Okay, so I am becoming increasingly excited, and consequently increasingly more distracted, with news that my wonderful boyfriend is soon to be jetting over here to visit me!
But it's also forced me to face reality once more. Coming over here, whisking myself away to foreign lands, and forcing myself to stand on my own two feet, was both an adventure and also an escape. With the end of my time in Australia fast approaching, there's nothing left but to look back and question what I have learnt. What have I learnt about people? About human nature? About myself?
I think I've learnt a few things... firstly, that people are pretty much the same wherever you go. Humans are complicated creatures but we do fit patterns, and wherever you travel people will begin to remind you of other people you already know, and you'll realise that ultimately we are all the same. We all get scared, we all have days when we are moody, grumpy and angry at the world. But we are also highly forgiving creatures, and have a built-in mechanism telling us to always bounce back. Which is why I know that the individuals facing problems and troubles here will recover/become better with time, and that whether or not I am physically here to witness their recovery, they will be fine.
I have learnt that one of the worst things is fear. Fear of the unknown, like when I first travelled out here. Fear of the unknown "peeping Tom" that threatened to sour my last few weeks in Australia. Fear of making no friends, and fear of leaving the ones I eventually did make. Fear of returning home and fear that if I don't I will remain forever in a kind of limbo, never really settled.
I miss my family, and certain foods back at home. I miss how cheap everything feels comparatively. I miss the free fashion magazines with my Dad's Sunday newspapers. I miss Church. I miss all of my friends. And MY GOD did I miss Chris.... and Silkey....and my bedroom.
But there are also things I will miss from here. I will miss living in halls again. I will miss my amazing friends here: the fact Mandy and I could crack ourselves up with a multitude of in-jokes till the cows come home. I'll miss the mischievous free lunches with Lonny, and the fact she loves Scrabble almost as much as Mum! I'll miss Liz' level-headed approach to things, and how she keeps an array of incredible snacks in her room (my fave being the delicious hot choccie we had with marshmallows...oh and the biscuits we dipped into the cheap-clone of nutella). I'll miss forever teasing THE KIRKMEISTER for being such a brain! For being teased by Max for my ridiculously bad cooking; i'll miss hearing suave jazz music from Victor's room at the end of the corridor, and even miss having Des constantly try and convince me that Body Pump will work out my abs and NOT give me the hench biceps I dreaded it would. I'll miss the amazing cockatoos and the possums late at night, I'll miss Thursday nights at Mech [mesh??] and being told by everyone that I NEVER go out to town because no-one sees me!? I'll miss David coming and giving me hugs and how exciteable he became when he discovered the Ozzies DO have Pimms here! I'll miss always high-fiving Sean whenever he mentions Reading festival, and getting into ridiculously deep convos with people over dinner.
I'll miss saying "heaps"
I'll miss hearing Mandy say "crisps" and then give me the evils.
I'll miss Australia. Yes, even Canberra despite the fact it's a literal HOLE and there is nothing here, and the food is gonna make me go bankrupt because it's far too pricey for a student budget.
But hey, roll on these last few days in Canberra, and these last few weeks travelling the rest of Australia. Roll on going home and hugging my parents, and settling into hopefully a wonderful new house with Nish and Peter, and joining new societies at UEA and settling back to the English Literature course and teaching which I miss. Here's to picnics with the M'head Crew by the river, to drinking games back in Norwich, and Cluedo with the 'Holder Household' over summer.
And here's to friendship universally; to global friendships. To the old, the present and what is yet to come.
I'm sure there will be more excitement in store around the corner for me. But it's time to move on. We can't have it all, but I now know that I CAN do it. I can do it if I put my mind to it, and hey, despite the odd hiccup, God looks out for us, and life is good.
Smile, do something new everyday (or whenever you can), take every opportunity. Love. Laugh. Eat healthily when you can, and if you choose to eat unhealthily, and always eat unhealthily with friends! It tastes so much better eating burgers with mates, and giggling over cake and coffee with your nearest and dearest. If life isn't going your way, go to the gym and sweat it out. Talk to people about your problems, then move on. Learn to love yourself, sit and read, or collect pictures which make you feel happier when you look at them. Pray.
Here's to the future...
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