My Brisbane Blog: Second to Last Trip, Second to Last Post

Two weeks from TODAY I'll be home in St. Louis.

This time seemed a lot further away last time I wrote a blog and mentioned that I had 5 weeks left.

My family and friends have been asking me if I'm homesick. This response is a difficult one. I do miss home, but I just don't tend to get homesick. I miss certain things and special foods from home. I miss specific people. I miss my dogs, I miss my pool, I miss my big bed. I miss going out with my friends in Columbia and chilling at the Gamma Phi house. But that doesn't make me feel homesick. Also, I know the reverse will be true when I go home and miss Brisbane and the people and things that have been part of my new home here.

Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, and Adelaide

Before I get all sentimental, I'd like to add some pictures from my trip last week to Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road, and Adelaide. I'm not going to give much detail because there are other things I'd rather talk about, but I hope you'll enjoy the pictures. Also, if you're going on a trip to any of these places, there are lots of great blogs out there about it. [Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Adelaide]

Flinders Street Station on the Yarra River

Penguin Parade at Phillip Island (No pics of penguins though.
You'll have to see it for yourself!)

Australia v Greece at Etihad Stadium

Beach huts at Brighton Beach

Cape Patton Lookout. This doesn't do it justice at all, but it was my favorite spot.

Two of the Twelve Apostles. A lot more exciting than I expected! Great spot.

The Adelaide Oval for an AFL game. (Aussie rules football)

One of my favorite parts of the city, the parks along the River Torrens

Thanks Marte and Aila for the awesome tour recommendation for Great Ocean Road, and thanks to all the friends I got to see and stay with in Melbourne and Adelaide <3 You're wonderful.

Almost Over

In 2 weeks when I finally sit in my seat on the airplane and click that seatbelt, I'll be ready to go home. I'll want to go back to Brisbane and be with my friends, to live the life where I can go to the beach one weekend and a waterfall the next and the Great Barrier Reef the next. However, it'll be time to go back to America instead. I'll want to sit on our crappy little porch drinking cheap wine and chatting with my Westella friends. I'll want to have girls' nights with movies and chocolate and Beyonce songs. But I'll be ready to go home, because I love my family, my university, and all my friends around the US. It'll be an emotional ride home, but it'll be time to go.

I don't want to downplay the experience, but a semester abroad ultimately is just another semester. I mean, I know it's different than a typical semester at USC. It's an unreal, incomparable, incredible experience. BUT it is also the 6th semester of my undergraduate experience, and I still have to 2 more to go. Sometimes, when I think of the greatest times over these past 4 months, they've just been nights where I've hung out with people. Sure, some of the best times have been out in the unbelievable nature of New Zealand or the mind blowing views of the Reef, but some have just been random and simple days. I've talked, laughed, and danced with my friends, and those nights turned into some of the most significant memories. I can do that anywhere, can't I? I guess Australia just makes it all seem a little more exciting.

I was talking to one of my housemates yesterday and she said "This has hands down been the best 6 months of my life." Then, a few housemates and I talked about how amazing the past months had been, how much fun we had, and how much we will miss everyone. Something else we mentioned is, even if these are the best months of our lives, there will be more. Anyway, there better be more! Still, I realize that even though more good times are definitely coming, I do agree with my friend about this semester. The times I've had here have been so indescribably awesome, and I'm sure they'll always stick out in my mind as some of my best memories.

When I catch up with my friends from home, a lot of them say they are jealous of my pictures and it looks like I'm having "the time of my life." Honestly, I am. I absolutely love Australia, and I'm so grateful for every moment I've had here. I'd love to come back (correction: I will come back) and I will travel other places to visit the friends I've met here, but this semester does have to end, and it's coming up. Somehow, I have a good feeling I'll have the time of my life this year back in America, too.

Heading Home

In 2 weeks, I'll be back home enjoying summer.
A month after that, I'll be back in Cola getting ready for sorority recruitment.
2 weeks after that, I'll be welcoming a wonderful new pledge class to our sisterhood and officially kicking off my senior year at USC.
And a month after that, I'll be submerged in a great Gamecock football season, be focused on my classes and internship, and I'll even start looking at job opportunities for after graduation in 2017. Life will continue moving, and I'll be doing my best to enjoy every day just like I have been here in Australia.

Many of the friends I've made here have been living and studying in Brisbane for a year now. Some have been here longer and are staying for their whole undergraduate career or even longer. When you put that in perspective, 4 months doesn't seem like so much, does it? 4 months is a third of the year, and hopefully I'll have plenty more years to continue learning, traveling, and meeting people as cool as the friends I've made at USC and at UQ.

Sidenote / Reality Check

This part you might read and think, "Ugh, Jo Jo, is this really necessary?" Well, I just feel like talking about it, so here you go.

I can imagine that many people are sick of the sadness and pure hate that has been going around our world and has been continually bombarding our news. As I was writing this, it felt a little strange that I'd be posting this blog about what a good time I'm having when other people in our world, and recently in my own country, are dealing with so much suffering. I'll do all I believe I can do at this point, which is to pray for everyone affected by the attack in Orlando. I can be proactive and pay attention to what I can do to help, what I can do to relieve some of the suffering in the world. However, this is another reminder to be incredibly grateful for the opportunities I have, for my safety, for my education, and to make the most of it.