Austalia in a nutshell!

This might be a long post. Sorry for that!

Anyway. So I decided to go to Australia a few weeks ago. Totally irresponsible and pretty random, but I figured "Why not?" It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I took it [even though I'm now super stressed about money].

I left on July 24 from Rochester and landed in Sydney on July 26. The flights weren't too bad. It was the first time I'd flown alone, but nothing bad happened, really. However, the airline messed up my meals, so I didn't get to eat breakfast, which kinda sucked. But whatever. I got to see John, like, right away when I landed, which was the greatest thing ever. I missed that kid so damn much. I about exploded when I saw him. It was that amazing. We got in contact with Andrew who's the guy from Couchsurfing we were staying with. After some confusion, we took the train to Museum Station and got lost. Then Andrew called and met up with us to give us the key to his apartment. Andrew went off to work while John and I walked to his apartment [where there was more confusion]. Finally, we got there, rested for a little bit, and then went to explore Sydney!

Sydney is amaaaaazing. Like, for reals, I wanna live there forever. We mostly just wandered around town, taking in as much as we could [which, in hindsight, probs wasn't a good idea. We should've invested in a bus/train/tram pass. Oh well.]. From this point on, there is no guarantee this is in orer. I'm just gonna ramble on about Sydney. There was an awesome park near Andrew's called Hyde Park. It was beautiful. Nearby there was a beautiful church, and in the park, there was a museum. A little ways away, there's a harbor. So we went there and saw boats and an IMAX and a bunch of other stuff, including a cool clock and heron fountain. We ended up seeing a movie at IMAX ["Born to Be Wild" about monkeys and elephants. It was awesome].

Uhhh, what else. Andrew mostly worked, so he couldn't show us around too much, but he took us to this swanky bar and introduced us to a friend of his. It was kinda awkward. Errybody in Sydney [and Canberra and Melbourne] dresses really nice. And John and I rocked, like, jeans, hoodies, and t-shirts. Oh well. Andrew also introduced us to a few of his other friends another night, Ian and Roberto. Ian's from Alaska and super cute. He reminded me of my friend Kent. Like, for reals. They could be twins. And Roberto is from Mexico. He was HILARIOUS. However, when we all left Andrew's to go to Newtown to some bar, he got us separated. John and I took a taxi with him while Ian and Andrew took another, so we didn't make it to Landsdowne. Instead, Roberto took us to a random bar and he and John had another drink. I should mention that by this point, John had had five beers, so he didn't really need another. I got bored, so John and I wandered over to where Andrew was. We didn't find him though [Later, we found out that he and Ian were in the upstairs of this bar.]. John and I then wandered [well, I wandered. He stumbled] around for a little bit before managing to find our way back to Andrew's. It was kinda irritating for me, but John seemed to enjoy it. 

John and I went to some museums too, like this maritime one to see boats. And to the war memorial in Hyde Park and to an art museum and a church. It was tons o' fun. We walked to the Sydney Opera House and explored the inside a little bit. We saw the bridge from there, too. We didn't cross it, though. And we had a bunch of delicious food. Australia is srsly heaven for vegans. They're so accommodating. On our last day in Sydney, we saw three protests and a wedding. It was awesome.

Also on our last day, John and I were walking to the CBD and we walked past this hotel where cops and ambulances were arriving. We didn't know what had happened, but later we found out that a woman was pushed off of her balcony by her lover. It was crazy!

After Sydney, we took a bus to Canberra, where I met Alice and Harry [yay!]. Alice made me a vegemite sandwich once we got to their house and it is the most terrible thing I've ever tasted. John loves it, but it's disgusting. Never eat it. Anyways. Canberra wasn't as exciting as Sydney, but I tried to make the best of it. We stayed with Alice and Harry, which was completely different than staying with Andrew. At Andrew's, we had a pull-out bed and pretty much our own room. At Harry and Alice's, we slept on this makeshift bed of foam mattresses in the middle of their, like, living room. And it was freeeeezing. So. John showed me around Canberra our first night in, and it was fun. There was this cool vegan restaurant. We went there for dinner one night and it was terrible. The food was great, but the service was shit. However, I felt bad because the guy, like, tripped and poured hot water all over himself and the floor. Still, service sucked. We tried going to the zoo on our own, but the buses only go there during school holidays [super dumb], but Alice took us one day and it was awesome. We went to the war museum that day too. I was sad about the zoo because the red pandas were sleeping high up in trees, but it was still amazing. I got to pet a dingo and a kangaroo.

