Reflection Of My Trip...

After flipping through my recent blogs, I’ve noticed that they are really long (sorry about that guys!) and they just explain how I’ve spent my time. I decided it’s time for an actual blog posting/reflection!

I’m currently sitting in the Sydney International Airport getting ready to catch a flight to Cairns, the last destination in my journey through Australia. I’ve officially been out of the country for over a month and half. It’s crazy how fast this trip has gone, but it is turning out to be more than I could have imagined it would be!! Sarah and I have been friends since we were kids, although we haven’t spent too much time together over the past 6 years (long weekends a few times a year). A lot of people questioned if our friendship would “hold up” spending 2 months together in 3 foreign countries after not spending that much time together over the past few years. Yes, we are different people than we were when we were 14, but things haven’t changed a bit!! People usually spend 5 minutes with the two of us and ask “how long have you guys known each other?!”. I told Sarah a few weeks ago that I’m going to go into mourning when she goes back to Indiana and I stay in Kansas City!! I think there will be a lot more flights taken to Indy or KC! I know we already have plans for me to fly out there in August and October and she is coming to KC in October as well. I’m trying really hard to get her to come to KC for grad school… sounds like a great idea to me!

Although this trip isn’t over yet, I can confidently say that this study abroad experience has been 1,000% better than last summer. Don’t get me wrong, I liked London, but Australia has been a much different experience. I like that we had actual Australian professors this summer and more trips outside the program were offered. I feel Aussies are generally more accepting of Americans than the people in London. They are friendlier, willing to help more, and generally enjoy carrying on a conversation with you. I also love how this is a traveling program. I feel like by the end of the summer, I will have seen more and done more in Australia than most Aussies ever do. I will have traveled from the top of the country, clear to the bottom, and most the way up the Eastern Coast line.

I’ve realized there is a lot of things that Australia does that America should pick up on. For starters, I love their money (okay, so who doesn’t love money, but I love the concept they adopted). It’s made of a plastic like material that doesn’t rip, tear, or crinkle. It’s also colored [$50 (yellow), $20 (red), $10 (blue), $5 (purple)] so you can easily reach into your wallet, identify the color, and pull out the bill you desire. I still don’t know how I feel about their coin system (they have $1 and $2 coins). I feel like I blow through money and then look in my coin pouch and usually easily have $20! When you buy something, the price is also often rounded up or down. For instance, today I spent $12.02 somewhere and they asked for $12.00. I also love how majority of restaurants are BYO for a small corkage fee. I know some American restaurants allow you to bring in a bottle of wine for dinner, but it’s usually such a high corkage fee that it isn’t worth it. It’s much more accepted and normal to bring a bottle of wine with you to dinner in Australia than America. Australian politics has also intrigued me. Their system is a hybrid system between American and British government systems. The main aspect that intrigues me is the question time both their Senate and House of Representatives have. When watching question time (yup, I watched it in both houses), it appears very unorganized and like a giant cluster. In truth, it’s very organized and you can’t just randomly stand up and blurt out questions (although some people try!). It’s a chance for both parties to ask questions to either the other party or the ministries about issues currently affecting Australia. It is a good time to be held responsible for your actions, but being politicians, they are pretty good at talking for 5 minutes and not really saying much! I also love the Aussie attitude! They are so laid back and don’t get worked up about much. As our main professor, Pete, usually says, “We could have done something about it, but no one did. We decided to go to a pub and grab a few beers with our mates instead!”. Aussies love their alcohol! I also love their terminology! FYI, for anyone wondering, they don’t talk like the typical “Throw another shrimp on the Barbie!”. They do use some interesting terminology and there has been a slight communication barrier. They also shorten everything! Mosquitoes become mozzies and so on. I’ve noticed accents are worse in people that live in the country or the Northern Territory. Aussies love American accents just as much as we love Australian accents!!

A few highlights from my trip so far includes:
· The culture in Brisbane (BrisVegas as they call it!) – recall “It’s like Vegas on Crack” post!
· Darwin/Kakadu
o Bike Tour
o Jumping Crocodile Cruise
o The views and scenery in Kakadu
o Seeing the Milky Way and Southern Cross
o Harbor Cruise
o Holding a baby crocodile
o Karaoke… enough said!
· Canberra
o Australian War Memorial
o Visiting Parliament and seeing both Senate and HOR in action
o Off-roading in a tour bus looking for wild Kangaroos
o Feeding a Tiger, Eland, Giraffe, Emu, and Alpaca
o Petting a Kangaroo and Dingo
· Sydney
o Spending a day at the Harbor (Opera House, Sydney Harbor Bridge, and Botanical Gardens)
o Visiting Sydney Olympic Park to watch an International Rugby game
o Watching a movie at the World’s largest IMAX theatre
o Passing my GMAT
o $2 steak, pitchers of beer, and shots of tequila celebration night
o Climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge at night
o Seeing an opera at the world famous Sydney Opera House
o Ice Bar and Marble Bar
· Fiji- I can’t just highlight Fiji… the whole experience was unreal. Fiji is this untouched country with the happiest, most unselfish people in the world….
· New Zealand
o Auckland City Tour
o Auckland Harbor Cruise
o Wine Tour on Waiheke Island
o Waitomo Glow worm caves
o Rotorua geothermal area (boiling mud, hot springs, geysers)
o Lunch at the Auckland Sky Tower
o BUNGY JUMPING!!
· Melbourne
o Night at the Casino
o Renting a car and driving the Great Ocean Road
o Largest shopping mall in the Southern Hemisphere
o Seeing an AFL game (and choosing who to cheer for just because we liked their colors)
o Going up the Eureka Skydeck and out on “The Edge”
o 2:30 AM wake up to catch our flight to Sydney
o The Melbourne Avalon “Airport”

I have also met some amazing people this summer. I love staying in hostels because you meet people from all over the world, all on different journeys. The people we met in Fiji still stick out in my mind. We met honeymooners, an engaged couple that decided to travel instead of have a wedding, study abroad students, and travel bug infested people like myself! The people on our program and in our class are incredible as well. We have formed a close knit group of 8 that goes everywhere together. I love how genuine our group is. We can all go out and have a blast and I’m never worried about someone messing with me. I know the guys in our group watch us pretty well and we are under some great care! There are other great people in our program as well and we’ve had some good nights out/travels with them too.

I’ve stayed in amazing locations (Octopus Resort in Fiji), dodgy places (Brisbane Hostel), ate amazing food (Octopus Resort in Fiji), unidentifiable food (dorms at UNSW), slept in comfortable beds (Sheraton in Fiji), had sleepless nights (toss-up between Brisbane and UNSW dorms), experienced “airports” that resembled a shed (Melbourne Avalon), been on more boats, planes, buses, and taxis than I could count, spent far too much money, but had one of the most amazing 2 months of my life. The travel bug I’ve always had has done nothing but grown on this trip! I’m going home with a severely sore back and slightly snugger clothes, but well traveled, cultured, and experienced!!