The end of my journey....

As I look back over the past four and a half months and the extraordinary journey that I have completed, I am so proud of how much I have grown and all that I have learned. In looking for something that would attempt to sum up all that I have done and all that I have became, I found a quote written by Mark Twain. He wrote,
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
This quote embodies everything that this experience has meant to me. Before I took this amazing leap into the unknown, I was timid and soft spoken, permanently a little homesick, and deathly afraid to leave my comfort zone. After flying halfway around the world (literally), and being escorted to my completely empty dorm room by a foreign student who spoke almost no English, I realized I was scared to death. I remember sitting on my bed, no internet, no phone, and no friends. I was alone and I was scared; I had just moved to a new city where I knew almost no one and was about to start at a new school, ten times the size of Saint Mikes, with nearly 20,000 students. I was overwhelmed and I didn't know how to use the trains or the buses. I felt nervous and scared and trapped. I didn't have a car, nor any of the essentials I needed to live. So, I took an adventure on the "green bus" in Wollongong and after a ride that lasted much too long, some terrible Thai food, and a trip to Woolworths, all was right in the world! I had done it; I had solved my first major dilemma! I had achieved both feeding myself and buying all the things necessary to begin my new life at International House(shampoo, toothpaste, clothes hangers, and a much needed box of "goon" ;) of course)!! I had overcome the first obstacle of my semester-long path to independence! And, I'll have you know, I did not stop there! I learned my way around, I traveled, and I experienced so much! I went to a play at the Sydney Opera House, traveled to Sydney, Melbourne, Nimbin, Byron Bay, The Blue Mountains, Cairns, The Gold Coast, I ran the Sydney Herald Half marathon, and the north island of New Zealand. I snorkeled The Great Barrier Reef and I went skydiving on North Wollongong Beach. I did every single thing that I wanted to do and more. But, most importantly, I made friendships that will last a lifetime. These new experiences and lasting friendships also taught me a lot about myself. I learned that I am impatient and I am stubborn. When I set my mind to something, it WILL get done no matter what the cost. Somewhere along the way, in between my always made bed, neatly stacked binders, and aligned shelves, I learned that I am anal. Totally, completely, anal. Thanks to my darling mother I am certain, I am a perfectionist. I have a routine and I stick to it. Same schedule every day. I like to eat the same things, go to the gym at the same time. I am a person of habit and I can't help it. So, I embrace it! I am predictable and I know it. Actually, I love it. What you see, is what you get. I wear my emotions on my shirtsleeve and you always know what I'm thinking. I used to hold back, I was indecisive and did not demand what I wanted. I took my food allergies lightly and accepted less than good service from both restaurants and my school cafeteria. It was like I was always depending on someone else to make change, someone else to advocate for me. Then, I arrived here, all alone. I was the only one who knew what I wanted, what I needed. With this, I learned that I have a voice. I learned to stand up for myself in a respectful and adult way. I learned that if I tell people what I need, they will get it for me. When I learned to communicate, I learned what a helpful tool it can be in every aspect of my life. We must communicate everyday, in relationships, with friends, at school, with parents. Communication allows one person to know what another person is thinking or feeling. Such a simple and necessary thing, yet we do it so rarely that it becomes something that we dread, even avoid. Why is that? Are we afraid of what others think of us, how they feel about us? If we let down that wall, allow others to hear and even see what we think, what we feel, we could be vulnerable. We are scared that we could fail or be rejected. I think this fear is always present, but I have learned in more ways than one, throughout my time here that I would rather communicate, tell others how I feel, what I expect, and what I want, than to hold it all inside and never express my feelings. I can honestly say that I have no regrets about my time spent here. I have put myself out there, I have let my guard down, and I have experienced everything I hoped I would. This amazing adventure has taught me to be fearless,to meet people, to travel, and to love with all my heart. I learned that if you find love, don't ever let it go. I learned that sometimes things are out of my control. I cannot control other people, or the weather, or what happens at home. I cannot minimize distance or turn back time. I am here, now, and I must live in the moment, and experience everything I can. I learned that I love my family more than anything in the whole wide world, and I can't imagine my life without them in it! This journey has made me realize the importance of a lot of little things that I didn't know I appreciated so much before I came here, like my car "Janie," she is my lifeline, my queen sized bed at home, my little (big!) pain in the ass brother, my extended family that luckily live so close to me, and my mom and dad whom I truly adore. They have enabled me to have this amazing experience and they mean so much to me. I now know, that I will always be close enough to have them in my life. I couldn't live without them. I have learned to challenge myself and to expect nothing less than the best. As I begin to look to the future, this journey has been a stepping stone for the rest of my life. I have new goals for my career and dreams of traveling. I now know that I am able and strong and capable of great things. I've overcome so many obstacles to complete this experience and I am so proud of myself and everything that I have accomplished. This will be my final post, as I only have 3 short days left in Australia. I have enjoyed writing this blog so much and I look forward to reading back through all of my posts and reliving this journey many more times. So, to all the wonderful people I have met this semester, goodbye for now. And for all my family and friends at home, I will see you soon! Thanks to everyone for reading my blog and for all your support. <3 -Britt

The Gold Coast!

