Final Days in Torquay: a Brief Reflection

This will most definitely be my last entry before I get back home. I spent the weekend at Kym's "beach" house in Torquay with Sneha, Francisco, Javier, Simon, and many, many others. It was a really wonderful weekend. We barbecued amazing food, went to the beach, played Twister, made smoothies, played really hardcore foozeball, and just generally chilled out. It was basically the perfect ending to my time in Australia. It's always sad though to meet really amazing new people at the end of your time in a place. I got on really well with the group at Kym's, and it's sad that I didn't get to know them sooner. I guess that just means I'll have to come back :)

I really would like to write a nice reflective entry on my time in Australia, but considering I'm still here and utterly exhausted I might wait until I get home. I have a million things to do on my last day, so I'll focus on that for now and get some sleep. I'll write again when I get home.

Actually, I'll try a shortish one. I'm actually glad that it worked out that I've been with Sneha this weekend since it's given me a chance to talk about things with her and share our feelings about the experience of studying abroad with each other. We both agree that while things at home are never really that bad, there is something about Australia, and the experience of studying abroad here that just offers a whole new perspective on life. We both realize that the way we are here will not and cannot transfer to the people we are back home, but I think in a lot of ways it still will affect my general attitude towards life. I am going to try to have more fun, do more random things and worry less. I want to have more of these memories and crazy stories I've gained while being here. But most of all I want to keep making friends from all over the world and maintain contact with the ones I've already made. I think one of the most important elements of my time abroad has been the friendships I've made not only with Australians, but with international students. The group at Kym's this weekend was composed of Vietnamese, Chileans, Israelis, and Americans. As most of my other experiences have shown, most of my social interactions have been international ones. It has been so important for me in gaining a broader perspective on the United States, on people in general, and on myself. I really do want to do more traveling, and I think that that will be the major thing that directs me when I'm trying to make decisions on my career choice in the not too distant future. I want to go back to Europe and visit these people I've met, to live there and work there and just learn through being infused by other cultures. I really do believe now that there is something incredibly valuable in this, and while it's not terribly practical or financially sound, it's extraordinarily rewarding and intellectually/emotionally stimulating. So yeah, maybe I'll do international law. Maybe I'll become a historian. Maybe I'll be a teacher and travel the world during the summer. I'm not sure yet, but I firmly believe that travel needs to be an essential part of my life.

Australia has made me a thrill seeker, a social planner, a travel buff, a much, much, much more relaxed human being, a food snob, and just generally happier. I don't know how much of that is the country's mindset and how much of that is being a student here, but it's a really good feeling and one that I'm not too willing to leave behind. I already know it will be hard for me to go home, not because I'm don't want to see my family, because I do, but because it will just be so difficult to let go of the opportunity to do anything and everything with few limits and concerns. I don't want to have to worry about things again. I don't want to be in a town that offers me nothing after having been in a city that offers everything. I was saying to Sneha today that seeing the Melbourne skyline gives me the same feeling I get when I drive through Philadelphia and into the Main Line. Philadelphia is my home. Melbourne has come to feel very much the same.

That's really all I can write for now. I don't want to get nostalgic before I even leave, but I'll miss it here. I really will.