Monday, July 1, 2013
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Post Forty: Last Post for this Blog
Hi all readers! First off I want to thank you all for joining me on my trip. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing about my adventures, I would not have continued without all of you to keep me posting.
As the title says, this is the LAST post for this particular blog. I will not be putting anything else on here and this website and its pages will remain static for the rest of Internet time.
HOWEVER! I would like to let you know that I have enjoyed writing and reading blogs so much that I am going to attempt to continue blogging on a NEW site. This one much less specific, I hope to write about general thoughts as a college student, exciting events or travels, but mostly I really really want to start cooking and baking and posting recipes and tips and such.
SO! I am going to attempt to join the ranks of regular bloggers. I will hopefully post frequently, sometimes with pictures and funny stories, sometimes with just thoughts or perhaps writing, and hopefully many times with interesting recipes with photos, ingredient lists, origins, etc.
We shall see how it goes, if you want to check it out follow THIS LINK or, I have put at the top of this blog a page that will also lead you to my new blog.
Cheers!!!! Farewell from Australia, and greetings from the next phase of life!
~Ariana
As the title says, this is the LAST post for this particular blog. I will not be putting anything else on here and this website and its pages will remain static for the rest of Internet time.
HOWEVER! I would like to let you know that I have enjoyed writing and reading blogs so much that I am going to attempt to continue blogging on a NEW site. This one much less specific, I hope to write about general thoughts as a college student, exciting events or travels, but mostly I really really want to start cooking and baking and posting recipes and tips and such.
SO! I am going to attempt to join the ranks of regular bloggers. I will hopefully post frequently, sometimes with pictures and funny stories, sometimes with just thoughts or perhaps writing, and hopefully many times with interesting recipes with photos, ingredient lists, origins, etc.
We shall see how it goes, if you want to check it out follow THIS LINK or, I have put at the top of this blog a page that will also lead you to my new blog.
Cheers!!!! Farewell from Australia, and greetings from the next phase of life!
~Ariana
Monday, June 6, 2011
Post Secret Two: Things I have been thinking, experiencing, and doing but was not able to write in order to keep my early return to the United States a surprise
The Feelings:
It has been different now that I know I am going home, the Vivid show in Sydney was the last time that I will ever be there, and it was quite a bittersweet experience. I am so happy and ready to be going home, REALLY happy to be leaving DLC and Macquarie, but I am so sad to be leaving Sydney, Australia, and my friends here. It dawned on me a couple weeks ago exactly what leaving Australia really meant. I am leaving a whole continent! A whole hemisphere! Without any idea when—if ever—I will be able to return. Granted I have had some amazing experiences, I think I made the most of my visit, and, though I did not get to do EVERYTHING I wanted to, I was able to fit most of it in. All the most important bits like the outback, and the reef anyway, I feel like my experience is a good one and as complete as I could have made it. But still, leaving Australia…its just…an odd thought, and yet, totally normal, and yet…its hard to explain.
I will not copy Angie, but she says some stuff about how she feels about coming home (she goes on the 12th) that I think is fairly relevant to me as well. I know I have changed some, become more independent, more capable, more, ‘of the world’, but ALSO I know that home has changed while I have been away, even though in my mind it is in sort of a static state, I know it has changed, and so, going back to all that different-ness will be really weird. My friends have had shared things without me, family too, etc. I am a little scared. Also, I am not exactly sure how I have changed…I just listed some of the obvious, but I guess I don’t know how this will effect me in my life once I return to the States.
The Departure:
So, I woke early the morning of June 2. I had packed everything the night before of course; all that was left was the clothes on my back and my shower stuff. I said my last goodbyes to the early risers, before being accompanied by Angie and Anthony to the Airport. It was really nice of them to come along, Angie supplied Breadtop for us for breakfast and both helped lug my considerable baggage. The train ride was no different from most others I have had. It felt similar to the trainride when I was flying out to Alice Springs. I was aware that yes I was headed to an airport, but not really getting the whole magnitude of the situation. After checking in at the airport, getting a whole extra kilo in my check bag thanks to a friendly agent, it was time to say goodbye. We hugged and got a picture taken, still surreal, still not sinking in that I will not see these people or this country again for a long time if ever. I spent the last few moments waiting in a quiet corner of the departures lounge gazing out at my last time seeing Australia…When the flight began to leave the ground is when it finally hit me a bit harder I think, I felt some sort of wave of emotion so that has to mean something, but again I am still in denial I think.
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| Early in the morning..... |
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| early... |
So, I woke early the morning of June 2. I had packed everything the night before of course; all that was left was the clothes on my back and my shower stuff. I said my last goodbyes to the early risers, before being accompanied by Angie and Anthony to the Airport. It was really nice of them to come along, Angie supplied Breadtop for us for breakfast and both helped lug my considerable baggage. The train ride was no different from most others I have had. It felt similar to the trainride when I was flying out to Alice Springs. I was aware that yes I was headed to an airport, but not really getting the whole magnitude of the situation. After checking in at the airport, getting a whole extra kilo in my check bag thanks to a friendly agent, it was time to say goodbye. We hugged and got a picture taken, still surreal, still not sinking in that I will not see these people or this country again for a long time if ever. I spent the last few moments waiting in a quiet corner of the departures lounge gazing out at my last time seeing Australia…When the flight began to leave the ground is when it finally hit me a bit harder I think, I felt some sort of wave of emotion so that has to mean something, but again I am still in denial I think.
The flight was really long. It was only one hour more than my trip to Japan, but it felt like a lot longer. I tried to keep myself on Chicago time as much as possible, so for the first few hours I watched a movie that I had really wanted to see (the Mechanic), another that I figured ‘oh why not’ (Never Say Never, actually an interesting movie, though I didn’t really learn anything except Justin Beiber is spoiled and doesn’t listen to direction or rules very well, I must say that he is talented especially for his age when he was younger). Then I attempted to sleep from midnight CH time to around 5am. I think I got a few hours, but certainly not much nor was it very restful. Finally I gave up and pulled out my Jack Reacher book. I was then entertained sufficiently for the rest of the voyage and by the time we landed in Vancouver I was already halfway through. It was so odd to land, there was fog! And, green stuff like pine trees! I had not realized how different the trees look in AU compared to here. It was almost like stepping into a ‘north woods’ postcard or painting or something. My feelings? The weather was so weird and different, and yet not different at all, I was also tired and being on a plane for so long does things to ones head so I was a bit out of it. Ready to be back in the States!!! But sadly I had a loooooooong layover to look forward to before I could get to Chi-town (from 7:30am to 1:30pm). Walking through the Vancouver airport though, there were things like REESES chocolate, and Cinnabun, and whisky, and books about grizzly bears, yep, stereotypical Canada alright! I was excited to see what Chicago was like, this whole in-between stuff where I was not even back in the states yet was weird. Kinda like limbo, it is also how my head felt…floaty and not attached to anything…yep…so began the jetlag!!
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