Slang. Final Aussie Blog.

Since being in Australia, I have learned heaps of Aussie slang and lingo, and I thought I would devote and entry to the new words I acquired by writing a brief story of my time there.

The day I arrived in Melbourne, I met Stuart and Steven and immediately became mates. We decided to pre-drink and Stuart suggested we head to the Bottle-o around the corner, where we picked up a slab of Victoria Bitter. Since Stuart treated us to the beer, I said ta, and we skulled our piss. When I tried to pay him back, he said no worries. A few weeks later, after meeting Matt and Holly, we decided to have a barbie and made snags. Instead of putting the snags on buns, we rolled them in bread, the Aussie way, and spread tomato sauce all over. Matt even grilled up some capsicum. Then I met Katie, Laura, Charlotte, Hamish, Casto & Alan. We decided to rock up and head to the beach, instead of going to Uni. It was a beautiful arvo, so we made sure to wear our sunnies, though Katie CBF to bring hers. While in the sun, Hamish’s natural hair colour began to emerge and we laughed at him being a ranga- guess he won’t be rooting anytime soon (lol jk). Speaking of rooting, Laura and I were super keen on Footy and barracked for Collingwood. GOOD OLE COLLINGWOOD FOREVER- THEY KNOW HOW TO PLAY THE GAME. We wanted to go to one final game of the year, but we CBB to pay money and go. So we all headed to the pub, ordered some pints of cider and drank up. I wished it was Anzac Day so that we could have gotten a fair go at playing two up. After the pint, we got schooners of Pure Blonde, and when we were knackered we headed home to bed. The walk home was long and our feet hurt and I became aggro and whinged the entire way. I was told to eat some cement and harden the fuck up until a mate gave us a ride home and we said “cheers mate!” and headed up to our rooms in the lift. We were all pretty hungry from drinking all of that grog, so we did some Tim Tam Slams and ate lamingtons while watching telly. Katie and I will have to go to the gym together after eating and drinking all of that, and we’ll encourage each other by saying “GOOD ON YA!!” It was a full on evening and after chundering in the rubbish bin, I went to sleep. I’ll miss Oz, I had an awesome time FULL STOP.

Flying Over the Pacific

I am currently flying at 35,000 feet somewhere above the Pacific Ocean, on a Qantas 747 heading to Los Angeles and then New York. Just this morning I woke up in Melbourne, gazed out at the beautiful city skyline, got in the shuttle, and boarded an airplane first to Sydney and then to LA. It seems like ages away now. I have only been away from Australia 8 hours, but I already miss it more than I missed the US for 5 months. It’s incredible the attachment that can be formed when you finally find a place where you feel at home, and even call home.

My last week in Melbourne was a hard one. Saying goodbye to everyone took an emotional toll on me, and my heart ached. I cried more than I had the entire time in Melbourne combined. I just wanted to go back to March when things were new and leaving Australia was a distant thought. However, all good things come to an end, which I have learned this week- not only in leaving Australia and leaving my friends, but also leaving a really wonderful guy. He made a big impact on me, more than I think he knows, and I really look up to him and am thankful for a wonderful 2 months we had together and have some amazing memories. Hopefully, there will be more to come.

Last Saturday, Katie, Charlotte and Alan left. We did so many fun things though, on those last days together. On Thursday we went to the Royal Gallery of Victoria, which is an art museum on the other side of the Yarra River. After that, we wandered around the city. On Friday morning, Charlotte, Katie, Laura, Hamish and I went to Brighton Beach- I had no had a chance to go when the weather was nice, and it was Katie’s favourite spot, so we decided to go. It was quite windy and chilly, but the rain held off. Later the day, Katie finished up packing and we met up with Stephen and 2 of his friends- Tyle and Sean and went to Perseverance on Brunswick Street. It was so much fun! It is 90s night on Fridays, so they played all these songs I listened to growing up. We danced for 3 hours straight, which was absolutely amazing. Michael from Sydney and a few of his mates from the army also met up with us, which was really awesome. I didn’t think I’d see him again, but turns out he was in the area and it worked out. After the pub/club, we headed back to the Village (VOM) and hung out with Katie until her cab came at 3am. Then I went home and went to bed.

