I only have one week left until I’m officially done with my time at Melbourne University!! I’ve finished two research papers and have two more left to hand in and then I’m off to Brisbane with my mate Sarah for three days. We’ve booked a trip to the circus and a full-day tour to Moreton Island where we’ll be snorkeling above shipwrecks and then learning to sandboard. Since classes finished at the end of October the majority of my time has been spent in the library. However, I did manage to go out on Halloween with a few friends (I was a vampire). I was shocked that Halloween isn’t really a big thing in Melbourne but, we decided we had to go all out and celebrate anyways since it is a big tradition for us Americans.
The following weekend I met up with my friend Terhi to catch up over a pint and then last week I went out for dinner with a few mates to celebrate reaching the halfway point with my final assignments. Unfortunately, my phone was stolen so I had to replace it with a dinky Nokia. On a completely different note, I spent a nerve-ridden day watching news reports about Hurricane Sandy and looked on in horror as the lower part of Manhattan was flooded. My parents were fine but my brother was left without power or water! It’s crazy being here, so far away, for something so big and still seeing everyone’s responses on Facebook. It was even weirder to be overseas for the presidential election! While all of my friends were out celebrating in Baltimore I was in the midst of writing a paper on heterosexuality. But, missing a storm and an election is a small price to pay for spending a semester in Australia.
During the week I also took a study break to watch the Big Brother AU finale which has become a bit of an addiction for me these last few months. It’s so odd not tuning in to the housemates weeknights at 7 pm. But, all good things eventually come to an end as they say. It’s insane how quickly time is flying by, I’ll be back in New York in a month or two and then this whole experience will be over!! I don’t know how I’m going to deal with leaving Melbourne after being here for four months. It’s such an amazing city. But, the hardest part will definitely be saying goodbye to the amazing group of people I’ve met here in Australia. At the end of the day though I am so happy I decided to come here and I am extremely grateful that I was able to experience so much in such a short period. This Friday Terhi and I headed to Chapel Street to her friend’s house party and, after meeting everyone, I’ve decided to join them on a trip to New Zealand at the end of November before I head back to the States. Before then, I still have to worry about packing and figuring out how to get all of my stuff to fit into two suitcases. Wish me luck!!