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itsashleymcdonald19blog-blog · 7 years

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6/25/17 x2 (Time change is a mess)

Well this morning was supposed to start off much earlier than it did.. Funny story, last night, when I set an alarm for 5:30 am it was set for weekdays and considering today was not a weekend it didn’t go off. Instead, the alarm that was supposed to warn me 5 minutes before leaving was the alarm that woke me up. Nia and I were so panicked and so rushed and lets just say it is a miracle that we did as much packing as we did last night. Essentially all we had to do was change, and put a few things away. We rushed so fast and got ready with literally 4 minutes to spare before having to be down stairs to catch the bus. Wow, we really could have missed our coach, which would have made us miss our flight, and well I do not even want to think about that. We made it though! Thank god!

We headed to the airport and got to experience true Sydney traffic. People drive crazy here, especially in a big bus. We made it to the airport, got our luggage off the coach and headed into the terminal to check in. Check in was smooth so they we headed to customs. Customs operated the same way that it did in Melbourne. You took your passport, had to put it into this scanner essentially, then it directs you when to move through the gate, and then you have to do whatever you look like in your passport in order to be cleared through to the next checkpoint. Honestly, it is really cool, and helps Border Patrol to have less work. It is extremely effective and it was very impressive. I wonder how long it will take the states to hop on this bandwagon.

Then we went through security, nice and smooth, and then made our way to the gate. We grabbed some breakfast, and just waited until it was time to board the plane. I was and still am dreading this flight. I am genuinely worried about my ears, and i just wish I could be in a place of comfort right now. Even though this flight is 2 hours shorter than when we came here we are now flying in the day so we have to at least try to stay awake for 7 hours of it. You can only sit for so long and watch so many movies, and have no wifi. After this, I will not want to fly for a long while.

I am currently sitting on the plane and I cannot help but to reflect on this entire trip. There have been highs and lows (literally) but overall I do not think I could have asked for a better experience abroad. I have travelled almost 20,000 miles, been to 7 different cities, and conquered a good portion of the continent.

Throughout my time here in Australia I have done some amazing things. I will list a few here:

I have eaten some of the weirdest food I have ever eaten in my life. Seriously everything in Australia is different.

I have drank some of the best coffee at some of the most hole in the wall cafes.

I immersed myself in cafe culture.

I had class at the Melbourne State Victoria Library.

I have gone to many museums (too many museums).

I have found some great rooftop bars.

I wandered in the alley ways of Melbourne to find hidden treasures. (Some of my favorites were Hoiser, Hardware, and Degraves).

I went up to the Eurekya Sky deck which is the tallest building in Melbourne.

We all bonded with Asian Beer Cafe (ABC- also the place that shall not be named)

I rode the Melbourne Star Observatory over the nighttime skyline.

I leaned a lot about the Aboriginal culture through our guides and classes.

I saw wild koalas, wallabies and kangaroos.

I saw thousands of penguins migrate from sea to land at Peter Island.

I shopped at the Queen Victoria Market which is the largest Open Air Market in the Western Hemisphere.

I visited the Shrine of Remembrance and the Melbourne Botanical Gardens

I went and saw a footie game in Melbourne's largest and most famous stadium.

I travelled to St. Kilda beach and Luna Park.

I went to Federation Square many times.

I travelled to Port Douglas where we went to one of the most beautiful beaches, ate some great fish and chips, and had some great gelato.

I was able to feed and pet kangaroos and wallabies, and I got to hold a koala!

I snorkeled on the Great Barrier reef with one of the most legendary people who snorkel on the reef and call it home.

I went to Karaoke night at Iron Bar

I stayed in an ecolodge where I really had to face my fear with bugs. Shout out to all the insects and bugs in our cabin.

I swam in a spring fed creek (and fell).

I watched a movie in the outback under the stars.

I went caving and spelunking.

I explored Aboriginal art in caves and saw some amazing views of the outback.

I watched the sunset at Balancing Rock.

I tent camped in the freakin' outback. (I will never be camping again).

I had to use a freakin' dunny… never will I ever again.

I made friends with a wallaby dog named Menzy.

I was able to see rescued wallabies and their babies on site in my backyard.

I drove in little yellow busses to the Daintree Rainforest.

I went night spotting 2 too many times.

I went jungle surfing in the Daintree Rainforest.

I ate the most unique gelato you can find in the world at Daintree Ice Cream Co.

I did the Mijin swing in Cairns (TWICE).

