American Love

So I’m home! And it’s a bit weird to write that. I’ve been putting off writing this last post and ending this blog because I’ve been so busy but also because Australia just feels kind of like a dream at this point. It feels SO good to be home and feels a LOT longer than just a week since I flew back.

The day we left, we spent the day downtown getting last minute things and packing up everything. I packed my bag (which was so full and trashed that it threatened to burst every time it moved… getting to the airport was quite an ordeal to say the least). I spent the last night at the apartment exchanging pictures and hanging out with each other. Lauren and Emma and I all had to be at the airport early on Saturday morning so it didn’t make sense for us to go to bed when we had to get up at 4 to catch the Greyhound into Brisbane so it was kind of an all-nighter.

The bus/train rides to the airport were uneventful, but saying goodbye to Emma while she flew to Hong Kong while Lauren and I flew to LA was sad. Surprisingly, I stayed up for most of the 13 hour flight watching the in-flight movies (I heart Qantas). Lauren and I arrived in LA, more excited than EVER to be back on American soil. We split up at baggage claim because she had to run to her next flight. :( It’s so bizarre to think that the people I spent nearly every day with this past semester are not at home with me. I bought a magazine (less than $8!) and some lunch and waited for my connecting flight to Detroit. Meanwhile, I’ve been awake for God knows how long and it’s only Saturday morning in the States, yet I wasn’t tired. I took a short nap on the flight to MI and arrived to my parents waiting for me at baggage claim. It was SO good to see them after having been away for what felt like years, and not months. One of my friends from high school was getting married that night so I made a short stop at her reception before I went home. I thought I would be crashing by this point but jet leg didn’t hit and never did, thankfully. Oh to be young.

This past week has been jam packed with catching up with friends and basically just going where everyone tells me to. :) Our basement was flooded a few days before I got back so my stuff still isn’t unpacked and everything I own is basically just sitting in our now dry basement while I wait to repaint my room. I leave tomorrow to help staff for a middle school Christian conference so it might be awhile until my life settles down a bit to what is ‘normal’.

So you've come to the end of my blog- I really loved writing it for you guys and appreciate all your interest and prayers about my trip. It was an experience I’ll never forget. I met some great people that have become dear to my heart and saw and did so many things that I will probably never have the opportunity to do again. If you ever get down to AUS or NZ, let me know! Love you all!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

So it’s here. My last day in Toowoomba, AUS. It really hasn’t hit me at all that I will be leaving here for good in less than 12 hours. The last few days have consisted of me taking exams (I’m done!), packing (not quite done) and hanging out with friends here. Lauren and I discovered that we have the same Qantas flight from Brisbane to LA tomorrow morning so we are getting pretty excited for our in-flight movies and TimTams while flying across the Pacific.

Today was spent pawning off my bike (cha-ching) while Daniel got a tattoo of the Southern Cross on his wrist (don’t worry Mom, no one else got one…) Tonight should be fun as we are celebrating everyone’s last nights in Toowoomba.

This has got to be short because 1.) I still have to finish packing and 2.) any worthwhile stories I can tell you in person soon enough! I think I calculated out the time and with all the crazy time differences, I have some 30+ hours of traveling ahead of me. GREAT.

One thing that I would greatly appreciate are your prayers for my friend Alex. He had to leave AUS early on Wednesday night because he found out that his Dad was sick and has metastatic cancer. We haven’t heard anything yet, but your thoughts and prayers would be great.

I can’t wait to see all of you and to be back in the good ole USA.
Much Aussie love, Stephanie

Life in Technicolor

G’day! (It sounds cheesy when I write it, but they actually DO say that).

