Only One More Week of Class

May 30 9:45am

Sunday morning here in Brisi, and with it comes church. I awoke slightly (1 hour) before my alarm was set to go off this morning so, rather than just lay in bed, I got up, made a spot of tea, and had breakfast. I then checked the news for a while and I decided that I would update my blog before we leave at 9:50.

Last night was interesting. I was in the library when I get a call from my roommate Justin and he said there was someone who just rang our buzzer who said he was a friend of my family. I had no idea what he was talking about, as far as I knew, there was no one living in Brisi that my family knew, but he said there was someone here who said they came looking for me and that I should come back straightaway. So I practically ran all the way back from campus, thinking to myself who on earth this could be. For a fleeting instant, I had a vision that it was someone from the courts here to subpoena me for some unknown reason. When I got back, there was someone sitting in our dining room, and I still had no idea who it was. Once we got to talking, I found out that he and his wife had met Jerry and Sharon Ryan and their family when they were living in New Zealand a year or two ago. Now that I actually had some background information, things got better and I finally understood how this guy knew who I was and where I lived. We talked at our place for a few minutes, and then he said his wife was cooking dinner and I was welcome to come back with them if I wanted to. By now I was rather interested, so I went back to their house where I met his wife. It was a nice evening; we talked about New Zealand for a while and all the glorious wonder of that beautiful country, and then they showed me some pictures of Jerry and Sharon and other people that they knew while they were there. Dinner consisted of BBQ chicken, pumpkin, potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and a veggie mixture. Dessert was apple pie (I think but I’m not sure) and ice cream. For a minute, I imagined I was at Granny’s during the summer months, and had to take a few minutes to think about all the people back home (and all the pie I would have access to upon my return). We talked for a while longer after dinner, where we had tea and chocolate and just spent a little more time getting to know each other. It really is amazing how small the world is. When I went to college, one of my now best friends used to grow up watching Buckeye’s games at my cousin’s, cousin’s house, and now, in Australia, I meet someone who met a family from tiny Holmes County in New Zealand. It really is remarkable the people you can meet by venturing outside what you have always known. So, continuing on, after tea they drove me back home, with a parting gift of a raspberry tart I think you would call them, and well wishes for the coming weeks as I finalise my time here in Australia. And so also, I went from thinking I was going to court, to having a fantastic evening with Laurie and Jeanette Parkinson.

This week also marks the final week of classes for me down here in Australia, and the final week before Brett gets here. I will only have two tutorials to go to this week, one where I will get a paper back and the other where I have a quiz. My Thursday classes are both done and over with so I’m not showing up to those. Saturday we will then head down to Gold Coast, and Sunday, Brett’s Australian adventure will begin with a flight to Sydney. I am still not entirely sure what we will be doing in Sydney; with such a short time, I imagine we will spend most of our time just taking in the city and visiting the Sydney Opera House. I know that is the one thing we will do, because what else do you think of when you think of Sydney but an opera house? Next Tuesday, we will fly back to Brisi and then Wednesday morning we fly to Melbourne. I have a little bit better idea of what I want to do down there, as I have already been there once and look forward to going again. The only problem is, it was rather chilly down there when I went five weeks ago, so it can only be colder now. I have a feeling it will be worth it; however, and Brett and I will have a car and drive Great Ocean Road for approximately a day and a half to two days, ending in Mt. Gambier before taking the inland highway back to Melbourne, where, luckily, I know all the cool stuff to see and there are also some things I did not get to do last time that I look forward to doing this time. In 21 days time, Brett and I will be making our way to the airport one final time, only that time, we will not be heading back to Brisbane. There is so much to say on the matter, but I do not believe there is any way to put it into words. It is mostly a lot of feeling and emotion, but I am determined to make the next three weeks be as enjoyable as possible, not worry about the small stuff, enjoying the little things, taking part in the big things, all the while looking forward to seeing my friends and family again.