Brisbane's breakthrough

The day had finally come, after five days of being in a 14-hour time difference my body had adjusted. We slept in. Out of the three of us that were in a room together, not one of us bothered to set an alarm because I was so bright eyed and bushy tailed so friggin early every morning!  Looked at the clock. Looked at it again... waited for my eyes to adjust or for it to magically start rolling back, but no such luck. We had 10 minutes to get dressed, grab breakfast, and make it to the bus. Here goes nothing... Pure chaos. Somehow, 10 minutes later we were piled on a bus headed to our Community Day location. Success. But that was a close one!

Today, our task was to help reach the 2,000,000 tree initiative. Goal? Plant 2,000,000 trees in a year, or something. Being that there was just significant flooding in Brisbane, it helped our efforts - it made it so much easier that there was soggy ground. So we grabbed hats, gloves, shovels, and trees and started planting.



Generally speaking, this is my look when my friends aren't around.

 The day's goal set by the leaders was to plant about 500 trees by 2pm. That gave us a healthy five hours to get some serious tree hugging done. It was 104 degrees (F) and about 80% humidity. Much of our group was significantly hungover. Thankfully (and a little bit surprising) I was not one of them... but watching them moan in agony made my life feel just a little bit more spectacular. By 11am, we were ready for some lunch. So we all grabbed our smashed sandwiches out of a cooler, each took an apricot bar (oh sick), and a juice box. Found a spot in the shade and shared a laugh at the kids getting in trouble (we were in the backyard of an elementary school and the naughty kids would be sent out back where we were. This one chubby little boy got in trouble and was kicked out, so he laid down on a table in the shade and waved an Australian flag until he fell asleep. We were all pretty jealous - he had about a 30 minute nap and we were all sweating our faces off.)

Like good little working bees, after we were finished we got up to finish exercising our Green Thumbs and found out we had actually exceeded their goal and planted 800 trees in just under 90 minutes. We shattered any record of all previous AustraLearn students. Booyaaahhhhhh. We were stoked. The leaders made a call to the bus and an  hour later we were all entering air-conditioned heaven. Since we were fast workers, we earned a few hours to ourselves. A lot of people went to the pool, a couple people napped, but I knew that if I didn't start uploading pictures of my trip that my family may start to disown me. So I sat down and finally started to put my week online and share my trip with all those that missed me.

Friday night. Free night. Okay, this was it. The big one. I had been in Australia for 5 days and had made it to bed, almost before the sun had set, every night. This was my night. Time to get dolled up and tear up Brisbane. We walked down to Queen Street (after gathering many native's suggestions) headed for the Beach House and got to witness history in the making. Currently, Egypt is in the process of trying to overthrow their President (Mubarak).

There was a speaker in town that was speaking against President Mubarak and these people marching were in support of the speaker. The demonstration was very controlled, police were everywhere, but it was very powerful... they were loud and organized. It raised alot of attention!

It was time for dinner!! We had certainly worked up an appetite being super tree planters by day (and as far as I'm concerned we earned a little fun in our lives!). And we had come to the perfect spot. There was a deck that overlooked much of the strip and we were in the center of the nightlife. The duo that was entertaining us was beyond incredible. I've listened to alot of music in my day... and these two won't be easily forgotten.

As the night rolled on, so did the beer; for our friends at the next table, that is. There was a group of about 10 and they all worked together at a nearby local hotel. It was Friday night and time to kick back for them. As the spirits flowed, the dancing started, and we made new friends. These girls left an imprint on me... We had "Lady Gaga" who was just straight up stoked about life. And if you'd let her, she'd be honored to serenade you. The other girl was all about starting the dance party and getting her new, American friends on that stage with her. So, we danced. And we danced and we sang and we danced some more.