While in Canberra, we went with Alice and Harry to Coomba [which is where Alice's parents live] for the weekend. Her dad was firing some clay, so we hung out while he did that. It wasn't as awesome as I had hoped, but it was cool. We stayed in this barn that was made into, like, a mini-house. It had a kitchen in the bottom, and the loft was a big bedroom. The first night was a little rough, but it was fun otherwise. Oh, fun fact. I got a UTI while in Sydney, so I was kinda miserable for, like, two weeks, and staying in this loft was troublesome. The bathroom was an outhouse [which wasn't a big deal, since I've used an outhouse before and this one was way nicer], but when you constantly have to pee really bad, climbing down a ladder and making your way in the dark to an outhouse is a bitch. Thankfully I didn't piss myself. Anyway. We went paintballing on Saturday for one of Alice's friend's birthdays. That was a lotta fun. I got chosen to be on the opposite team from Alice, Harry and John [which meant that I got to take each one of them out]. I shot John in the back once, Harry in the chest once and Alice in the arm and leg. Our team only lost one of the challenges. We're awesome. However, after one round, the whistle was prematurely blown, and John and Harry tried to assassinate me. Harry barely missed getting me in the head. I only got shot once at the end, and it was in the leg. Not a fan of being shot with a paintball gun. After that, we went to another of Alice's friend's, and I got to see Alice, Harry and their friends fire twirl and fire breath. It was pretty neat. Oh, and I got to see John's mad hula skillz. It was a good time. We left on Sunday, and I got to see a bilby, which is apparently really rare. It was cool.

John and I left for Melbourne at, like, midnight on Sunday. It was a pretty last minute trip, so we were busing all night with no real place to stay once we got there. We ended up going to a hostel [Oslo Hotel] and it was cool. It was suuuuuper nice having our own room and lots of privacy [plus a warm shower. Alice and Harry's shower wasn't very friendly in that respect. John and I had to get really wet, shut the water off, lather shampoo/soap/etc., turn the water back on and hope that we rinsed off before it got cold. So this was a beautiful thing. We went to the beach right away, which would've been even more awesome if it had been warm [it's winter in Australia so it was pretty chilly the whole time I was there with the exception of the few days in Sydney]. The beach was still beautiful. I loved it. We walked out on the dock later in the evening, and John was paranoid that I was gonna fall in. He's cute that way. In Melbourne, John and I got all access passes to the tram and train and bus, so that was nice. It made it a lot easier to get around, and it was a lot faster. For the most part, we just wandered around Melbourne's CBD. We went to a few museums and the casino, where John didn't win any money unfortunately. Our last night, we stayed at this really nice hotel [Atlantis]. It was great.

At this one park in Melbourne, there were a billion possums. I was scared because they were super brave and kept appearing everywhere. Like, John was trying to befriend one possum, and three more appeared behind us and two were in the trees. It freaked me out. There was also a really cool owl in one of the trees. I tried to get a picture but it was too dark. And we saw a bat. It was huuuuuuuuge. Thankfully it didn't try to attack us. One of the possums bit John's shoe. And another went into the trashcan and started wailing, which deterred me from going towards it but John was all, "It's coming from over here. Let's go look!" Crazy man. The possums were super cute though. I love 'em.

We left Melbourne on Friday night and got back to Canberra Saturday morning. The arrival back to Alice and Harry's was rough. Ellen had come down from Bega, so she was sleeping on one of the mattresses and Rod was staying for a few weeks so he was on one couch, and both of them were using John's blankets, and John's too nice to ask for his shiz back so we, like, attempted to sleep all weirdly on the couch. Well, John slept successfully but I was freeeeezing. Eventually, Rod woke up to use the bathroom or something and gave us the blanket he was sleeping on. That helped lots. John and I mostly hung out that day until we went with Alice and Harry to Cooma for an Australian adventure in the bush! We met up with their friend Nicole who showed us cool stuff. We saw this wedge-tailed eagle on the side of the road. It was huuuuuuuge and so beautiful. There were kangaroos in the woods, too. So cool. Then we continued on to this wombat-friendly forest. And that is where I almost got taken out by a wombat. There was a muddy puddle, so we were all trying to sidestep it, and as I was moving over, this wombat came running by. It was scary, and it srsly barely missed my leg. But it was awesome and so cute. We went platypi hunting next, which was a lot harder. We saw some wallabies on our journey, though, and our patience paid off. There was a platypus in the river and I got to see it twice. Soooo awesome!

