over already? it just began...

i've definitely had the time to talk about the past few weeks coming home and all...but when it has come to uploading the final pictures to facebook and writing in this blog...it actually makes it feel final. it makes it seem like it has actually ended.

my life has been a whirl wind of craziness for the past two weeks and it is difficult to believe that 2 weeks ago today, i was still enjoying the 80 + degree days of sunny melbourne, when now I am basking in the 34 degree snowfall of fishkill, new york. wow.

where to begin. i guess i will just start with my last couple of days in australia. they were pretty perfect. on sunday, siobhan was back and her, monica and I first went to the market ( i almost finished all of my souvenir shopping), we then headed over to Myer to see the christmas window's (similar to our Macys and Saks window displays). we then stopped at the big Christmas tree (see tagged pictures on facebook) and on the way to the Polish festival in Fed Square, we amazingly saw the Golden Tower. Now, you're probably like what are you talking about some Golden Tower? I've never heard of this before. well the Golden Tower isn't exactly what the name entails it to be but rather it is a restaurant. now why you ask is this restaurant so important. it is because this restaurant is owned by the Gauccis. who are the Gauccis you ask? the family of Natalie Gaucci, the BRAND NEW AUSTRALIAN IDOL!!!!!! well, siobhan, monica and I were extremely emotionally invested in australian idol this past season and before they named the new aussie idol (after we left), our two favorites from the season matt corby and natalie gaucci were the finalists. we loved it. we pretty much freaked out when we watched the results show the previous monday that revealed that natalie and matt were the final 2. we also knew that natalie was from melbourne and her family owned a restaurant but we didn't quite know exactly where it was so it was our dream come true to have just stumbled upon it. now it also sits on probably the MAIN street in the CBD, and we've probably walked past it so many times...but on that day...we finally noticed it. and we met her mom! it was fantastic! and now, natalie gaucci knows that she has an international fan base. wooo hooo. so then we went off to the polish festival which was a lot of fun...really fun for monica because she was able to speak polish with some people there...pretty sweet. we then stumbled upon this huge Macedonia/Greek demonstration. we assume that Macedonia wants to remain part of greece? i had no idea of that current issue in Europe so that was interesting. then monica departed to go back to study and siobhan and I proceeded to Brunswick street to the Hispanic festival. that was AWESOME. they were teaching various traditional hispanic dances and there was so much food. so much food. so much delicious hispanic food. from empanadas, to paella, to quesadillas, and tacos and burritos...ahh it was crazy. the unfortunate part was that siobhan and I were not really hungry at all...but we both got a little something here and there...i actually got gozleme (its turkish, i know...but its delicious and love it) and it was wonderful. oh, it was also 5 million degrees outside but nonetheless it was wonderful. we pretty much chilled out for the rest of the evening and continued to pack because all and all, we had walked over 5 miles around the city!

monday was more or less some of the same. packing and such. ran some errands, sun bathed poolside for a bit. but mainly packing if i recall correctly. siobhan and I took a walk to erroll street which was nice but it was a really really hott day once again. it was kristen's last day/night because she was leaving on tuesday so we met up with her late on monday night and said our goodbyes. :(

tuesday, i finished my souvenir shopping and then we headed to campus to return books, sell some books, helped a little girl who lost her dad, and hung out with liz and luke for a while before we had to say our goodbyes. we mainly got all of our last packing and such done before leah and monica were done with their exams so we could finally celebrate appropiately. so, after leah was done she met us at liz and luke where we hung out for a while before saying our goodbyes. liz and luke were probably the best IES program directors anyone could ever ask for and I miss them already. we are already planning their visit to the states next fall and our reunion! then the celebrations began. it was pretty much spent the way you should spend your last night abroad. guess. i wont even say. it was fantastic...originally it was just me, siobhan, leah and monica but then alycia returned from her trip and came to the village. we slept very little and said our goodbyes to the boys. we had originally wanted to see the sunrise but it was an awfully rainy day so there was no sunrise.

leaving was quite insane. and i'll just leave it at that. so after delays, an unfortunate $144 excess baggage bill, and 20 hours in the air i made it to NY with all my bags in tow!

being home is pretty weird. i dont think i have come out of that culture shock that you go through when leaving a country for a long period of time. thanksgiving was great but last week was pretty much a downer filled with insane amounts of jetlag which i think i am now finally conquering. i really dont have a lot to say yet although i have been very observant about all the differences...all i know is that i miss australia a lot. a whole lot.