I made friends with some travel company and ended up getting free drinks and food all nigh at Gilligan's. Along with meeting some girls from Ohio and all over the world.

I watched a ladies night pole dancing competition that really turned into a strip club. (YIKES)

I was able to take a harbor cruise in Sydney to experience Vivid Sydney.

I was able to meet up with Lys to celebrate my birthday in Sydney (2 times)!

I went shopping in the Queen Victoria Building and the shopping district in Sydney.

I was able to go to many clubs and spend many late nights with these amazing people I now call my friends.

I traveled to Bondi and Coogee beach.

I was able to attend the Sydney Film Festival and see the premier of Okja (which everyone should see)

I toured the Sydney Opera House and saw a show called Hot Brown Honey!! (The best show I have ever seen)

I went to St. Mary’s Cathedral.

I visited the Hyde Barracks and Hyde Park.

I climbed the Pylons on the Sydney Harbor Bridge

I went whale watching

I tried Kangaroo.

These are just some of the highlights, I know thats a long list, but that is because there isn’t enough words or time to explain everything I have done this trip or what I have learned.

I have learned a lot about myself throughout this trip. One big thing, as silly as it seems, is how much we take for granted cell service and wifi everywhere. Throughout this trip I did not purchase a phone plan so the only time I could use my phone was when there was wifi. I was unable to use maps to navigate through the city, I was unable to talk to friends and family, and I realized how much I use my phone for things. It was refreshing in a way to “unplug” sort of speak but I also now realize the next time I go to another country at least data will be necessary for navigation.

I also learned that I am not as great with directions as I had originally believed. Typically on family vacations I am the navigator and I have a very good idea of my whereabouts, however, this was not the case here in Australia. I spent most of my time turned around, and dependent on Kayla’s maps. When I finally got it down, it was basically time to leave.

I also realized that I am moderately high maintenance. Prior to this trip, I felt that I was relatively low maintenance but this trip has changed my perspective to moderate. I hate bugs, I hate night spotting, I hate when bugs are in my space, I hate seeing the biggest spiders I have in my life, I am not a camper, I hate dunnies and I really enjoy having comfortable accommodations where I do not share them with bugs. I also realized that I am more picky than I thought. For the meals that were provided, for the most part, I ate them, but others I said “not a chance in hell."

This trip slo has reaffirmed that I love American food. As I have mentioned in previous posts, everything in Australia is different. From bacon, to ham, to “burgers”, to their spices and sauces, even their bagels. It was always interesting ordering something at a restaurant and being completely confused on what it was. For example, one of the weirdest things we realized is that in Australia they called everything a burger versus a sandwich. In the states, a burger implies a beef patty, here a burger doesn’t mean patty unless it specifies there’s a patty. Also, there food is all pretty bland, and they rely heavily on sauces, like aioli. I love aioli so this was okay with me. Long story short, I miss American food, I miss ordering and knowing exactly what I am going to get, and I am excited to not have to constantly google what the food is.

Throughout this trip, I realized I have an extreme gelato obsession (problem). I love gelato and we ate it far too much on this trip. I have no regrets, but jesus I will miss gelato .

This trip has also been extremely eye opening to the fact that in America we really are ignorant to other countries and what is happening in their worlds. In Australia, on their news they have a specific segment dedicated to around the world, the biggest highlight being America. In America, we are so sheltered and unconcerned with the rest of the world and I think that this says a lot about us.

I have learned so much about Australia that I could probably talk for days about their national identity, injustices, Aborigines, their colonization, convict culture, and their so called multiculturalism. Throughout one of my classes we examined if Australia is actually multicultural or not and I am confident to say that I do not believe they are to the extent that they preach that they are. We experienced a lot of racism, discriminatory, and ignorant behaviors and comments while in Australia as well as many cultures are incredibly underrepresented in society.

Prior to these classes, I had no idea that Australia was colonized by convicts, I had no idea about the Aboriginal people, stolen generations, hygienic dorms, or any of the injustices they faced, nor did I really have any knowledge about cinametography, or anything about Australia really. This trip has made me much more knowledge about Australia and has showed me how much more there is to learn about the world and every other country in it.

This trip has also made me more confident in traveling by myself. This was the first time I have ever flown without my parents and I did very well. I was initially very anxious about it but at this point we have flown so much it is a breeze. However, that doesn’t mean that I am consistently going to want to do.

