Tell the world that I'm coming home

I have been traveling from airport to airport for the past 38 hours and still haven't reached Buffalo yet.

Oh the joys of traveling. After spending the morning bawling my eyes out and saying goodbye to friends I have met, Alexis and I boarded our 13 hour flight from Sydney to San Francisco... and it surprisingly went very smoothly!

Then our luck ran out. Once we got through customs and security in San Francisco, we found out our flight to Chicago that afternoon was going to be super delayed, which ultimately meant we would miss our connecting flight out to Syracuse. How lucky are we? Don't worry, it gets better.. emotionally and physically fatigued, Alexis and I made our way over to customer service to try and find a new flight to take home from Chicago. Turns out our only option was to take a red eye at 10PM that night to Charlotte, NC and then take a flight from there out to Syracuse. At that time it was 2PM and we would be stuck in that terminal for 8 more hours. EIGHT HOURS OF TORTURE. We both managed to nap for a bit before being awoken by a man yelling on the phone to his wife about a divorce, like really, yell about that stuff in private, not next to two girls who were going on no sleep after flying across the world. People these days.

The good thing is, once we boarded our flight to NC we both slept the entire flight, and found a Starbucks as we left the plane. Score! I hate to be negative but this trip home has been so frustrating. It was hard enough saying goodbye to friends (and the Opera house which by the way I cried and cried over when we passed it on the way to the airport), but then to deal with all this travel nonsense was just way too much. I'm going to be so thrilled when I finally get to be home and not in an airport.

It still hasn't really hit me though that I have left Australia. Of course I know I'm in the US now but I still feel like we're just traveling back to Sydney, that tomorrow I'll be back in the village with the same people I've lived with for the past 4 1/2 months. This study abroad trip has come to mean more to me than I ever thought it would and has definitely changed me for the better. I've had some amazing opportunities while living in Sydney and I'm going to miss all of it very much .. getting to swim among the fish in the Great Barrier Reef, sailing, heading to tropical destinations, petting Kangaroos and Koalas.. even being able to pass the Opera House and travel over the Sydney Harbour Bridge every day, I miss it so much already.

I am grateful for the support from my parents, family, and friends back home. Especially my parents for helping me out when money was tight.. and their love of course (haha)! I am also grateful for being able to work as an intern with an international hospitality company. Though I was there for a short time, I learned so much from the amazingly talented people there and it's really helped me figure out what kind of work I want to do after graduating next year. And finally, I am eternally grateful for the friends I have made while being abroad. We were our own little family and I will hold the memories we had together very close to my heart forever. Love you girls!

If you were to ask me a few years ago about going to Australia, I probably would have talked about going as if it were some unattainable dream. Coming here and living and breathing the life and culture of this beautiful city has really given me even more drive to pursue my dreams and inspire other people to do the same. I can't even tell you how great this experience was and it really saddens me that it's really over. Sydney was and will always be a part of me. When I think of "home" I feel that I now will always think of Sydney (as well as Buffalo!). Yes I spent a lot of money, ended up in the hospital, and struggled with the insane grading system but I had the time of my life and got to do things I never imagined I would ever do, and I feel like that alone is worth more than any good grades can give me or money can buy. I have grown professionally, intellectually, and emotionally and truly believe that I can do anything I set my heart to. This time in Sydney will always have a special place in my heart and will continue to influence my goals and dreams for the future.

I have no idea when I'll be back in Australia again but I know I have to go back at some point in my life. It's not goodbye, it's "see ya later."

Further proof of Walt's words "all our dreams can come true if the have the courage to pursue them"

I love you, Sydney.

xoxo

One Last Hurrah

In 6 hours I'll be flying back to Buffalo. Crazy, right?

But before I make a post about being appreciative and all that jazz, I'll enlighten you with some photos of the fun little things my friends and I have been doing the past 2 weeks!

Luna Park!

The Australian Museum!

Sydney Aquarium!

Madame Tussaud's Sydney!

 

The Eye Tower!

Bondi/Coogee Beach Coastal Walk!

Sydney Harbour Bridge Walking Path!

xoxoxo

Reflecting Time

Today I decided to get out and clear my head. I've been planning to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and still hadn't done it, so, I decided to do it today. Just me, my camera, and the backdrop of this amazing and iconic city.

Along the way I took countless photos of the Opera House and the city behind it .. adding to the millions of pictures I already have of them; and it really sunk in how sad I'm going to be when I leave this place. Sydney has been my home for the past 4 and a half months and in 2 days I'll be leaving it behind.. not knowing when I'll ever return.

It was pretty emotional to think about the reality of it all. And just as I was finishing the walk across the bridge, I went to snap one more pic of the Opera house and saw this..

A beautiful rainbow, which was pretty odd to see because it hadn't been raining, but still I thought that was pretty cool. Yeah it's going to be sad leaving on Saturday and I'm probably going to bawling my eyes out in the airport, but I've learned so much while living here and really appreciate the fact that I could even have this experience. The rainbow was kind of a reminder that even though this journey is over, there's still more amazing things to come... this is just the beginning of it all.

Warning: this post may be extremely long and corny, but I do not care :)

Four days from now I will be boarding a plane to fly home to America. I never thought those words would come out of my mouth, let alone onto a keyboard.

This past month has flown by way too fast with taking finals, finishing last minute papers, oh and FINALLY seeing Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball!