I don’t even know where to start about my trip so far. This past weekend has been so jam packed and so unreal… I left Detroit on Wednesday morning to arrive in LA early Wednesday afternoon. My flight to Sydney didn’t fly out until 10:30 PM so I spent most of the day walking around Manhattan Beach and going to this resturant that my parents recommended. The weather in CA wasn’t great- kind of drizzly in the high 50s, but it was nicer than the MI snow. The greatest I experienced jet lag was while waiting in LAX for Sydney because it was nearly 2 AM to me by the time I boarded our flight. The flight down under was amazing. I love flying and the Qantas flight was really nice. I watched a few movies (Australia being one of them, which made me very excited to go) and tried to sleep, even though I could only sleep for a few hours. During the plane ride, as we descended, I started to see how beautiful Australia is- the sky was bluer and everything was so green! We landed at around 9 AM Friday morning and after going through customs, I met with all of the other CIS students, our leader Kym and her son Scott. The way the time changes worked out, none of us were too jet lagged, so the 9 of us left for a tour of Sydney.
The first thing I noticed while walking around Sydney was that everything was so clean! It’s a huge city, and I felt like I was walking around NYC but without feeling as cramped or as dirty. It’s so open and not overwhelming in the least. We walked throgh Chinatown and stopped in this place called Patty’s Market where you can pretty much buy anything. I picked up some forgotten towels and we ate lunch (since all of us were ravenous). The currency is different here and I feel like I’m in Canada everytime I pay with a $2 coin. After Patty’s, we went to this tower that is in the middle of Sydney and allows you to see the whole skyline. Unfortunately, the weather was kind of foggy/rainy so we couldn’t see a ton, but it was still so cool. For dinner, we walked to this pub called Alice Thai which served amazing Thai food. It tasted so good after a long day of walking around. We stayed at this hostel just a few blocks away, which to a lot of people sounds really sketchy (Australians say ‘seedy’), but was honestly one of the nicest places I’ve stayed in. We stayed in rooms with bunk beds and were all very excited to hit the showers that night. I was exhausted by the time we got back so a few of us went straight to bed at about 7:30 and slept straight through til 6 AM the next morning.
The next day started bright and early and after brekkie (breakfast) we took the train up to the Blue Mountains. The mountains are about 2 hours outside of Sydney so we relaxed on the train before hiking. Just our luck, the first weekend we are in Australia the weather is a cool 50/60 degrees and foggy/rainy. So we went hiking through the trails in the rain, but it was still so beautiful. Years of camping experience were no match for this- I kept feeling like we were walking through a rainforest, which essentially we were. Our tour guide would point out various plants, ecosystems, etc. and we ate our lunch inside of a cave. We ended the tour a little early so we all walked around the little village where the train station was and warmed up with hot chocolate in this little café. By the time we got back, we were soaked and couldn’t wait to get past the 2 hour train ride to get into a hot shower. We relaxed a bit for heading out to dinner. The night was a free night to do whatever we wanted, so we all went with Scott to this little bar and grill to get dinner and then went to another bar. Underneath the hostel there was a bar called the Scubar where we ended the night dancing and having drinks (and yes Mum, I got my Wallaby Darned). It was an interesting and unique Valentines Day to say the least…
This morning (Sunday) we woke up to get breakfast at the hostel and then head out to take the train to the Circular Quay. From there, we had an AMAZING view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and we took the ferry to the Tarango Zoo, passing by the bridge and the Sydney Opera House. It was so unreal seeing those things in real life rather than on a postcard (or a Mary-Kate and Ashley movie). The zoo was AWESOME, and for not liking our pets, I loved seeing the animals. I felt like I saw every animal that existed (except we missed the platypuses). And I’ll have you know that kangaroos are a lot smaller than you think they would be. Apparently, they only get to be about 5 feet tall. I was picturing this 8 foot mammoth creature that would kill you by waving its tail at you. But still cute, nonetheless. I took a billion and half pictures so I’m sure you will all see them at some point. We left the zoo, took the ferry and the train back to the hostel and packed up our stuff. Most of the CIS students were going to Macquarie, which is a universtiy in Sydney. I was the only one going to University of Southern Queensland so we all parted and said goodbye. Even though we all only knew each other for just over 2 days, they were all so nice and we all got so close so it was hard to say goodbye knowing that the only people I know in Australia are hours away. But hopefully, we will all reunite before June. I caught my flight from Sydney to Brisbane and am writing this while waiting for my shuttle to come pick me to take me to uni (which is what they call college…) There were so many other things that I’m sure happened that I wish I could write but the weekend was so jam packed and so surreal, that unfortunately, even I can’t remember them all. So goodbye for now, hopefully I will write as soon as I start orientation at USQ!