This trip has also introduced me to some amazing people. The girl gang: Nia, Kayla, and Morgan have been the girls since day one and we just have gotten significantly closer. We all got along very well, and we balance each other out well too. Cody was also a part of our group, it was always Cody and the girls and I also enjoyed his company. Coming on this trip I was worried because I really didn’t know anyone besides Cici, but surely enough I made some friendships for a lifetime. We are already planning our first reunion once school starts. I met many other people and made many other friends that I am so happy have come in to my life. It will be awesome to see more familiar faces on each campus.

Now, I have talked about all the good, and clearly it out weighs the bad, but it wouldn’t be fair for me to not even talk about the lows. One thing that really bothered me was that to pretty much every event we were late. For someone who is extremely time oriented, this frustrated me. I also felt like a lot of our accommodations could have been nicer in the middle of our trip (not Sydney or Melbourne). I do not do well with bugs in my bed, or in my shower, or pretty much in my space at all. When I am in nature, I am in their space, but when they are in mine, it is a no go. Also, there was not enough time scheduled in between our activities. A lot of the time we had an hour to eat, go to the other side of the city and find our destination. We also were left constantly to fend for ourselves and find things on our own with no help and most people with no cellular or data. We also had way too much work. I believed, along with everyone else, that the reason we had bootcamp was so that the work would be minimal when we were actually abroad. Nope, that wasn’t the case,and to top it all off we have some brutal final projects to complete once we get back. I do have to keep telling myself that it is 6 honors credits but still, it is freakin’ annoying. I wish we had spent at least one more day in Cairns because I loved that city and there was so much to do and see. Lastly, we went to way too many museums. Some were very enjoyable and informative, but all the art museums weren’t necessary, and a lot ended up repeating the same stuff eventually. B esides, these things, I really have nothing to complain about, My biggest frustration was with all of the school work but I am STUDYING abroad so I guess you just have to deal with it.

Everything that was a low, wasn’t truly a low because it was all part of the experience. This trip has pushed my personal limits, it has exposed me to many things I would never do in my normal life, and it has given me a new found appreciation for basic things like plumbing, wifi, air conditioning,and clean beds and accommodations. As you can see, nothing outweighs the highs of this trip. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sidenote:

This flight is miserable, we still have 9 hours left and then I have to catch my connecting flight to San Diego. Then my second vacation starts. I am already exhausted, and I am going to be jet lagged so this will be interesting. I am so excited to be reunited with my family, my boyfriend, Zoey, and just normal life again.

Surprisingly, the food was actually pretty good on the way home, much better than on the way here. I am struggling with trying to time my sleep. It is currently 2:15 pm on the 25th and we still have 9 hours of the plane ride left. I will probably attempt to take some medicine soon that will help me pass out so I can try to get a good 5 or 6 hours of rest. The hard part will be staying up for the entire day. Not to mention, trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I will be reliving the 25th again!

I arrived in Lax at 6:30am after a very long flight. A miserable flight. We went through customs very quickly and it was very similar to Sydney and Melbourne which was cool to see. Baggage claim took forever, granted there were over 800 passengers told distribute luggage to but my patience was wearing thing.

The icing on the cake was when I found out my 10:00 am flight had been delayed until 1:15 pm. I was livid. I physically could not sit int eh airport for that long, nor was it worth it to take a 50 minute flight like that. We ended up getting completely refunded for my flight, canceled it, and then I got an Uber to San Diego.

My driver was very nice and I was in SD before 10:00 am. It was so good to see my parents and the Murphy's and the Mattingly’s! We headed to breakfast and just caught up on everything. I missed them so much!

now it is time for the second vacation to start, the real struggle will be staying awake. Jet lag is about to be REAL. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don’t think there are words to describe how much I have learned and how life changing this experience abroad has been. I think traveling abroad is dangerous because now all I can think of is “Where to next?”

I am so lucky to have been given this opportunity. I want to thank everybody who pushed me to go abroad, and helped me make it possible. Specifically my parents, who worked so hard and sacrificed so much to be able to help me make my dream a reality. I would like to thank Devin, my friends and family (that includes you Mattingly's and Murphy’s) that either supported me or donated to my funds for this trip, and lastly Barrett Staff, specifically Susan and Miranda who pushed me to go on this adventure. This trip literally wouldn’t have been possible without all of you and I am forever grateful.

Thank you for the memories Australia! Cheers!

#barrettaustralia #barrettglobalcitizen #transformyourclassroom

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