A year ago today...

Well hello! It has been awhile! I figured it is fitting to write a post since one year ago today I made the very long trek to Australia. This past year has flew by so fast I don't even know where it has went. It is also crazy to think that in one week I will be starting my final year at Augustana. Now seriously, how the heck am I a SENIOR in college already? Seems like just yesterday I was graduating from high school. Now, I have had 3 years of college and one amazing study abroad trip under my belt. All of it has changed my life (for the better of course).

Now, when I woke up today I knew it was going to be a hard day. Yes, it is a happy day, but it is also sad because I want to go back to Australia so bad! This whole evening I have been thinking about what I was doing at this exact time last year. At this time last year I was on a plane to Los Angeles. I also realized that I wore the exact same outfit I wore when I left for Australia to work today (no, I did not plan that). Gah! I just cannot get over that it has been a year already!

Anyway, I really do not have much else to say besides how in shock I am that one year ago I was on my way to a new place that changed my life. I would not trade that experience for the world! If anyone gets a chance to study abroad in Australia, or anywhere else, live it up and soak it all in. Studying abroad is by far one of the best experiences ever and you never really know what it is like until you go and do it! So, enjoy my friends, study abroad, travel the world, and be happy! 

Tips for the future

Hello Hello!
I just saw this link on Twitter and thought it would be fun to post it here. This link talks about how much tip you should give around the world. Check it out!
Later Gators!
<3 Melissa

There is not greater gift than the gift of travel.

When I came back to school in Sioux Falls many people were excited to see me and hear about my travels abroad, but one thing I noticed when I got back was how many people really want to study abroad but then put it on the back burner because of many reasons. Well, my friends, studying abroad was by far the best experience of my life (as you can probably tell from previous posts). Yes, it is expensive (depending on where you go), but it is totally worth it. Not only did I learn a lot about being in a different county and culture, I learned a lot about myself, and I think that is the greatest reward of studying abroad. Being thousands of miles away from home made me more independent and gave me a chance to discover and develop the new and improved Melissa (sounds tacky I know, but it is the truth!). I have done things I thought I would never do, and those opportunities have opened many doors for my future. It is great!

Right now there is not a day that goes by that I don't wish I was back in Australia. The adjustment to the American lifestyle has been rough, and many tears have been shed. One thing that I have struggled with for the past few weeks is coming to terms with that idea that you can out grow your friendships. It is hard because I am realizing this about one of my friends here at school. I am hoping I don't lose them as a friend. It has just been tough. Another thing I have been struggling with is the feeling of being replaced. This is also happening with one of my close friends. Trust me it is not fun. There have been so many mixed emotions with this idea that it has become very mind boggling.

Since being back I have developed a very good support system. This I have found to be amazing while transitioning back into the American way of life. The two people I hang out with a lot are my friends Maggie and Becky. Maggie and I never really knew each other until the fall semester of my sophomore year/her junior year. While she was abroad (she studying abroad in Nova Scotia for a year) we began talking a lot more and found out we had a lot in common. She has been my main supporter in the transition, and I have also been hers. My other friend/supporter is Becky. I have known Becky since my freshman year when we started reffing intramural basketball together and now we play on the same intramural teams. I have been doing a lot of things with these two since being back and it has been a lot of fun.

As for now my life has been full of school, transitions, emotional break downs, and some very fun nights. Spring semester just started at school and I'm sure it will be filled with more of those things, so keep reading!
Later Gators!
<3 Melissa

Last few days of my real fake life.

Hello hello!
I'm sorry for not updating this sooner. The last few days in Australia and the short time I was home flew by so fast I didn't have time to update my blog. Oh well better late then never!

I'm sure many are wondering what I mean when I say my real fake life. My roommate Lacey and I liked calling our Australian experience our real fake life because living in Australia was real but it never felt real. This is because 1. who can say that they lived "Down Under" for 4 months for school, 2. you could go to the beach all day, 3. No one cared if you drank (more on this later) and 4. there was a complete balance of school life, social life, and work life. I have never been somewhere before where that was remotely possible. It seemed so fake but it was real at the same time. That is what it was a real fake life. 