John came with me to Sydney when I left the next morning at 4. It really sucked leaving him, especially since it's now gonna be ten months until I see him again. But it was really nice to have a few more hours with him. I almost missed my flight outta Sydney though. I barely made it. But it was good. I watched some movies and didn't sleep much at all. I slept more on the plane from LAX, but that was only a threeish-hour flight. I got home and got to see all my fam. It was great. However, I am now leaving in approximately eight and a half hours for eleven months and that's kinda shitty. I haven't finished packing or slept and it's 6:43 in the a.m. I don't know whether I'm jet lagged or just stressed about moving or both. Either way, it sucks.

So that's the sparknotes version on my trip to Australia. Random things: In Australia, they call fries chips, which is awesome, and they don't say "You're welcome." They say "No worries," which is awesome too. Their money is different than ours. Like, they have mostly coins, including $1 and $2 coins. Their bills are plastic, different colors and different sizes. And they drive/walk on the left side of the road/sidewalk. And they have tons of roundabouts. What else..OH! Melbourne is super cool because it has this fast food place called Lord of the Fries which is 100% vegetarian and vegan! So awesome. And there is a ton of graffiti. The cities, like, commission people to paint murals and they're srsly fantastic. Melbourne also has a bunch of brothels/strip clubs, which is relatively common in most cities, but John and I spotted them a lot in Melbourne. Oh, and everything is crazy expensive. Like, soda was, like, $4 for a bottle. Sometimes more.

I think that's mostly everything. It's really late, so I might be missing something. If so, I shall do another post later!

Until then. :)

KAPOW!

Hi there, strangers!

So I haven't updated this thing in months. I apologize for that. There's really no reason for it. I'm just lazy. And graduating from college is not going to help that in the least. Anyways.

Quick run-down of my life and go!

I'm home [briefly] for the summer. I just got back Monday from staying for a few weeks with the boyfriend. And next Sunday, after going to Soundset with the boyfriend and the bff, I'll be headed back to the FM area to see boyfriend off to Australia. Then it's Rochester til Tacoma. Nothing too exciting.

What else, what else, what else... One of my chest dermals rejected. What a bitch. So I had to tear it out today. Fun stuff.

OH! And remember that one time I talked about starting a sex blog? Well, it's in the works. I'm gonna attempt to convince John to lemme blog about our relationship [read: sex] which means that blog would probably be explicit and NSFW. I've decided that it would be an awesome job to review sex toys. Srsly, probably the best job EVAR. So I'm gonna start an amateur blog doing just that [assuming John's in. Otherwise, I might need to find others to play with? Who knows.]. And it might be a recommend-your-toy-of-choice [or one you've been wanting to try/an act/whatever] and I can be the one to try it out type thing too! I'm not sure. This is very rambly, what's-in-my-head vomit. Any suggestions?

Life, love, stress and setbacks.

So I'm talking to my mama on Facebook right now. Originally, she messaged me about my profile picture, but that turned into a discussion about hotel reservations for my graduation. That then turned into a random comment about a badge she got on this gaming website she enjoys.

My mama tells me the most random shit on a daily basis. And as much as I think, "WTF?" when I get another text message from her about some asinine thing one of the cats did, if I didn't get those pointless texts messages, my life would be a little less worthwhile.

I've been realizing lately how great my life is. Not in a "I'm better than you" sort of way, but in a "things are seriously amazing and you should be thankful and appreciative" sort of way. I'm graduating from college in a few weeks. I've made some awesome friends that I'm sure I'll take away from this place. I feel totally comfortable in my skin, and that's something I haven't felt ever in my life. The last year and a half (roughly) was full of mistakes and growth, and while I wish I could change the outcome of some of those things, in the end, everything turned out okay.

I may not be with the person I thought I'd spend my life with, but that's okay. I've gotten to know more people as a result of that and I've gotten to know myself more intimately. I've learned things about myself and the things I want that I wouldn't have if I were still with him. And while the way that situation unfolded probably wasn't the best, I learned from it and I'm a better person for it.

My life may not be going down the path I would've thought when I began this foray into academia, but I can honestly say I'm happy with where I'm headed. Volunteering is going to be a much better fit for me than trying to find a career that provides me with financial security but no happiness.

Part of me wishes I could stay at this point in my life forever, because it's honestly the happiest I've ever been in my life. But I know that there is only more greatness to come, and if I stay where I am, I'll grow dissatisfied. I'm excited to embark on new journeys but it saddens me to leave this place. I know I have about seven weeks left so I shouldn't jump the gun, but it's a bittersweet realization to know that I'm finally going out into the world to be a real, live adult.

Let's hope I can handle it.

Whoa, does time fly.

My friend Tim just told me I hadn't updated my blog in awhile, which I was aware of. However, I was not aware that it had been a month. That's crazy.

