home!

i cannot believe i'm home. i've been so so busy that i haven't even been able to update this and let you know that i've returned. i left sydney, australia on june 16th at 10AM, returned to LAX on june 16th at 6:45AM, flew to boston, and returned home at 11:30. The following day, I went to work at camp jewell. i'm no longer jetlagged, though.

honestly, this trip was the best thing that has happened to me in my life thus far.

i am a different person, a better person, and a happier person.

this experience has shaped my life into more of what i want it to be.

i will never ever forget this trip, the friends i made, and the experiences i had.

to end, i'd like to quote Lin Yutang

"no one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow"

too true, too true.

g'day.

sydney: day one!

today i met erin in the city after her last exam!

it was her friend, emma's, birthday so we went out to lunch with her a couple of her uni friends.

it was pretty sweet.

tonight, we went to a pub with her and her fam, and i got to talk to my mom which was sweet.

when i got off the phone with my mom, she said "see you in five days"

FIVE DAYS?!

crazy!

i'm looking forward to going home but i will really miss this place.

sydney, sydney, sydney!

i'm in sydney with erin!

saying bye to my flatmates was hard, it's definately weird to not be going back to WA.
my feelings are mixed, i'm so so excited to be here with erin but i really really miss my australearn friends.

i know i will definately keep in touch with them, though

and see some of them at the end of the summer--stoked for that!

"we had longer ways to go, but no matter, the road is life"

-jack kerouac

the first and final newport night...

every wednesday is dubbed 'newport night' after a bar in freo called, obviously, newport.
i could never go because i always had class at 8:30 on thursdays.

but since it's my last wednesday in perth, we decided to make an appearance.

good times!

the flatmate dinner!

okay, so in the past 4 months, my flatmates and i have always wanted to get together and go out for dinner. what was supposed to be a 'once a month' thing never happened.

well, i have less than 2 weeks here and we finally got our act together.

if you know me well enough, you know i love chinese food. actually love it, like more than any other type of food in the whole entire world.

kardinya is only about a ten minute walk from our flat and whenever we go to the shopping centre, we pass a chinese food restuarant and it's ALWAYS packed, so we decided to go there because it must be good.

we were right
it was incredible!

chinese food restaurants are different than they are in the western hemisphere. people in australia (and southeast asia, according to my two singaporean roommates) use both the spoon and fork to eat chinese food. i think americans are the only people who eat with only forks for the most part, because during dinner, laura (from finland) and angel and ailin (from singapore) asked me if i ever use a spoon.

my response: "yeah, i use a spoon if i'm eating cereal or soup or ice cream and stuff like that"
their response: stares.

it was pretty funny.

not going to lie, it took me a while to eat with only a fork, but i stuck to my american roots.

the dinner was really fun, we all had a great time! i wish we had actually gone more than once. but one time is better than none at all, eh?
i'm really really going to miss angel, laura and ailin

i love you guys!

road trip, day 2: wave rock

wave rock is SWEET

(R-L) kevin, shibs, me, april, chris & patten

honestly, wave rock was legit. pretty stoked that we made it even though the drive was 4 hours. the rock, made from granite, is 15 metres high and 110 metres long. the formation was caused by water erosion and weathering and was discovered 60 million years ago when it emerged from the ground.

we, being ridiculous and just generally excited to be out of the car and standing up, probably had way to much fun on wave rock and took tons of pictures.

(the fact that kevin is also an aspiring model/camera whore created about 90% of them).

a couple of kilometres down from wave rock is another rock formation called 'hippos yawn'. it's called that because it looks like a hippo yawning, for obvious reasons (unless you're chris, direct quote "how does it look like a hippo? i don't see it!") really chris, really?

we ended the day by watching the sunset on the top of wave rock. the view was absolutely beautiful and we were extremely lucky that we caught the sunset just in time. it was amazing, definately something i'll never, ever forget.

road trip, day 1: the pinnacles

today, a bunch of us went to the pinnacles desert!(L-R) anna, katie, shibs, kevin, me, april, chris & patten

Since there were so many of us going, we took two cars (and i got to drive one of them--on the other side of the road) here's proof:

We woke up at 8, met up at 8:45, and we're on the road.

The drive was relatively easy, took us about 3 hours, and it's honestly in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! but the drive is seriously worth it. i've always wanted to see the pinnacles and i still can't believe i actually have.

