Unstoppable. 2.14.11

If you figure an hour to shower and straighten my hair, plus another 10 for make-up, then 25 minutes for brekky... Alarm should be set for 6:15am. Normally, I would have freaked out seeing that time on my alarm clock. But the beauty of it was - I still hadn't adjusted 100% to the time difference. Don't get me wrong, it still felt early; stinkin early. But not painful, like 6am normally feels.

Shower.
Make-up.
Breakfast w/ the crew.
Class at 8am.

Human Resource Planning and Performance. This was a class that students took in their last semester before graduation. It was gonna be tough. Certainly one of my most demanding classes of the term. Mr. Jean-Etienne Joullie was the lecturer (they're not referred to as 'professor', here). French, serious, and a radical thinker. I could tell right there I wasn't going to make it out of that class the easy way. But I was ready for the challenge.

Class at 10am. Well, since this was my 2nd class of the term, I had already figured out the secrets - classes start at quarter past the hour, not on the hour as we all originally thought. So I stroll in at 10:10am (5 minutes early) to a class that is already begun and the statement "I'll deal with you later". Ohhhh jeez. Great first impressions. Let me introduce: Paul Collins (from 'Straya). Homeboy is ridiculous. 100% jokester. He is teaching my Beverage and Bar Management class. If class #1 put me to sleep... this class was waking me up whether I was ready for it or not!

Class let out right on time leaving me exactly 30 minutes for lunch. This should seem as if it is more than enough time. Until you factor in waiting in line for food almost 15 minutes then having absolutely nowhere to sit. It makes lunch-hour seem more like a game show; with the prize being able to sit and eat.

Class at 12pm - Introduction to Tourism. Kerrie King walked in and she is just cute as a button. Quiet tone with a perfect Australian accent. But... she doesn't mess around. Her passion is Tourism and she expects you to learn more than what seems like humanly possible. Readings... class notes... slides... lectures. I appreciated the warning though.

After making it through 6 hours of class on Day 1, I was whipped. So whipped, it didn't phase me when I was woken up from a mid-afternoon nap with a call from reception saying that something had arrived for me. I walked downstairs to see the receptionist with an anxious grin on her face. I didn't have to tell her my name... she handed me the bag of goodies. I went to walk away... and she stopped me. She said that I couldn't just walk away without her knowing what my sweet guy had sent me and I had to open it right there. I opened it up to find instant coffee (to feed my addiction), chocolates, 2 bags of French Vanilla creamer (because I prefer a little coffee with my cream), and Australian strawberry licorice (D and I's favorite snack in America. Except he always ate all of mine, so now I had a bag to myself!). Oh, and of course an amazing bouquet of red roses.

I realize this pic is a little awkward - but it's the only one showing all of my goodies!

I couldn't pick up the phone fast enough... I was so in shock I didn't really say anything when he picked up. Just fought tears. Thank gosh he can read my thoughts, even from halfway across the world. He knew what to say. Turns out... that wasn't all. He told me to get online and a link took me here:

With a note, saying:

Happy Valentines Day baby....
Being this is our first Valentines together, I wanted to do something really special... Well, being you're 10,000 miles away at the moment - it makes it a tad bit tough. BUT, I don't want you to ever forget how much I love you, even with all the miles between us. So with some the help from Mark and Jamee, I hope you like....

When I watched this, I was in pure disbelief. This man had gone above and BEYOND my wildest expectations. The song that he sang was "our song" for me being away. We've each listened to it a million times and the lyrics were perfect. There wasn't even a chance of me holding back tears... and I cried like a baby. And watched it over and over and over. Molly looked at me from across the room with her best words of encouragement, "Only 13 more weeks!"  Nope, not what I had in mind for inspiration... I kept crying.

Slowly the word had got out and girls started piling in my room to check out this video. I had had plans to head to Manly for the afternoon... so D and I said good-bye and planned to talk later. The rest of the afternoon was somewhat of a blur...

I had been so excited to give Dustin his gift (via Skype) that I had planned out since December and show him his card. But after getting a video, roses, coffee, and candy - I was no longer excited. In fact, I was beat at my own game. I thought I was good at surprises.

To finish Day 1, I had my first Yoga class. Yoga was supposed to be good for clearing the mind... but even concentration and deep breathing couldn't get my mind off of everything that had just happened. I was an emotional wreck.

But by far, the luckiest girl in the entire world.