On Saturday, Laura and I were in a daze, as we were the only 2 people left (besides Hamish who would come back later). We ended up staying inside the entire day, cooking and watching movies. It was really relaxing and much needed. I am so happy Laura stayed until July 1^st (I left July 2^nd). Without Laura, I would have been an emotional wreck, but luckily we were able to keep each other company. For the next few days, Laura and I did the last few things we wanted to do around Melbourne. We went to the State Library, which was HUGE and beautiful inside- much more than I imagined. We went on a tour of Parliament and the Immigration Museum. We went to Little Creatures Dining Hall where we had some Western Australian beers. We cooked lots and lots, and took photos of almost every meal, mostly as a joke, since I always take pictures of my food because I have learned how to cook! We watched heaps of movies and How I Met Your Mother and just kept each other company. We wandered around Melbourne. It was a wonderful week. I spent time with Chris, and Hamish and got all of my stuff packed up and did last minute errands. I picked up some Tim Tams for the family as well as some Lamingtons (yum!).

Last night, I stayed at a hotel with Chris. We ordered dinner in the room, and relaxed and watched TV and drank some Sparkling Moscato from Jacob’s Creek, which my parents got me when visited the winery in the Barossa Valley. It was a bit hard emotionally, but I was really glad he was there, and I enjoyed spending my last night with him. I will miss him very much. I’ll miss Hamish. I’ll miss all of my US Abroad friends- BUT, we all have plans for a reunion in January and I’ll be seeing Katie at the end of this month and Casto most likely, and possibly Alan. I definitely have things to look forward to. I am hoping to see Laura in September or October- as I would like to visit her in Austin, since I hear it is a great city.

As I write this, it’s 630PM in Melbourne. I slept for the first 4 or 5 hours of the flight, from about 12 until 4ish. I didn’t sleep much last night, and I guess I needed a good doze. I fell asleep surprisingly easily. I can’t believe we’ll be touching down in Los Angeles in about 4 hours. It has gone surprisingly fast. Flight time was estimated at 12 hours and 30 minutes, putting us in around 6am LA time. I thought the flight was more like 14-16 hours. Well, I’m just happy it’s less! Australia isn’t THAT far away... lol. Then I’ll deplane, go through customs and then get back on the same plane. My seat mates are really nice and we had good chats. Its the darkest of dark outside, so it’s a bit trippy cause my body doesn’t get what time it is. The stars are out and I feel like I am floating in space. I can see the outlines of clouds below, and moon is a sliver. But I’m not that tired right now. I think I will stay awake until New York, so then when I get home I’ll be pretty tired and ready to go to sleep.

I have to say, I am not looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight. You’d think I would be excited, but I just left the best country in the world, and I am afraid I’ll just want to cry. So far, no tears, because even though my heart is aching, tears won’t change anything. Besides, I have plans to return to Melbourne in 8 months, after I graduate early. I honestly can say that these past 5 months and 1 day (to be exact) have been the best of my life so far. I feel like I have changed and realized how much more there is to the world besides America. I have developed this almost anti-America complex, which worries me because I am afraid I will be cynical and just frustrated with the culture there. It has definitely been interesting getting an international perspective on US politics, and it is so transparent of the corruption that takes place. Not to say that Australia isn’t corrupt (but it isn’t really) – and I just like their system better. Their way of life is better. Their mentality is better. They are happier. And one day, I will call Australia my home. And I mean that with every ounce in my body.

I am excited to go home- to see my friends- see my family- start making some money at Bloomberg. I’ve missed my sisters and Evan and my friends. It will be a reverse culture shock, but I’ll be alright. I won’t lose my Aussie way of life that I have learned, and I’m going to just go with the flow and relax.

I am truly grateful that I was given this opportunity to study in Australia. I have made friends for life whom I know I can rely on, even though we will have distance separating us. I have learned just how independent I am. I have learned that I can go across the other side of the world and turn strangers into mates. And I have learned that home truly is where the heart is. And as far as I am concerned, I have left my heart in Australia.

Melbourne 2010, always on my mind. <3>