When we got there, we were able to walk around the desert, and then drove around on a driving path. if there was ever a perfect day to walk around a desert, this would have been the day.

the pong/board game/dance party

"i get by with a little help from my friends"

to celebrate the end of classes

(and to just generally have a good time)

we had a pong/board game/dance party.

good times.

rottnest island!

today was rottnest island day!

rottnest island is an island off of WA that is owned by the government--that means it is illegal to own land on the island (unless you work on it), and you cannot own a car.

our way of travel? bikes, of course!

april, chris, shibs, and i headed to freo this morning at about 9, caught the 930 ferry, and were on our way to rottnest.

rottnest island is known for it's quokka's, an adorable marsupial that is only found on the island. in fact, whoever first came upon quokka's thought they were actually oversized rats, and they're everywhere--therefore, ratnest, or rottnest. island was born.

but they're actually a lot cuter than rats, we swear!

the island is measured to be about 11 kilometres long, and we biked for atleast 9. i don't think my ass has ever been this sore--definately not going to bike ride again for awhile.

it was absolutely beautiful, though. the island has over 60 beaches, not including those overlooking bays. you can ride around the island for as long as you want and stop at beautiful beaches to snorkel.

but it was so fun!

and for those of you who have never seen a western australia beach, here's a video of one:

shibs was excited because he didn't have to bike for awhile, as we all were.

oh, did i mention april and i skinny dipped in the indian ocean?

--you only live once--

kirkland and his 23rd

lastnight , a bunch of us went to 'little creatures
brewery' in freo to celebrate kirkland's 23rd birthday! kirkland's actual birthday isn't until tuesday, but he's leaving to go back to the states on wednesday, so an early celebration was good!

he will be the first of the australearn group to depart

how sad is that?

it was really really great to see him, i've been so busy that i haven't been able to hang out with him as much as i'd like, but lastnight was a great reunion for the both of us! and the nacho's were AMAZING. seriously, if i hadn't eaten that jalapeno, they would have been even more amazing.

and 'little creatures' is also amazing! it was my first time being there and i fell in love with it. the whole atmosphere was awesome.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIRKLAND!

i'll miss you!

freo, heave ho!

freo, heave ho!

freo, way to go!

hit 'em real hard,

send 'em down below!

according to urbandictionary.com, australian rules football, or commonly just called plain "footy" here in oz, is "the worlds greatest sport". this is how the rules work:


-it is against the rules to push a player in the back, but it is allowed to run in from behind him, jump up, stick your knees in his back, and catch the ball.


-if you tackle a player, you get a free kick, unless the refs decide the tackled player did not have a chance to get rid of the ball before he was being tackled, in that case the ball is bounced.

basically, urban dictionary took a stab at footy.

chris, patten, april and i went to a footy game lastnight and we were clueless.
absolutely clueless--as in 'what the fuck is going on' clueless.

it was so fun, though!

(and we got free blow up 'fremantle football club' anchors--which look more like fallic symbols, but we have learned to pretend they don't).

april's flatmate, shibs, was watching it on tv and saw us! it was funny--a cameraman was a row or so to the left of us and was pointing the camera right at us, of course we didn't think much of it, but hell, we were on tv in australia, so you really can't complain, eh?

The game was at the Subiaco Oval, only a 20 minute train ride from murdoch station, and it was the Fremantle Dockers vs. the Hawtorn Hawks (all the way from tasmania). Freo ended up losing, but it was awesome to be there! i'm really glad we went. let me just say that (aside from steve yarmosky and maryland basketball) these freo fans were the biggest sports fans i've ever seen in my life. seriously, i have never seen anything like it. it just proved the fact that australian's love their country even more.
it was awesome.

reality sets in

today is my one month mark to my departure back to the states. remember my last post about my one month departure date until i go to australia? i was terrified of leaving massachusetts, which is weird to me now because i'm so so comfortable here. if anybody reminds me of the time i have left, i suddenly get a feeling of anxiety. quite honestly, i don't want to leave here at all. i feel like i've been here forever and i love that feeling. i was talking about it to a couple of friends lastnight, remembering the first view of murdoch, when my australearn group first drove up to the student village in our hippie van. everybody was still confused about driving on the wrong side of the road, everyone had no idea what was to be expected.

i can honestly say that i am more comfortable here than i have ever been at bridgewater,

which hurts me to say a little bit, because i know i have so many friends at bridgewater that love me and miss me and can't wait until i come back--and don't get me wrong, i miss my friends there too, but i've lived in massachusetts my entire life. not much is different in eastern mass than it is in western mass (minus the mountains, of course).

but sometimes, you need to completely remove yourself from your comfort zone in order to feel completely comfortable with life again.

i know to some people this doesn't make sense, but to me, it does. i love this place and i'm planning on living it up for the next month. therefore, the next couple of posts will be about me taking all the oppurtunities i can, traveling all i can, experiencing everything i can, because i know now that good times can happen so quickly.