This night just felt like a breakthrough for me... a breakthrough I had been waiting for. Even though I get along with just about everybody that is on the trip, I'm all about one-on-one relationships. I finally started making better friends (and we weren't drinking!) and found some dance partners... cuz this girl cannot be without dance partners! The part I was struggling with the most about being gone, is not having my favorite people: to confide in, to vibe with, to dance with, to chill with! And up until that point, I was missing my bff's terribly. Although my favorites from MI (and my girl in New Orleans) will never be replaced... I had to have some fill-ins til I'm home. :o)

Our night started to come to a close and "Lady Gaga" had one last bit of wisdom to share with us. She started it off as "You girls have a choice...". Pretty much in a nutshell, she explained that we were sexy American girls and these Australian men don't know just how sexy they are. BUT, we have the power to unleash their sexiness. It was the most ridiculous thing I've heard in quite some time (and is most likely only entertaining to those that had the privilege of enjoying this with me) but regardless, I don't want Gaga, her crew, or that evening to be forgotten.

Brizzy was coming to a close. We had one last full day left. And as excited as I was about Sydney (and being able to unpack and NOT live out of suitcases anymore)... I wasn't letting a single day of this trip pass me by. I slept with a smile and had my alarm set for the following morning...

Soaking up the Aussie Culture

I was awake. But the alarm hadn't gone off. The sun hadn't risen. And there was no noise in what seemed to be the entire hostel. Just as they had predicted, our bodies would not let us "sleep in". And it was true. At 5am I was wide awake. By 5:30, I was so sick of laying there, I decided to get ambitious. I grabbed a shower, freshened up, got ready for my day, checked my email, and got on Skype by 6:30am. I absolutely LOVED starting my day out this way. It was so peaceful and quiet and already quite warm... I sat outside and talked to home. First my aunt, then to Dustin. I answered email after email after email, most of them consisting of panicked questions because we were predicted to be precisely where the hurricane was hitting.

I met up with the group, enjoyed day 1 of corn flakes (which prompted me to start recording my breakfast consumption. After 4 days of Corn Flakes, just in Brisbane then 2 consecutive days of Rice Crispies, or their version of that anyways, I decided to start counting. For not enjoying cereal, I'm curious to see how many days I enjoy the same exact stuff). Not long after the Vegemite challenge became a hit. Although I wasn't daring enough to try it, the expressions on their faces explained plenty for me.  

The Culture and Information session was next on the agenda. Although they were quite lengthy, I really enjoyed the first couple days of them. It is much easier to have them tell you about the slang vs you looking like a silly American trying to guess... Or worse, inserting the wrong Aussie word into a sentence. Ummm... Tourist?!?!!! They explained things like how to speak, how restaurants are different, how Australians view Americans, and to not say they drive on the "wrong" side of the road... always the "other" side of the road. They explained that in this culture it is better for you to try and fail than to not even try at all because you think you won't be good at it (the American way).

I liked hearing about the culture, and soon I would come to find out that I love living in it, too. They say "Cheers" for 'thank you' and "No worries" for 'you're welcome'.  Life is slower here. For the most part, the only people blowing past you on the streets are moms or fellow Americans (this is a significant generalization, of course). Tour Guide Todd explained that he works in an office and when he would get up and walk quickly to the printer, his fellow Aussies would laugh and ask him why he was in such a hurry to get there. And I like that. :o)

At the end of the session, we got our international cell phones. This caused somewhat of a commotion, just for the people that brought them from home, then you add in some technical difficulties, then lightly sprinkle a few panicked uptight people because they paid for phones and have parents expecting to call at that VERY SECOND (ugh... obviously they haven't adjusted to the chill Aussie culture yet). I got my phone and it stayed in the box for almost 48 hours. I had every intention of pulling it out and activating it... But I was finally content. These faces around me were starting to become familiar, we started relating to one another, and we started sharing some good laughs (don't let me fool you, I was still on Skype for a significant part of my day, I just didn't feel the need to carry around a phone).

Day 2 meant that it was Zoo Day. For those of you that know me, you understand that I don't fancy zoos (sorry Aunt Staci). But it was time to experience the culture for all that it was. And that meant getting a little dirty, smelling some interesting smells, and not screaming too loud when I encountered snakes/spiders. On the upside, we had a fabulous barbeque for lunch and almost (literally) stepped on a peacock on our way in.