Last Saturday, (Holy shit, it was already a week ago!) my friend Sarah and I went to Sydney to catch our flight to the Gold Coast. We left Wollongong a little bit early so we could catch a bus to Bondi Beach before our flight left. Neither of us had been to Bondi yet and we wanted to make sure we went there before we went home! It was really beautiful and we walked around all the little shops and took lots of pictures. Unfortunately, we are moving into Australia's winter months here now and it was way too cold to actually go to the beach, so we just observed it :) Then we caught the train to the airport and flew out to The Gold Coast! It was a really short flight, only an hour and a half! When we arrived, we took a bus to my friend Emily's apartment. She is a friend of mine from high school and she let us stay at her apartment! It was awesome to catch up with her; I haven't seen her forever! We reminisced about high school, friends, and boyfriends...we had some good girl talk! We explored Surfers Paradise, spent an afternoon at the beach, and watched tons of movies! It was a really relaxing trip! I got to sleep in and eat real food and study a a lot for my exams! Their apartment was wonderful, it was a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment on the 14th floor of Surfers Plaza. It had a gorgeous view and tons of space! Sarah and I had our own little room beside the living room with a pull out couch, where we could keep all of our stuff! It was a really great last trip and I enjoyed it a lot!
I had my first exam today and I have one more on Thursday and then I leave to go home on Friday. I can't believe my time here is coming to an end :( All my friends are slowly starting to leave and I'm getting really sad about leaving all these wonderful people behind! It has been a life changing experience that I will never forget.

I-House Formal/Farewell Wollongong :(

After a long night on Thursday, Friday night held even more festivities. It was the infamous I-House Formal. Everyone in my dorm got dressed up, took tons of pictures, and boarded a bus to the Portofino Wedding and Convention Center. It was a beautiful place and we were all really excited! They served us a three course meal and it was an open bar for all night! The "I-House Band" performed a few songs and then there was an awesome DJ for the rest of the night! It was a really great opportunity to see everyone one last time and say goodbye! We all finished classes last week and people are starting to head out. I have exams June 19th and the 24th and then I will be flying back to VT on June 25th. I can't wait!

IFSA Butler Farewell Dinner

This past Thursday, Kayla, Alex, James and I got on what would be one of our last journeys to Sydney :( We rode the train to central station and then caught a cab to Darling Harbor. Our dinner was on a floating restaurant boat called The South Steyne. It was made in the same shipyard as the Titanic, which I thought was pretty cool! We had a really nice, three course meal and watched a slide show of our semester, all of our friends, and lots of fun trips we've taken! It was nice to see everyone one last time, but really sad to say goodbye! I have made some wonderful friendships her in Australia, that I know will last a lifetime! I am so happy to have had this experience, but so sad to leave! It was a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Kuranda Rainforest, Barron Falls, Port Douglas, and Mossmans Gorge

On Sunday, our last day in Cairns :( we rented a car and went exploring for the day! First, we drove up to the Kuranda Rainforest and walked along a long path that led to the Barron Falls. It was a beautiful waterfall that came down a huge gorge. We took lots of pictures and then walked back to the car! Then we drove into Port Douglas, about an hour away to visit their Sunday Market. It was so amazing, there were vendors everywhere selling handmade crafts, jewelry, furnature, fresh fruit, chocolates, coffee, anything you could ever imagine! I bought some really cool jewelry and we ate lunch at this awesome little cafe (with gluten free wraps!!) soo delicious! After lunch, we walked back to the car and headed to Mossmans Gorge. It was a really pretty gorge with huge rocks and lots of swimmers! It was a really cool view and we wished we had more time so we could jump in! After visiting the Gorge, we headed back down to our apartment on Trinity Beach to get showered before our flight back to Sydney. Once we got to the airport, we had an hour wait to get on our flight, then a three hour flight into Sydney. After examining the train schedule, I realized that if we took a cab to Wolli Creek we could make the train at 840 back to North Wollongong. This is, if our cab driver knew anything about driving or directions! He got lost three different times, took us to three different train stations (none of them being Wolli Creek), sped the entire way flying over speed bumps and swearing, he barely spoke a word of English, and could not follow directions he got from anyone on the street. I was honestly scared for my life! FINALLY, after missing our train, we arrived at Wolli Creek and thankfully we were alive! After all that, he tried to charge us 33.00 for our ride! I couldn't believe it. He made us miss our train AND he was trying to charge us for his poor sense of direction! I was so angry and I told him that we were not going to pay that. We could get to Central Station in Sydney for 20 dollars and that was farther away than Wolli Creek. First he dropped it to 25, then down to 20 after much complaining on my part :) I was not in the mood for this guy and he definitely knew it! After getting ripped off by our cab driver, we had to wait fifteen for a train that didnt even go to North Wollongong. Then, after waiting 45 more minutes at the next station, and switching trains, we were on our way back to North Wollongong! After a 7and a half hour journey, we were finally back home!! The Leonards are staying in Cairns for a few more days and then coming back to Sydney on Wednesday. Kay and I are going to go up and stay with them on Wednesday night to explore Sydney and go out for my birthday dinner :) then, head back here at some point on Thursday. Thursday night, I am planning to go out to dinner with a bunch of my friends and then to a club in town called Hotel Illawara where they have Retro Night every Thursday. It should be a blast! I can't believe I am finally turning 21! I am kind of sad that I won't be home to celebrate with all my friends, but I'm excited to be here and spend time with all the awesome new people I've met! Only one more month until I head back to Vermont. I can't believe how fast it has flown by! I will write again soon!

