So, as I sit here gazing at the Opera House for the last time, remembering seeing it for the first time on my very first day here, it seems like it has all come full circle. The memories of these past four months will not only last a lifetime, but also shape the course of my life in the years to come. I will never forget this place, the people I met, and what I’ve discovered about myself as a result. And I look forward to sharing that with all of you. Thanks again for reading this and becoming a part of these incredible, life-changing past fourth months. :)

P.S. Don’t think that just because I’m going back to the US that this travel blog is finished. I like blogging on this so much that I plan on posting entries about my trips to NYC, Montreal, and Dallas. Just so you can have something to look forward to…haha

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