At 12:30 we were told to go explore and had until 4pm to enjoy the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and all it had to offer. So we kind of looked around at each other... and pulled out the maps. Some didn't even have to think - they wanted to see everything, twice. The rest of us planned out what looked good, fun, and interesting. First up, KOALAS!!!  Cute little buggers. I wanted to cuddle one and I wanted to see a baby! Great success:

Although they are possibly the cutest things that I've ever laid eyes on, don't let them fool you... they smell SO bad!! Oh my goodness gracious!  In a nutshell, the rest of the afternoon consisted of viewing a platypus, watching a sheep hearding show (which was shockingly great!), looking at crocks, feeding the kangaroos, and avoiding the lizards running free. It wasn't a bad day at the zoo. Not bad at all.

Dinner that night was up to us. Downside - we had to pay for it. Upside - we were set free in the city of Brisbane to do as we pleased. Looking back at this night... it makes me laugh. We're such silly tourists. Because, as a group, we had been growing closer and bonding like good little kiddies, so we decided to meet in the lobby and attempt to do an "independent" group dinner. That was the idea anyways. We ended up being the most indecisive, confused, hungry people in the entire country. The plan was to head to a nearby strip of shops and restaurants.

 Super cute. Super classy. They had pizza (no, not American), they had sushi (no, too expensive), they had Che Bistro (no, too snobbish). We walked and we walked and we walked... many of us in circles. Long story short, after a solid 45 mintues we ended up at: Hog's Breath Cafe.

I know... super classy, we are. Ha!  It was a mix between Texas Roadhouse and an Applebees. There were things on the menu that sounded amazing, not too pricy, and let's face it... It was time for a large glass of wine for this girl!!!!! We ended up having a blast with a small group of 6. I indulged in pasta for the second night in a row and even splurged on some bread with Sarah. It was perfect.

Once again, the group dressed up and hit the town and I could have cared less. It was time for bed. My body still wasn't adjusted to a 16-hour time difference yet.

The next morning started out quite similar to the one previous. At 6am I was awake and ready for the day, hopped on the internet and checked to see how the afternoon was going back at home. Turns out, things were going just fine without me. ;o)  The plan for the day was to have a Culture Info session then head out on the day's adventure. For various reasons, the session was cancelled so it was time to peel away from the laptop and take a good ol' fashioned walk. And I'm SO glad I did!! 5 of us girls grabbed our cameras and our flip flops and took off looking for anything worthy of a picture. We walked over incredible bridges, checked out the ancient city buildings (some from the 1800s), and stood in awe of their modern architecture.

 In the beginning, I wasn't so excited about being "stuck" in Brisbane when I expected to be in the incredibly beautiful Cairns. But after exploring their Central Business District and some of the cutest shops in Australia, I really grew an appreciation for Brisbane.

It was Kayaking Day. Any person in their right mind would be excited for this. I, on the other hand, am athletically challenged (that's why I play pageants) and wasn't so hot on the idea. We loaded onto a bus at 11am and headed for Riverlife. Here, we had lunch and had the opportunity to see one of the coolest things yet: An aboriginal show. Wow. Cool stuff right there! They had some of our group members get up there and learn their "Happy Dance" (perfect photo opp for the rest of the group!). Afterwards, we all painted up and got a group picture with them.

An hour and a half of kayaking?!?! Oh. My. Goodness. I really didn't want to do this. But we stripped down to our suits, took off our sunglasses, laid on the sunscreen, and gathered around for some instructions. Not long after they were lowering boats into the water. Even up to the point of me climbing down the ladder to my kayak, I just remember thinking, "Gosh, I don't want to do this". I got in. And didn't tip it over. Found my balance. And started rowing. Not so bad at ALL!  We rowed nearly a quarter mile down the river and gosh, what a workout!!!!! At one point, Tour Guide Todd looked at me and said, "You look like you were born for that boat." BOOM! Go figure, I do have an athletic bone in my body!!

Once we made it to our "destination" (fighting the tide the whole way) we all linked boats and made a large circle. What came next may shock you... it shocked me! The guide counted all of us off. I was #6. Directly across the circle from me, there was another #6. When he called my number, I had to get up and RUN to the other side of the circle on the back of the kayaks, with the objective of beating the other person to the empty boat. With not much choice, I did it. And had fun doing that, too.  This day was truly a day of personal victories. (I apologize to all of you that would have died to do what I did and I was complaining and resisting it... but at least I got something out of it, eh?!).

