My last week in Australia was stressful, fun and sad all in one. I had to finish off my final exams so I was a little bit stressed out from studying. It was fun because of all the farewell parties and sad because I had to say goodbye to friends and leave.
Farewell parties were heaps of fun. After a final exam a few girls from my class and I went down to the beach with some finger foods and a couple bottles of wine. It’s still illegal to drink in public but, but in Australia not a huge deal especially on the beach.
Farewell parties were heaps of fun. After a final exam a few girls from my class and I went down to the beach with some finger foods and a couple bottles of wine. It’s still illegal to drink in public but, but in Australia not a huge deal especially on the beach.
Another goodbye party was from UnderWater World. As a thank you for my free labor from the past 10 months they went all out and gave me a “True Blue” Aussie day at work. This included morning tea, lunch and dinner. For morning tea we had Fairy Bread (slice of buttered white bread with round cake sprinkles on it) and Lemontons (a chocolate sponge cake with a light chocolate icing coated in coconut shavings). Then at lunch we had Chip Buddies (a french fry sandwhich with barbeque sauce), Chicko Roll (an egg roll/pot piesish roll thing) and Pavlov (the best cake in the entire world with kiwi, strawberries and passion fruit sauce!). Finally for dinner we had a barbie on the beach with kangaroo stakes and sausages. On the beach we played beach cricket, I had never even held a cricket bat so I looked like an idiot trying to play baseball, but I hit a few grand slams (ha wrong sport, but I don’t know how else to explain it). At the end of the party we hugged and said our goodbyes and they presented me with a UWW T-shirt with all their signatures and messages. It was so cool of them! I’ll miss the UWW crew and job more than anything in Aus I think. It was just such an amazing opportunity to learn and help wild marine life!
My last night in the land down under was Thanksgiving Day so I cooked a chicken and vegetable roast for Corinne, Etienne, Eda and I. So Turkey Day was celebrated by 2 Americans, a French and a Danish person so it was a nice multicultural experience. Due to a oven failure the chicken didn’t turn out to be my best, but it was cooked enough to each the veggies just were not quiet soft enough. Ohhhh well! Afterwards we cracked open a few bottles of celebratory wine and played cards with a French deck so it has all the wrong letters for King, Queen and Jack and Ace is just a 1 which is weird. We also played Apples to Apples which proved to be a very comical gave.
The next morning I said my goodbye to my best friend in Australia Etienne (French). This was really hard and we both cried. We hope to see each other again within 2 years because we are so close. We will keep in touch by Facebook, Skype and email. It’s just so crazy to go from seeing him nearly every day to once every few years!!!
I kept my composure pretty well throughout the entire week of goodbyes, but when I got to my gate at the airport and sat down I burst into tears. It was terrible I just couldn’t stop balling!!! I think I nearly caused a flood with all the tears! At this point I really contemplated just not getting on the plane and just staying in Aus! I knew this choice was irrational so I pushed it out of my mind and boarded the plane. I just did a 14 hour flight and now I am in LA waiting 9 hours for my next 5 hour flight.
My trip was so unreal and the best experience I’ve ever had. I wanted to thank my family and friends for all the support during my journey down under. I miss you and I’ll be seeing soon!!!
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
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