Think of her what you want but I have never seen a better performance by any singer or band. Granted, my friend Alexis and I were in the nosebleed seats, but the show was just amazing, in fact, beyond amazing. And since the show last week I haven't been able to stop listening to Gaga songs. Yes she's weird, but she's brilliant and so inspiring! She does a lot of good and has helped inspire a lot of young people, and that's why I love her. She wants to make a change in the world for the better.

Case in point, after scrolling through some Twitter accounts, I found out Lady Gaga was staying at the Park Hyatt Hotel right on the Sydney Harbour across from the Opera House. I had seen photos of she and her fans outside her hotel as well... so what did I do? I joined the party! From Thursday to Sunday night my friend Karee and I spent countless hours waiting outside Gaga's hotel hoping to meet her. I didn't meet Gaga but I did meet her makeup artist Tara!

Even though I never was able to officially meet Lady Gaga, I really had a wonderful time getting able to meet fellow fans of hers, aka her "Little Monsters" as Gaga calls them. From afar a lot of people think that celebrity fan bases are filled with a bunch of over-indulging, crazy, stalker fanatics, and I thought the same before this weekend. I mean I love Lady Gaga as much as the next superfan but to be honest, I expected the people waiting outside her hotel to be insane.

Contrary to my belief, a lot of them (though there were a few I wasn't sure of) weren't. As the four long days waiting outside the Park Hyatt went by, I actually got to know a lot of the other fans and they were lovely people. It was amazing hearing stories about how Gaga's music and her story inspired them. All 20 of us came from different backgrounds and different lives but we all managed to bond over this one 26-year old woman from New York. I mean, you can say she's a freak all you want and make fun of her fashion and everything but she's such an inspiration to myself and others.

She encourages people to be themselves and to be proud of who they are and where they're going and I love that. Here are a few of my favorite quotes..

"Don't you ever let a soul in the world tell you that you can't be exactly who you are." 

 "It doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from, or how much money you've got in your pocket. You have your own destiny and your own life ahead of you."

 "I want my kids to sit in their school cafeteria knowing that their life is just as important as the kid next to them."

Pretty powerful stuff right there. I've only been a fan of hers for a short while, but just listening to her speak about life really hits you. She recently came out with this one song, Marry the Night and it's all about taking your hardships and everything that's difficult about your life and letting them be something your proud of instead of being ashamed of.

Personally I find that very inspiring. There's been a lot of times when people have told me I can't do things and there have been times where I've failed but in those times you have to brush off the bad stuff and learn from those experiences... take the hard times and keep them with you, not to hold you down but to give you a boost when times are hard again. I'll be honest, there were times when I was here in Australia where all I wanted was to be home, but I've managed to work through it, pick myself up, and smile, because I came here to learn and follow my dreams, and I damn well was going to do it.

While were on the subject of dreaming and working hard towards success, I also want to mention how much of an inspiration Walt Disney has been to me as well. This man managed to come from nothing and build one of the largest companies in the world today. All because of his willingness and perseverance. He wanted to do the impossible and build a place where children could experience magic and adults could feel like kids again. From the movies to the parks, Disney has been a major part of my life and it still continues to be. I love the magic and imagination it brings to people, and how happy it makes them. I love that Walt, though he passed, continues to inspire people to make their dreams come true and become whoever they want to be.

My favorite quote by Walt Disney is "all our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them" .. it's become my motto sort of. I wanted nothing more than to come to Australia, get international work experience, meet new people, and experience the culture, and I did it. I gathered up the courage to live across the world for 5 months, hopped on a plane, got a fantastic internship, traveled, and met some amazing people. I followed my dream and really learned a lot from it.  
 
Now before you start rolling your eyes or start asking why I'm even writing about Lady Gaga and Walt Disney in my Australia blog, I want everyone reading this to understand that this entire trip only happened because of my dreams and aspirations. I feel like I have grown so much and have an even clearer idea about what I want to do with my future. Before I even thought about coming to study in Australia I had thought about using my degree to get some fancy job with an advertising agency or become some rich marketing executive, but now that I've come here and experienced this amazing trip, I know I want to do something more fulfilling.

 
I still plan on following my dream and applying to work for Disney, because I love the way they influence family togetherness, believing in yourself, and following your dreams. However, either along with that or separately, I would love nothing more than to start my own organization where I can help influence kids of all ages that they can be whoever they want to be and follow their own dreams. Now I KNOW most of you reading this who know me personally are maybe sitting there in disbelief, BUT being here in Australia and working in the tourism industry as an intern has really opened my eyes to what I want to do with my future. I want to help kids realize their potential and know that if they put their heart and soul into something and work hard, they can achieve their goals and do things beyond their wildest dreams.

Nothing makes me happier than to hear people working hard to be where they want to be in the future. I was smiling from ear to ear when I heard my friend Lauren, a film fanatic, accepted 2 internships in New York City for the summer, or when my friend Jenna got an internship with a huge financial company because of her hard work, hell I was even stoked when my mother mentioned that she wanted to get into the travel industry. I love hearing about people exploring their passions and doing what makes them happy.

The point I'm trying to make is that I want to be someone who inspires others to be proud of who they are and follow their dreams. To do the impossible.. just like Lady Gaga and Walt Disney. I want to inspire kids to work hard to follow their dreams and share their passions with the world. That is why I traveled across the world to live in Australia, and why I will apply to work at Disney. It's also why I remind my little brothers and sister whenever I can, that they can do anything they want and be anything they want to be if they have the drive to do so.

 
I've come a long way since stepping off that plane in the Sydney airport, and I want to continue to dream big and inspire others to do the same.