We floated back to Riverlife. Climbed the cliff. And headed back to the hostel for a couple hours down time before our group dinner.








The people in Austraila love their Thai food! Tour Guide Todd told us it was better here because they are closer to Thailand. I dunno... just go with it. It was Thursday, and finally my night to dress up and go out. I was rested and adjusted. After dinner, the plan was to have some fun! We sat down for dinner at 7pm, in a very small, authentic Thai place. We took up almost the whole restaurant! And gosh, we are loud Americans! At 8pm, we still had no food and had worked up quite the appetite after kayaking for hours prior! So, a few girls and myself decided we were going to take advantage of the restaurant being a BYO [definition - In Australia, it is common for restaurants to be BYO's. And it is exactly that. You are invited to bring your own beer or wine into their place of business and enjoy it with your dinner]. We ran across the street and bought a delicious bottle of Reisling... which made the next HOUR of waiting for food much more enjoyable. At 9pm there was a parade of Thai food that came rolling from the kitchen. I cannot even begin to explain how much food we ended up having. After waiting 2 hours for food, then being stuffed to the brim, even the mere thought of going out on the town disgusted me. So back to a comfy bed Molly and I walked. Except I had just enjoyed half a bottle of wine and thought that Dustin would enjoy talking to me. That poor guy was woken up at 5am to find a chatterbox on the other end. He didn't even shut me up... 56 minutes later we said goodnight and I called it a day.

We were only halfway done with our time in Brisbane. And little did I know... the best was yet to come.

My unexpected week in Brisbane!

So here I sit. I'm in what the American's have deemed the "watering hole" on campus. It is so quiet and so very peaceful. (Except for the awful noises that the birds make here... when people hear the noise when I skype with them, they ask if there are babies crying in the hallway. haha. Nope, just the horrible sounding birds...).

Going back to Brisbane...
We stepped off the plane in Brisbane and had our last chance to purchase things at Duty Free (tax free) where prices were still cheap, American prices. I really had no idea what was going to hit me as far as Australian prices... but now I know why those stores are such a big hit. Next feat was customs. Even though I had absolutely nothing to hide, I was still a little nervous. We had to fill out information cards on the plane and they asked us questions like 'do you have food that you shouldn't have, or medication that would be considered illegal, or dirt or soil with you', etc etc... Well I was pretty free and clear of all that, but I still had the goodies that Mrs. Schuiling had sent me off with. 2 bags of Doritos and some sugar gumdrops were all that was left, and surprisingly, they let me through with them! (thank gosh... little did I know that bag of cheddar Doritos was going to be my last for the next 3.5 months! *weakness*).

I got lucky... but poor Lauren from Alabama, did not. There are people that get randomly searched while going through customs. Well little Lauren from Alabama is possibly the sweetest, most precious girl on this trip. Just cute as a button. She was one that got randomly searched. Poor thing tried to break in her new tennis shoes while still in the US and had a small line of dirt on them. Customs found this and wrote her up for a minor infraction. Hardcore! Thank goodness, this was just a warning but if she's ever "caught" again, she has to pay a whopping $250. (We overheard another person on the plane was wrote up for bringing a banana through).

The next step was to check our luggage. So Faith, Lauren, and I all checked our baggage. The rest of the group was asked to carry it with them (for some reason... we're still not totally sure why). Shortly after we checked our luggage, we met Sheila (who turned out to be the partial founder of AustraLearn. and SUCH a sweetie). She explained that the directors had made an executive decision, one hour prior to her meeting us, that we were cancelling the trip to Cairns, as there was a massive Category 5 hurricane headed straight for the coast.