--it's time to appreciate everything here for what it is--

"when i was a little kid

my father told me to see the world for him.

so i took my things

and painted pink sunsets over the vast oceans"

-steel train

birthday weekend and mother's day!

the birthday weekend got off to a great start friday night, but waking up saturday morning and realising it was still my birthday back home called for a bit more celebrating. i hadn't been to the beach in awhile and everything was in favour of me going, it was as if scarborough beach was just calling my name; the weather was amazing, so april, chris and i headed out to scarbs for a mid afternoon chill session-and chill it was. i found it amusing--it's winter here, hello, winter! (and you can still be in a bikini and at the beach!) wow, i love this place.

birthday's are always great, but getting to celebrate mine in australia was pretty stellar, not going to lie. first of all, it's the only birthday where i will be legal before my 21st. also, my birthday came 12 hours before my sister's and my dad's birthday-when else will that ever happen?

we finished off tonight by watching movies and eating cookie dough.

a perfect end to a saturday beach day :)

and it's nearly 1am here, which means today is mother's day! so mom, happy mother's day!

hope it's fantastic!

a great birthday

i had a spectacular birthday!

what a great way to celebrate

surrounded by close friends in such a beautiful place...

here's to being 20!

countdown to 20, day 7: one last tutorial.

'goldilocks' was a success :)

it was really fun and everyone did a great job!

that's my group: tegan, kaly, me, jamie, and carrie
it's definately weird, though--that was my last EDU260 tutorial ever.

onto other things...

tonight is the beginning of my birthday festivities :)

can't wait to celebrate in style!

a countdown to 20, day 6: a tattoo

today, patten april and i went to freemantle with chris so he could get another tattoo.

the tat? a nautical star on either end of his collar bone.

and yes, parents, i am still ink free

no worries.

xxxx

luke is legal

lastnight, a couple of us went out to celebrate my friend, luke's, birthday. he turned 18, so he's finally legal.

i can't even explain the ridiculousness that this night entailed, but let's just say that by the time we got on the train to go home, two men in our group were shirtless; one was wearing his briefs as a shirt (?), and my pants were ripped. i mean, ripped. like..down the seam, all the way down the seam.

on our walk home from the train station, chris acquired a road sign. he managed to get it safely back to his flat.

to make the story even better, i should mention that there was karaoke in the bar next door. we made an appearance and witnessed a drunk asian man singing 'rehab'. my life is complete because of that.

sidenote: who knew there were so many mullets in australia?

that's right, we went on a mullet hunt. so what? it was too good to pass up.

brisbane, oh brisbane.

i woke up this morning at 7:30AM because my brain is still on brisbane time. this past week, like i hoped, has been full of ridiculousness. i miss it already.

day one, after being on the airplane for what seems like forever, i leave the gate and find anthony john spinaze waiting patiently for my arrival. with him is his friend grant. i am overcome with happiness. it is so so so good to finally see him! we go to his friends vic's house, where i'll be staying for the next week. immediately, the adventures begin. ant takes me to a gay bar called 'the wickham', where he goes regularly. tonight, though, was not a regular night. after being introduced to some of the odd brisbane night life, raver pants, etcetera, ant and i decide that the wickham is just too weird tonight. we spent the entire night crouched in a corner of the club, clutching our jug of beer, and trying to not attract any attention. not attracting any attention, though, is hard for both of us. ant immediately drops his pants to reveal to me his new tattoo on his leg, which causes way to much attention. the weirdo's in the wickham, in all there fur collar and acid jean delight, are all staring at us. after finishing the jug of beer, we realise that now is our escape. right before we leave, though, it suddenly get's busy and we are SURROUNDED. we see a minor trying to sneak in by going under the fence; he's not to suave about it though, and the bouncer totally sees him. when everyone was looking at the minor being chastised, ant and i make our escape. contrary to what we actually believed at that time, we actually made it out alive.

