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Published: September 14th 2011
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Work Uniform and My Private House
That is the uniform I used for work (minus the waist-length apron I lost). I kept the shirt because it's awesome! The blanket hut idea caught on and in Loic's words they are "room 25's fevellas." So reflection time again! What have I gained from my past 7 months in Australia? A healthy respect for football keepers (soccer goalies) after badly spraining my wrist prevented me from working a renovation job I had just started, a love of road trips and waking up at sunrise to go swimming on the beaches before sneaking onto camp sites to shamelessly use the facilities without paying for them, an affirmation that despite the fact that a town may be half hippie/half surfer, it’s still half hippie and is at great odds with my blue collar heritage. I enjoy barbequing with friends in the park, and like getting out into the clubs once in a while with them for a good time, I can survive on little money and even thrive after throwing myself across a country with little more than a hope for better prospects. I learned that even if you think you are doing your best at something, you can always try harder, never make excuses for anything. Don’t procrastinate, nothing has come of standing idly by, you have to make your own opportunities, seize the day. I have learned to trust my instincts as they rarely steer me
Some of the Gang
A bunch of the gang from the hostel giving me a send off on the Sunday night. I'll post it on facebook so you can see who is who. wrong, I too have learned to better size up situations for what they are without assuming the worst, I still like to give the benefit of the doubt if I have no reason not to.
Did I enjoy Australia as much as I enjoyed New Zealand? Probably not, but I cannot directly compare one to the other due to my limited exploration of Australia compared to New Zealand. The parts I did see were nice even if I didn’t get out of the cities half as much as I would have liked, there is still a lot more country left here to explore and I would like to return one day to do just that. I can’t compare the friends I’ve made here to those in New Zealand either, all are fantastic people or I wouldn’t count them as friend and I feel privileged to have spent time with them and shared experiences traveling with them.
I must thank everyone back home for their support, especially from Cass, Dad, Grandma Logan and Hussmann, and Mom (diplomatically alphabetical). I wish I could say that everything I did was something I did on my own, but that would be a
Just About to Leave
Me somehow wearing the tiny shirt that everyone signed, the flag belongs to Becky. lie. I have been through some tough times financially here in Australia, and they have helped me out time and time again, either with encouragement or fiscal assistance, without either I would probably be destitute and home again already. So thank you all again, even by just reading this (with it’s often intermittent updates) you are encouraging me to keep at it!
I have made amazing friends, loved, lost, and found out more about myself. Of the friends I made I would like to see many of them again, and with luck I will see some of them again in Europe. Relationships while traveling are tricky things, sometimes they are merely distractions for both involved, while other times they are something else entirely, some better than others but all distinctly different. There are things about myself that I need to work on, but there are many things that I will strive to keep. As time goes on and you accumulate experiences you grow, but as growth is change no matter how small, you aren’t the same person you were before that experience.
Thank you all again, I’ll update you all when I have begun the European leg of
Perth
One of my few shots of the city, I made sure toget a couple more before getting on the bus! my journey.
P.S. I wanted to upload this before I left Australia, but my final day was a full one. After having been taken out by my friends to a pub called The Shed (on the Sunday night no less) I awoke with a fairly decent hangover. I finished and mailed my tax return (one down one to go) but found out that my IRD income tax return from New Zealand had not been processed! Hasn’t Australia annexed that place yet? I would have thought that the New Zealand government could be considered “good for it,” but I guess that isn’t the case in Australia. I will do some internet magic when I get to Germany and the cheque has finally cleared.
I was very fortunate to have met the friends that I did as most of them saw me off at the door when the airport shuttle arrived. Loic gave me one of his tiny shirts which most everyone signed, there is a picture of me wearing it attached.
I arrived here at 5:00AM local and it is 31 degrees Celsius outside, I am glad that I will be leaving by 8:30!
Right now as I write this I am sitting in the Dubai International Airport, having just arrived after a however many hour flight (I honestly can’t remember but it was in the teens) on Air Emriates. The airport here is huge, and I regret that I cannot go outside to get my passport stamped as it would take an additional hour and a half to get through customs here. I’m sure that had I go outside, I would be able to tell you that Dubai screams money, they airport lounge areas are what some would call opulent (I’d call it freaking fancy ) and all of the information pamphlets talk about world class golfing and indoor downhill slopes.
There is also supposed to be free wifi throughout the terminal, but I am at one of the far ends and for the life of me I cannot find a signal to connect to, though I hope that there is wifi at Frankfurt so I can check my e-mail and upload what you’re reading right now!
P.P.S. No free wifi at Frankfurt international, but there is free wifi at the hostel!
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Leslie
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Excellent reflections Eric!