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| Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef |
It feels like I just step foot in this country yesterday, and now I am preparing to leave in just a few short weeks. There have been ups and downs, from bearing the heat (I'm a cold weather person), trying to find something to eat in a predominately meat-eating country (I'm a vegetarian), and adjusting to living in student housing that is completely different than what I am used to back at Allegheny (essentially living in a tiny trailer room with no roommates). Maybe those all sounds like negatives, but the experience of adapting to new situations, getting out of my shell to meet people when I couldn't just go across the hall to annoy my neighbors, and trying new things, were all very much positive.
About 2 weeks after I got approved to study in abroad in Australia in the fall semester, I started to get very, very sick. I missed weeks of classes, played catch-up with assignments all semester, and was constantly feeling stressed about the fact that I would not be able to go abroad as I had originally planned. Thanks to some incredibly supportive family, friends, and doctors, I made it here. The biggest obstacle was finding a doctor here that I could afford and could help me get through my time here. From the time that I stepped foot in Australia on February 4th, I found my worries were unfounded and my health has gradually gotten better. Even though it may have seemed like a terrible idea a few months ago to still go abroad, through the ups and the downs both here and back in America, I was meant to be in Australia this semester.
Going home will feel different, but I don't think that it will no longer feel like home. Not that I won't miss the friends that I have made and the experiences that I have had here, but while the people I have here are wonderful, the people who have been through thick and thin with me are back in Pennsylvania. I have done things and seen places that aren't even possible in America. I have become accustomed and comfortable in the wildly dangerous (the bugs + animals) and crazy country of Australia and a part of my heart will always be here. But all things will eventually come to an end.
About 2 weeks after I got approved to study in abroad in Australia in the fall semester, I started to get very, very sick. I missed weeks of classes, played catch-up with assignments all semester, and was constantly feeling stressed about the fact that I would not be able to go abroad as I had originally planned. Thanks to some incredibly supportive family, friends, and doctors, I made it here. The biggest obstacle was finding a doctor here that I could afford and could help me get through my time here. From the time that I stepped foot in Australia on February 4th, I found my worries were unfounded and my health has gradually gotten better. Even though it may have seemed like a terrible idea a few months ago to still go abroad, through the ups and the downs both here and back in America, I was meant to be in Australia this semester.
Going home will feel different, but I don't think that it will no longer feel like home. Not that I won't miss the friends that I have made and the experiences that I have had here, but while the people I have here are wonderful, the people who have been through thick and thin with me are back in Pennsylvania. I have done things and seen places that aren't even possible in America. I have become accustomed and comfortable in the wildly dangerous (the bugs + animals) and crazy country of Australia and a part of my heart will always be here. But all things will eventually come to an end.
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| Coral Reef Geomorphology Field Trip |
Nice pictures! Looks like the Coral Reef Geomorphology trip was a lot of fun :) Definitely an experience we couldn't have gotten in the States. It will definitely be bittersweet leaving, but I'm glad you made the journey over here!
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