From there, chaos somewhat broke out.
[Side note: Earlier I mentioned that being on the Group Flight "saved my life". Well, with the financial complications presented in early January, my flight with all of the other students was almost jeopardized. That being said, I would have been on the flight to Cairns and possibly had to endure the hurricane.]
The first issue being, I need my luggage that just got put on that plane to Cairns!!!!!!  I had just checked all of my belongings and was about to be without them until God knows when. Next thing was to talk to home. I was like a fish out of water and all I wanted to do was hear a familiar voice. Anyone. Especially Dustin's. I turned on my phone and had absolutely no signal whatsoever. It was dead. I was devastated. I understand that this sounds very very dramatic, but I can barely describe the emotions that were running through me. I had just picked up and left everything and everyone familiar and was not even in the same country anymore. I wanted familiar so badly.  After Sheila had told us everything she knew up to the moment (which wasn't much... she didn't know where we were staying or how we were getting out of the airport) we all sat by the baggage claim as a group. Some got food, some called home from payphones, and I sat down with my computer. This is when I realized that the luxury of free wifi was no longer. In the US, we're used to swimming in free Wifi. Here, you have to pay for it. Little did I know, that the following week, it would cost me upwards of $60 in Internet just to have communication with home. So I paid for Internet and skyped D. Thank GOODNESS he was on. As soon as I saw his face, I started crying. He hadn't even said, "Hi babe..." yet. I didn't know what was happening to me!!!! I have been on my own for so long, why was I breaking down?? And what was with the tears?!?!  Here I was, middle of the airport. people everywhere, sitting on the floor with tears rolling down my cheeks. I knew I had made the right decision to come to Australia, but I had no idea it'd feel like this. We skyped for a few minutes. I told him to call my family, tell them we didn't get caught in Hurricane Yasi, and then got whisked away to go capture my luggage. (Which was a success!)

Next thing we know, a man that acts like he knows something walked up and started talking to our group. It was Tour-Guide Todd. :o) 

He explained that buses were on the way to pick us up and we were likely going to be staying in an Australian Hostel (the YHA, they are popular here...) in Brisbane. It was a step down from what we were supposed to be staying in, because ICMS owns a hotel up in Cairns which is supposed to be quite nice. Regardless, we were excited to know that we'd have a bed to sleep in after travelling 2 days to get to Australia. Our next question was... will we be making it to Cairns at all throughout the week?? We didn't like the answer... but our safety was of highest priority.

Tour Guide Todd was an AustraLearn leader from America (Colorado) but had lived in Brisbane for the past 16 months. He was never supposed to meet us. He has is own group of students to be placing into internships. Because of the hurricane, most of the AustraLearn staff was stuck in Carins so he got elected to be our fearless leader . Next came the squishy ball game. You all know it... and probably all hate it. Somewhere, somehow, he found a squishy ball, made us get in a circle and play the awfully dreaded 'name game'. This ended up being good for him and good for us, as well as a Brisbane legend. Directions: When the ball gets passed to you, you say your name and something you like that starts with the same letter as your name then repeat all the names that were said before you. It went like this: I'm Todd, and I like toast. I'm Lauren and I like lettuce and that is Todd and he likes toast. I'm Sam and I like string cheese, that is Lauren who likes lettuce and that is Todd who likes toast. I know, dreadful, isn't it?!?!! Low and behold a half hour later, we all new each other's names and our favorite things. Halfway through the game, some more Americans joined us that had just been pulled off the plane to Cairns (that did not fly into Brisbane with us on the Group Flight) and they were NOT happy. Here is where the wicked characters from MI get introduced. If you've talked to me personally, you know the ones I speak of. If you have not, I'm terribly sorry to leave you hanging, but even though they left a mark on me, they don't deserve to be put in my blog).

The Brisbane newspaper showed up and wanted pictures and a story. So we all hauled our luggage outside in the beautiful sunshine and posed. Jensen, Megan, and I got hauled to the front to pose with sad faces, leaning on eachother's shoulders. Yea, that's exactly what I wanted to do... after traveling for days, no makeup, and no shower... get put on the front page of the Brisbane paper so 1.6 million people can see it. They also interviewed one of the "wicked" girls and she kindly forewarned them, "I'm really not happy right now, so you probably don't want to hear from me." Well, the paper wanted a story... so mean girl was the first introduction of the American study abroad students that Brisbane had of us.