I don't really have much to update though. I'm going home in approximately four days to see the fam bam, get a tattoo and see Atmosphere in concert. Oh. And I'm doing a polar plunge this Saturday. Which is scary.

On a random tangent, I just saw an event on Facebook for this Second Hand Prom thing that Concordia is doing. And in the description, it explains that men should be getting their suits from their closets and women should be dusting off their formal dresses.

I'm not a fan of this heteronormativity. I shouldn't be surprised by it, but it is shocking to me. I know there aren't many people on this campus (if any, really) that bend gender norms. However, I don't think that means we should be promoting gender normativity.

Maybe I'm just too liberal for this campus. :/

Frustration.

Have you ever had a friendship with someone that you wanted to be so much more than it was?

I feel like I'm in that friendship right now. It's so frustrating. I want to believe that we're the best of friends, that there's nothing that either of us wouldn't do for the other. But I feel like this is very one sided.

Even when we're together in the same place, our friendship is superficial at best. We talk about mundane, trivial things. How's class? How's life on the most basic level?

And when we're apart and texting, we stick to these same topics. Or it becomes an exchange of facts. Perhaps I'm reading too much into this. I am wont to do that.

But I don't think I am. And it hurts to think that this friendship is nothing more than what it appears to be at the surface.

Life choices.

Lately, I've been thinking about my major. I'm a journalism/political science double major, for those of you who don't know. And I've been thinking that I wish I had majored in something else.

Now, don't get me wrong. Journalism is an awesome field of study. And I've learned a lot that will be applicable no matter what career field I go into and blah blah blah. But I feel like just having a degree from a liberal arts college is enough. And I've been thinking that I don't want to go into journalism anymore, really. I mean, it'd be awesome to work for the Onion, but again, I feel like having a journalism degree doesn't necessarily make me all that much more prepared for that type of job.

I don't know. I just wish I had this carefree attitude that I have now when I originally came to Concordia. At this point, I'm pretty much whatever about where life takes me. I'm not concerned about the things I was concerned with as a freshman, like paying back debt and making money and whatever else. Now, I just want to experience everything I can, no holds barred.

And it would have been awesome not to be so bogged down with making sure that I graduate in four years and doing the most that I can like double majoring with a minor and ResLife and myriad other things I chose to do in order to boost my attractiveness to potential employers. Again, I'm not saying I necessarily regret the things I did in college. I've made a lot of amazing friends and experienced a plethora of things I wouldn't have otherwise and learned more about myself than I would have if I had just stayed in lame old Rochester.

But I was so blinded and jaded when I got here and I honestly feel that there was no one telling me that it'd be okay if I didn't graduate in four years or if I didn't major in something "practical" and that I should just focus on making these the best four years of my life.

I mean, whatever. I'd probably still be feeling this way no matter what I majored in. I'm just checking out and it's only January.

Random life update!

My last semester as a college student started Monday. It's crazy to think that I'll be a graduate in less than four months. Seriously crazy.

But classes so far are good. I think I'm looking at a pretty decent last semester. I have one class MWF, two classes Tuesdays, and one Thursdays. I also have an independent study somewhere in there, but I'm not sure where yet. Hopefully I'll find out soon.

I'm still applying to various AmeriCorps agencies in hopes that I'll get to volunteer with them. I've broadened my scope too, so I'm also applying at Lutheran Volunteer Corps and Episcopal Service Corps. I have an interview on January 19 with an AmeriCorps agency, Federal Way Public Schools in Washington. I'm really hoping. I'm not too concerned about getting a "real" job before I graduate, but it'd be nice.

It was good to be home for a few weeks, too, before starting my last semester. My family is pretty awesome. My dad and I got tattoos and my mom and I got haircuts. Lots of fun stuff. My brother managed to make Christmas all about him since he's really just a 5-year-old trapped in a 31-year-old's body. It's disappointing, but Christmas was still great nonetheless.

I'm already feeling a little sleep deprived. Last night was a good night for sleeping, but Sunday and Monday nights weren't, and tonight won't be any better. I'm positive that once I get into the swing of things, I'll be able to really monopolize on the time I can sleep, so I'm not too worried. Plus, who needs sleep anyway?

One more thing. It's been a weird first three days without Jess. It's odd not seeing her in the Atrium every day multiple times. Today, I saw this girl who has the same or very similar coat to Jess and it made me miss her more. I'm also a tad worried that I may begin to sequester myself off into my room now that Jess is gone, since she was pretty much the only reason I hung out in the Atrium. I'm going to try to change that, though, because I enjoy all the people that hang out in the Atrium on a regular basis. I'll let you know how that turns out.