I’m one of those people who constantly makes lists and at the end of the day when there isn’t a check next to every task, I become disappointed. However, I knew that if I wanted to assimilate myself into the Australian way of life during the 4 months I was here, I needed to chill out. Their culture is all about a stress free environment. No one gets upset about anything, no one is ever in a rush; Australians are relaxed all day everyday. It’s fantastic! This is definitely what I needed this semester. My laundry list of tasks has turned into a bucket list of beaches I want to explore, cities I want to adventure to, and sites I want to see.
These past few months have been pure bliss. A much needed break from my demanding social and academic schedules. I have met so many people with whom I’ve had incredible conversations and made lasting relationships with. I’ve also traveled to so many unbelievable places and seen the most spectacular landscapes and architecture. Although Australia is considered to be one of the most deadly countries with their bush fires and floods and poisonous wildlife, etc, in my book, it deserves to be heralded as one of the Seven Wonders of the World! It’s such an intriguing place, and too unbelievable to describe. So, here’s a list of a few items I’ve marked off of my bucket list with pictures to help me get my point across.
- The Blue Mountains are located just outside of Sydney. They’re actually considered blue because of a gas that the numerous gum trees emit. Are they not spectacular?
- Skydiving over Sydney. Yes, I HAD to do it! The views were incredible, and I loved that feeling of doing something I thought I never could.
- Snorkeling in the GREAT BARRIER REEF! Yes, I did see Nemo! Yes, it’s as incredible as you can imagine!
- Interning at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Now, my internship advisor did hook me up with this gig, but I am the one who goes in every day and has a phenomenal time. I try my best to be outgoing and to ask questions. I am a sucker for learning new things! Plus, I have said yes to literally everything they’ve asked of me, and I’ve landed in several episodes of the new show, The Checkout.
- Traveling for a week through Thailand. WHAT? I spent Spring Break with four new friends and one old Island hopping around Thailand. Talk about culture shock, but what an incredible country! I even got to sleep on the beach! [pagebreak]
- On that note, becoming a beach bum. Sitting still is a task for me. Back at Fordham I am involved in so many clubs that I don’t normally make it back to my room until a few hours past my bedtime. On top of that I live in Texas where pools and lakes were the only water I ever swam in. Surviving ocean waves has been a struggle! So has trying to get tan.
- Wine tasting through wine country! Okay, who could say no to this? PLUS, we saw wild kangaroos!!
- Now, it’s a little morbid to follow with this but #8 is eating kangaroo! It was delicious!!
- Learning to surf. This is low on the list because I was not too excited for a weekend at Surf Camp, but I knew it had to happen. I had that whole “you need to get out of your comfort zone” mentality going. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of me actually on the board because it’s hard for a photographer to catch someone who can only stand up for 2 seconds before face planting in the water…
- Attending an Australian sports game. Apparently there are about 6 different leagues of rugby in this country, and we chose to attend the worst one. Oh well, we still enjoyed the tight shorts and random chants. We couldn’t help but smile through our confusion!
Now there are way more things on my list, and with a few weeks left I still have a few things to check off, but I’m not worried about it – that’s not the Aussie way of life! They say going abroad changes you, and whoever “they” are couldn’t be more correct!