The buses finally arrived and we all packed on. All of our luggage wouldn't fit so a few fell behind and grabbed a cab with Sheila. We all met up at the YHA and couldn't check into our rooms until 2pm (it was still only 11am or so). We all paraded into a community room and Sheila and Todd unloaded all they knew up to that moment. They updated us that there were 8 Americans and quite a few AustraLearn leaders that were stuck in Cairns and their only option was to find an evacuation center and ride out the storm. The "wicked" girls decided that this was the best time to be impatient and pick a fight with poor Todd about how hungry they were and how they were getting treated like children (yes people, this is why we have an AWFUL reputation overseas). Lunch was next on the agenda and we walked about a block to a food-court type facility. I decided to branch out and live on the crazy side and enjoy Subway (minus the Doritos). $9 for a 6" and drink. This was really the point where I had to figure out where to pull out AUD or where I could use my regular debit card and so on...

Once we returned to the YHA, we picked roommates and settled into our rooms. I had the pleasure of rooming with Jenna (from New Jersey, attends Michigan State, and got nicknamed "mom" for the trip) and Liza (grew up in Russia, now lives in Maine, and is loads of fun). For the next few hours we made it homey, I skyped with Dustin, had our first Culture Information session, then got ready for dinner. Dinner was at a
nearby place called Transcontinental. I enjoyed some Spinach, Feta Ravioli. Dining out was different here... no free bread, no free salads, no free drink refills, and you barely get served. You have to go up to the counter to place your order. All servers are paid minimum wage here (around $20/hour) so it's not like America... you don't have to give the best possible service for the best possible tip.

We finally headed back to the hostel and most people got dressed up and hit the town. I, on the other hand, am nearly the oldest one here and have 'been there done that'. I needed and wanted sleep. But being that the legal drinking age here is 18, we had 30+ minors that had just become legal that morning... so there was drinking to be had. I skyped Dustin one more time (he was now on Aussie time) and layed down for the first night of sleep in 2 days. What seemed to have been a never-ending roller coaster of a day had finally ended. This had only completed Day 1 of "Culture and Adventure" week. There were things to be discovered and much fun to be had, starting with Brekkie at 7am...

It's happening.

Okay, so this was written when I was in the heart of Brisbane and has been saved as a draft and never posted... So please just imagine I'm still there. ;o)

Well, long story short, I'm currently sweating my face off, in downtown Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA!!!! I made it. Despite all the struggles and all the times I questioned I was going to make it here, by an act of God... I made it.  From now on, the blogs are going to keep rolling; and most likely will be short and sweet. They keep us very very busy here and I don't have a whole lot of down time (and if I do, I catch up on emails and Skype my American boy).

Here is a very brief rundown of what was missed in the long stretch of no blogging/panicking that this trip wasn't going to happen:
      The first and most important thing: AustraLearn was saved, as well as the airline ticket (which saved my life, possibly literally... I'll explain later). A few people from my support team emptied their bank accounts and saved everything. Shortly after, the much needed loan went through making the rest of the process significantly easier. From there, I had to get everything approved through Grand Valley - which was cake other than trying to coordinating schedules and meeting places with advisors. Banking threw me for a loop, but ended up being cake as well. I have my regular credit and debit cards and just pay a "small" transaction fee every time I pull out Australian dollars (which are like monopoly money, btw!). The one thing that really held me  up was my Student Visa. Ohhhh man... I literally almost got stopped at the gate in GRR. My Student Visa must have come through within the hour of me checking in at the gate. It wasn't completely my fault that it was so late. There was a mix up with the coordinator through AustraLearn - long story short, I didn't get paperwork that I was supposed to sign off on. Regardless, I got the Visa that I needed when I needed it, with a small fee of $550 AUD (Australian Dollars). HOLY SMOKERS!! That was a little over budget (budget was $400AUD).