Trinity Beach and Cairns!!

Thursday morning, Kay and I caught a train to Sydney where we met Martha and Jayme and caught our flight to Cairns. When we arrived, after our three hour flight, we were shuttled to our beach front apartment on Trinity Beach, about 20 minutes outside of Cairns. Our apartment was beautiful and we had a deck with an amazing ocean view! Our first night there, we got settled, went down and checked out the beach, and grabbed dinner to bring back to the apartment. We were all exhausted! Kay and I watched a movie and crashed early! We got up early the next morning to go scuba diving and snorkeling with Reef Experience. We had breakfast on the boat and drove about 45 minutes out to The Great Barrier Reef. It was 86 degrees and the water was 84 degrees; it was the perfect day! On our trip out, I got really seasick and dizzy. I sat out on the top of the boat and tried to sleep until we got there. Once the boat stopped, I felt a lot better! I put on my wet suit, flippers, and goggles and got ready for my first dive. They put a weighted belt around my waist and an air tank on my back. I felt like I weighed 500 pounds and I was going to sink as soon as I dropped in the water. I got in and began to practice using my airtank and going under the water with my instructor, Alex. I was secretly scared to death and I couldn't get my breathing right. It is so unnatural to breath solely out of your mouth; I always felt short of breath or like I needed to come up for air. Alex held my hand through most of my dive and I ended up having an amazing time! We dove to 25 feet and saw beautiful coral, hundereds of different types of tropical fish, and lots of other wildlife! It was gorgeous!! I don't think any words could explain what we saw! After my dive, we snorkeled around and saw lots more of the reef before lunch. Then we got back on the boat and ate and suntanned on the top of the boat. Then, all of a sudden, we heard rescue,rescue, rescue!! Immediately, a rescue diver and a rescue boat raced out to the last group of divers. A woman had a pain in her ear and shook her head. When she did that, her regulator had fallen out and she had inhaled so much water, she was frothing and puking. They called a rescue helicopter, but luckily once they got her on the boat and helped her, she was doing ok and she didn't have to leave on the helicopter. It was really scary and we were all glad she was ok!! After that long delay, we went out to our second destination on the reef and I snorkeled again! It was so much fun! Then, we got back on the boat again for wine, and cheese, and fresh fruit on our way home as the sun was setting. It was the perfect day :)

Sydney Herald Half Marathon!

I feel like I haven't written in forever! I've been crazy busy trying to get all my end of the semester work done and plan my last trips! Soo I have lots to write :) This past weekend, I went to stay with friends and run the Sydney Herald Half Marathon! The race started at 7:30am on Sunday morning, which was early, but it was a beautiful morning! I got to see so much of Sydney as I ran and I finished the race in 2 hours and 2 minutes. When I got to the finishline, my friends were all waiting! It was so amazing to have them there when I finished for hugs and support! I'm so lucky to have met such awesome people throughout my time here! I love my I-House family! Also at the finishline were Kayla's parents, Martha and Jayme Leonard! It is their 25th anniversary this year and they celebrated it by coming to visit Kay in Australia! It is so great to have them here!! I left for a quick shower and a nap and then met back up with them for dinner at this awesome pub in The Rocks. We had an awesome dinner and some wine to celebrate :) and listened to live music. Then, we caught a train home and I went straight to bed; I was so tired and sore!! Martha and Jayme came back to Wollongong yesterday to walk around the town, the beach, the campus, and attend the farewell ceremony. I can't believe that I am already attending farewell ceremonies, it seems like I haven't been here long enough to be leaving and I still have so many things I want to do!! Kay and I are heading back to Sydney tomorrow to meet her parents and catch out flight to Cairns in the afternoon. We're going to scuba dive and snorkel the great barrier reef, go to the rainforest, and soak up as much sun as possible!! I'm really looking forward to it! When we get back, we only have two weeks of school left, so I'm going to have to work hard to finish all my final papers and study for my final exams! For my last trip before I head back to Vermont, my friend Sarah and I are going to fly out to the Gold Coast to stay with my friend Emily from high school. It should be a fun trip for the end of the semester and it should still be really warm up there, so we can get nice tans before we head home :)