...'Till Next Time Brisbane

In younger grades, the end of the school year was always highly anticipated and defined by warming weather and end of the year parties and festivities.  At uni, the end of the semester is always much more anticlimactic...there are no room moms to bring in cookies and ice cream to reward you for a job well done.  Instead, you walk out of the last lecture like any other day, telling friends you will see them later as if everyone would be back next week, continuing the semester as usual.  Then Monday rolls around, the alarm doesn’t go off to get up for class, and you have the terrifying realization that you have to face final exams.  Can I just go to the beach instead?

Well, lucky for me I am in Australia and can go to the beach.  And I did.  Joys of being a study abroad student.  

Amongst the chaos of preparing for finals, I also had added stresses of saying goodbye to friends I made throughout the semester and wondering how on Earth I was going to pack up my life in two 23kg suitcases, especially considering the purchases I acquired.  Yep, the next two weeks were going to be a roller coaster.

Before I knew it I had my first two finals completed and felt quite good about both of them.  With a whole week until final #3, I turned my focus to doing things in Brisbane I had put off for the past five months, always telling myself there was plenty of time to explore the city.  Well, time was running out so I figured it was time to get my act together.  So I spent some time exploring the central business district and quirky little neighborhoods friends had told me I had to check out.  I even have some shopping purchases to show for it.  Really good for the packing situation right?

Brisbane CBD from Mount Coot-Tha

When I first got to Brisbane, I made it one of my goals to run in a race while I was here.  After some Google searches, I discovered the first annual Brisbane City2South race, taking after Sydney’s City2Surf and Melbourne’s City2Sea races.  I was thrilled to see it was happening just before I was due to leave Australia, so I signed myself up to run.  So amongst everything else going on as my time in Brisbane was winding down, I had the added anticipation of this 14K race.  Two other study abroad friends staying in the Gold Coast ran as well, and it was a great success.  I could have done without the killer hills at the end, but that just made the sense of accomplishment upon crossing the finish line that much greater.  Epic success.

And that brought me to my final week in Brisbane which meant I had to start saying final goodbyes to some great friends.  The comfort of people saying “it’s not goodbye, it’s see you later,” only went so far for me.  But that is where the wonders of social media come in and provide a bit of comfort.  The really amazing thing is now I have friends all over the world, which means…I have more excuses to travel!  Now just to hit the lottery.  Or if anyone wants to donate to Steph’s Travel Fund you know where to find me.

Much to my amazement, as I started packing I realized that I was golden on suitcase space.  One stress off the list!  But then I looked at my empty closet and it actually started to hit me that I am returning to the United States in less than 24 hours.  My goodness where did the time go…?  Time really does fly when you are having fun.  As a kid, whenever I got that teary-eyed look upon leaving vacation or a long weekend spent with cousins, my mom always told me that being sad to leave meant I had an absolutely fantastic experience.  And that is exactly the case right now.  As my return to the U.S. gets closer and closer, the less I want to leave Australia, but that is because this experience has been so amazing.  I have learned so much about myself and my goals, as well as other people, other cultures, and different ways of life.  This is truly a once in a lifetime experience that I am incredibly lucky to have had…which calls for a shout out to my mom and dad for supporting me and making this possible.  Thanks parents, you rock!

Well guys, this is it.  The end of my time in Australia also means the completion of my Australian Adventures blog.  For all of you who have followed me throughout the semester, I hope you enjoyed living vicariously through my adventures.  I’m not particularly looking forward to returning to the real world, but at least I get the comfort of going back to a country with crispy bacon, $5 pizzas on Friday night, and cheap drip coffee. 

So for the last time…. Cheers!