Alright now I have to refresh my memory and figure out where I left off. Lacey left early in the morning on December 17th and shortly after she left everyone went back to their rooms, shed some tears, and called it a night. Another one of us left and it still didn't feel real. That night at school there was the end of semester bash at Don's and then at Shooters. To start off the night there were some pre gaming festivities in my friend Jeff's room. After that we took some Maxi taxi's to Don's and continued out last party night in the Gold Coast. After Don's everyone was bussed to Surfer's to continue partying at Shooter's. My roommate Ruth and I met up with her friend Adam and a couple of his buddies. That night we ended up staying at Shooter's until bar close at 5 am. Honestly could not have asked for a better way to spend our last night out in Australia. It was great! It was also a lot of fun being able to hang out with all of the fabulous people I had met during the semester! I miss them all terribly!

Minnesota Girls!

 

On Sunday I spent the majority of the day packing. I dreaded this day so much because I did not want my time in this beautiful place to come to an end. Yes, I did get all of my clothes and things I bought into three suitcases and my backpack. Both of my suitcases were over weight but they made it through with no problem! 

 Also on Sunday Ruth and I cleaned our whole apartment from top to bottom. That night, since it was our last night abroad, many people stayed up all night packing. Then, at 3:30 am we all ventured down to the beach to watch the sunrise one last time together. It was a gorgeous sunrise but at the same time it was so sad because we would all be leaving in 2.5 hours to make our ways back to the states. It was very bitter sweet, but it was the best way to spend our last few hours. 

We all finished packing up our things and headed to the airport at 6 am. This was so difficult. I did not want to leave. It is very hard to leave a place that you called home for 4 months and a place where you become part of society and head back to the United States.

Coming into LA

However, a plus side of coming back to states is being able to say that I stayed in the same day for 30+ hours, and also being able to say that August 30, 2011 does not exist in my life due to flying.

Coming back to the states was an adventure. Our flight left out of Brisbane at 11:15 am on December 19th with our Sydney to LA flight leaving at 2:10. Well, our Brisbane flight was delayed because there were so many people taking this flight to get international connections in Sydney. We got into LA 30 minutes late and had to be rushed through security and immigration and then make it to the international terminal. That flight ended up being delayed also due to our Brisbane flight being delayed. After 14 hours of flying (thank goodness I slept the majority of this flight) we finally landed in LA. From LA I had a flight to Dallas. This flight was also delayed on the runway because the tower was missing information. We finally made it to Dallas and my Dallas to Minneapolis flight was delayed 30 minutes due to weather. However, with all the delays I got into Minneapolis at 11:40, 5 minutes after the time I was supposed to get in, and after 33 hours of flying and I finally made it home.

That night my mom and my older sister met me at the airport to pick me up. It was so good to see them because they were the ones that dropped me off at the airport when I left for Australia. That night we stayed at my sisters place in Bloomington. When we got to my sisters place I was greeted with a lot of puppy love from the best dog ever, Eddie! He was so excited to see me that he climbed up in my lap and hit me in the face. Yup, Eds I missed you too!

Eddie and his new buddy Cooper playing

 I slept a lot during the first week home. We celebrated Christmas with my mom's side of the family and with some friends at church. It was nice. The following week my mom, little sister, and I went to go visit my older sister in Bloomington and have a girls day out. Here is a picture from that day. We tried to get Eddie to sit nice for the picture but he decided he wanted to do his classic pose and lay on his back instead.

 I rang in the new year with some friends and then on Jan 3rd I headed back to Augie for J-term. It felt weird coming back here because it felt like I should have been getting on a plane to go back to Australia. The first week being back I went to a black light party with my friend Maggie. Maggie spent the last year studying abroad in Canada. I have been hanging out with her a lot this month because we are both attempting to transition back into the American life style. Needless to say it is very interesting and we have shed a lot of tears trying to adjust.

Representing the our home lands

Now, to talk about the drinking thing. My school in South Dakota is a dry campus, so alcohol is not allowed on campus. Many students here also take that view and like to shove it in other people's faces. Many people at this campus also think that if you go out to party, have a few drinks, and have a good time you are becoming an alcoholic and are not responsible. This is extremely difficult for me to deal with because being abroad where the drinking age is 18 and drinking responsibly is a way of life. It is not something that has to be taught to you like it is in the States. They know how to make partying work in Australia. In the states they do not. Plain and simple.

I figured that once I wrote the last post about my last few days in Australia I would be done with this blog. However, my adventure does not stop here and I have decided to continue with it as I attempt to transition into the American lifestyle again, deal with culture shock, and many other things. My adventure down under continues, and trust me it is going to be an interesting semester after looking back on how my last month here has been.

That is all for now!
Later Gators!
<3 Melissa