day two is easter! i'm jewish, and i've never celebrated easter, but that didn't stop me from celebrating my first easter with ant's entire extended family. ant and i take a bus too his sister, tina's, house. of course, we had to take pictures of us on the bus--it was necesarry. once at tina's house, i met his mom, a bunch of his siblings, his neices and nephews, and i saw cath! a little bit of background may be needed here; ant and i met while working together at camp jewell. his sister, cath, also worked there. i hadn't seen her in forever, so seeing her and her girlfriend, jenny, was really great. We ended up playing singstar with his neices and nephews and had boxed wine, which was apparentally invented in australia, who knew? it was just really really nice to get to meet all of ants family. ant's mom, sandra, gave me australian chocolate, and so did cath! it was a great first easter :)

day three consisted of us going to south bank to get breakfast and then heading to the new QLD state library. we also went to the 'sciencentre' and parts of the brisbane art gallery, where grant works. while we were in the 'sciencentre', we saw these wooden cutouts of dinosaurs and bugs and you could put your head in them and take pictures. ant, being 26 years young, and i, being almost 20, decided to take pictures of us being ridiculous. the pictures turned out to be hysterical. we were probably the only people over the age of 6 to be taking pictures in the wooden cutouts. 10 points for us.

day four, and i woke up to ant watching an australian movie called 'praise'. DO NOT WATCH IT, i repeat, DO NOT. it's actually gross. we couldn't even finish the movie because of how horrible it was. a while after we stopped watching the movie and got our appetites back, Iain (vic's brother), ant, and i went to a bakery to get some food. then, iain dropped us off at ant's house, where i saw his mom again and played with his cat, mamadukes. then, ant and i headed to queen street in brisbane city. after that, pucki (iain and vic's other housemate) made us dinner, and grant, ant, vic, and i went to baskin' robbin's for some ice cream :) it was really nice to walk by the river at night. for some reason, baskin' robbin's peanut butter and chocolate ice cream is just so much better when you eat it while looking at brisbane city all lit up.

day five, ant had to work from 9AM-6PM, so i was on my own. i decided to hit up queen street again because i needed a new pair of jeans. it was really fun, and i was excited because i knew just enough of the city to be able to navigate myself in the right direction. of course, i ended up buying more than just a pair of jeans. queen street reminds me of perth, in a way. grey brick streets, shops, street musicians, lots of fun.

side note: i'm reading a book called 'shantaram' and it's absolutely amazing! it's definately a novel, so it's been taking me awhile to read it, but i got a lot of reading done during the plane rides, and i picked out a poem i read from it and it's incredible, so i'm totally going to write it here:

to make sure non followed where you led

i used my hair to cover our tracks.

sun set on the island of our bed

night rose

eating echoes

and we were beached there, in tangles of flicker,

candles whispering at the driftwood of our backs.

your eyes above me

afraid of the promises i might keep

regretting the truth we did say

less than the lies we didn't.

i went in deep, i went in deep

to fight the past for you.

now we both know

sorrows are the seeds of loving.

now we both know i will live and

i will die for this love.

day six, and ant worked all day. i ended up heading to the QLD library again, and found my way to queen street. hung out, walked around, and then headed back to vic's for some quality 'simpson' and 'biggest loser australia' viewing pleasure.

day seven, jenny took ant and i to lone pine koala sanctuary, which is the oldest koala sanctuary in australia. it was really really fun! i got to hold another koala, two times in three months, pretty sweet, eh? we also got to hang out with some roo's, and of course, i took way to many pictures to post all of them here. check out my facebook for the entire album, but i posted the picture of me and a kangy and me and teresa the koala :) after lone pine, we all headed to tina's house again. jenny and i played '90's singstar' and '80's singstar'. needless to say, i am completely in love with nineties music, i can't help it. it was also great to see some of ant's neices and nephews again.

day eight, i met up with hills and her boyfriend, joe, who is visiting brisbane for two weeks! they just came back from new zealand, and it was my last full day in brizzy, so it was the perfect time to meet up with them! joe and hills and i hung out at queen street, saw some of the griffith campus, walked around brisbane city, and went to pancake manor, a 24 hour pancake house that used to be a church! it was so good to see them!

day nine, my last day in brisbane. woke up early, headed to the airport, bid farewell to ant and his friends, and headed back to perth. it's definately good to be back at murdoch, i missed all my friends here, but i'll definately miss brisbane. it was a great trip.

goodbye brisbane, don't know when i'll see you again!