The month of January slid by, like sand through my fingers. All this time I thought that I had ended up disappearing. This trip and saying goodbye to everyone that is near and dear to me came and went. And was significantly harder than what I imagined it to be. We had a fabulous farewell Griffin's game with my best friends in the whole world, and even some old friends (and a couple new ones) came out to wish me farewell. We had a great night with some Ritz Koney (I enjoyed 2 full size meals to myself, in one sitting... because I was signing off on American food as well. bad idea) some karaoke, and ended with some good-byes. I didn't realize what a real fear it was that my best friends were going to forget about me. It almost felt as if I was saying goodbye to them for good. But, I should have known how amazing my friends are, and of course they had emails and facebook posts waiting for me, before I even arrived. Much of my first week was spent on Skype with Dustin and emailing people at home, just to keep some type of 'normalcy' in my life.

January 30 came and thank gosh, Dustin and I kept going back and forth on being strong. When I would absolutely lose it, he was strong and would comfort me. When reality would start hitting him, I was strong and knew it was only a little while in the large scheme of things. He was my absolute hero and helped me tie up all the loose ends in America, finished packing my suitcase for me, and drove me to the airport ensuring I was 100% ready to go. I flew out of Grand Rapids and both my mom and his mom met us in the airport. Nerves really got the best of me while waiting to fly out. I couldn't eat, couldn't sit still, and really couldn't think straight. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted the moms there cuz this was it for D and I. The last few minutes that we'd have for nearly 4 months. But, I'm SO glad they came. Mrs. Schuiling showed up with a little goody bag of snacks, and a planner, and a card that is hanging in my room. They took my mind off of the seriousness of the whole situation. Dus and I went off by ourselves and said a prayer for my trip: for safety, for health, for endurance, for strength. When we were walking back, there was an announcement that I had 3 MINUTES until the plane was leaving. HOLLYYYY SMOKES!  I flew through security faster than I had ever moved in my whole life. It was the fastest goodbye and somewhat of a blur. No worries - I made the plane. :o)  Once I sat on the plane (that had 25 people on it), I lost it. I had said goodbye to my best friend and hugged him for the last time. That was it. I was on my way out of the country. And was devastated. I'm somewhat thankful that the flight was only 35 minutes long, because before I could keep feeling sorry for myself, we had landed in Chicago and it was time to find the next gate.

I had an hour until my flight from Chicago to LA and decided it was time for some food. Australian prices had set in. The only thing I wanted was pizza... and hey, I was on vacation. There was no way I was passing up a pizza - even though it was $11. OUCH.

Anybody that knows me, knows I'm an awful flyer. I jump outta my seat and assume the worst every time we hit a little turbulence. But this time, I think I was so distracted with all the drastic changes that were taking place in my life, I didn't have the brain power to be scared. Before I knew it, we were in LA waiting to take off to Brisbane. This is where the "group flight" began. I met a number of other Americans that were about to embark on the trip of a lifetime with me and we were all flying to Brisbane together. I was shy (which is not like me...) and just stayed on the phone with home the entire lay over. At 11:30, we boarded the plane. It was go time.

On the plane, I sat next to this Australian guy. He was probably just a couple years older than me. Even before take off, the stewards came by with the menu and timeline for the flight. For those of you wondering, I had more than a cornbread muffin. ;o)  This plane was the mac daddy of all big planes. Absolutely massive.  The nerves finally kicked back in about flying. So I started to talking to this kid next to me and I'm so glad I did. He told me his story that he was from Australia, but just spent the last 3 months of his life backpacking around the world. So one more flight home was like nothing (I agreed then felt silly I was wiggin out about flying). We talked about home. We talked about the difference in culture and what I should/could expect and the places that I should visit while I'm in Oz. Next thing I knew, I was getting woken up for dinner. Ribs, green beans, carrots, pudding, and a roll. Fabulous. Passed back out until I was woken up for breakfast. Cereal. merr. Passed back out until they announced that the flight attendants should prepare for landing. Thank goodness I had the window seat for the entirety of my trip!  It made it sooo much easier to sleep. Which I did - I slept for 12 out of  the13 hours in flight. Before I knew it, we had arrived in Brisbane with a whopping 30 degrees (they use Celcius... double it and add 30 degrees and its a rough guess of what it equates to in F). Next feat was to catch the plane to Cairns... that plane came and went and we weren't on it.
Okay, now that alot of the business is out of the way... let the fun stuff begin! Well, maybe not the 'fun stuff'... but the adventure.