i love being a lazy good for nothing.

Home Sweet Home.

I have been home for about a week and I feel like I never left. It's a really weird thing...like Australia was just a dream.

I never really experienced any jet lag which is really lucky! I got to bed and get up at normal times and my eating schedule never was out of wack. Everything is pretty normal here...I did have to adjust to crossing the street...looking the opposite ways of what I had been the past 5 months and then getting used to driving in a car again. But, it is just really nice to be home in my big city exploring all the new stores and restaurants and going back to all my favorite old ones :)

My trip home was pretty uneventful. I got bumped up to Premium Economy which was really nice so I had a bigger seat and more leg room, a bigger TV, better food! I planned to take a bennedryl and sleep the whole way home but I ended up only getting about 2 hours of sleep thanks to watching 10 straight hours of The Good Wife. Good show by the way.

Once I got off the plane in LA I went to collect my bags. A sniffing dog came around and singled out my bag. Why? Because I had brought a banana from the plane just in case I got hungry. Dumb idea. The man asked for my customs cards and wrote banana on it. It turns out I couldn't leave customs and immigration until I claimed by banana. So I had to lift my heavy bags to be xrayed and answer a few questions all because of my banana, which I didnt event get to keep. It was funny at the time though and the security people were joking about it with me.

Once all that was taken care of I headed off to my next terminal to catch my flight from LA to Chicago. I was so excited because my bestest friend who is spending the summer in LA came to the airport to see me! AND SHE BROUGHT SPRINKLES CUPCAKES..nom nom! It was so good to see her :) <3 you lis!

The flight to Chicago was so tedious and drawn out. I did have a window seat so it was nice to look at the views the entire time and I did get about an hour of sleep. After 3 and a half BORING hours I landed and was reunited with my parents :) I got my bags, came home, ate at my favorite pizza place and passed out!

I miss Australia sooo much and I cant wait to go back someday. This was definitely the best 5 months of my life and I will never forget it!

I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog!


Melis

COUNTDOWN: 4.

I can't believe it...4 days left here! I am currently sitting in the Queensland State Library where I have practically been living the past 3 days. Tomorrow night I have my last final and I could not be more excited to be done with school and classes.

Today I got out one suitcase to start packing. In ten minutes it was half way full and that is just with bags, gifts and shoes. uh oh. haha I will figure it out though, I am an excellent packer.

My final tomorrow is in ecology. It is officially my least favorite class I have ever taken. The final is going to be 10 short written answers and two essays. oh joy. We were able to plan for our essays before hand (we were given three prompts) but only two are going to be on the test. Today I finalized my outlines and I will go over them later but I just hope I can remember everything!!

Blah. I hate studying. I have a terrible attention span today and the table I am putting my feet on keeps sliding away. I digress. <--haha I have always wanted to say that. neat.

Wednesday night I plan to go to the Casino and then Thursday is reserved for climbing Mt. Coo-tha, riding the Brisbane wheel, buying last minute souvenirs and going out at night.

It's going to be so weird to be home.
CANT WAIIIIT!

melis

"lucky to have been where I have been, Lucky to be coming home again" - Jason Mraz

I have exactly one week left here in Oz. I can't believe it. My friends have already started leaving and it's just sad. There is no other word for it.

This last week will be bittersweet. I still have one more final on Wednesday. It's my hardest one, but hopefully I will do OK. I am really nervous. Once I complete that I will be done with my Junior year of college! That's insane.

My last three days will consist of a lot of picture taking, last minute souvenir shopping and soaking in all that is Brisbane.

I really don't have much to say...It hasn't really hit me yet that I am not going to be here next week. However, I am so excited to go home. I miss everyone and everything!


Well back to studying :-/


Melis

“To live in Australia permanently is rather like going to a party and dancing all night with one's mother.”

So my time here in Australia is quickly coming to an end. I only have 2 weeks left here and I just can't seem to grasp that fact. My semester went by so quickly...it's just really sad to think I ever have to leave and go back to reality.

Anyways, I have taken my first final. One down two to go. I think I did OK, it was a little harder than I thought, but at least I feel that I passed, and really isn't that all that matters?
My attention span and wanting to study has been put off by my new never ending obsession of watching sex and the city, which started two weeks ago. Oh how I wish that was my life and that I had all those shoes.

Today I am going to my first rugby game in Australia...isn't that exciting?! I miss sports...hopefully I can follow along with the game...hah.

So yeah thats whats going on in my life, a little dull, but I love my Aussie life.

Everyone should move to Australia.
OK?

-Meliss

"Your girl is lovely, Hubbell"

“Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo..I do believe it...I do believe it's true" - Simon and Garfunkel

Oh hey, it's me...procrastinating AGAIN! Today I am putting off researching for my final paper that is due on Friday. Granted, I have been researching and reading articles since 11am today, so it's not like effort hasn't gone in.

Friday I went to the Australia Zoo, home of the crocodile hunter. It was sooo much fun. We didn't get the best weather, but that's ok. When we first got there we trekked through the snake house (Australia has 9 out of 10 of the worlds most poisonous snakes) and then made our way to Kangaroo Haven. We were lucky enough to get there when the zookeeper was feeding the roo's! She let everyone take a handful of food and feed them while she taught us about different parts of the kangaroo family structure. After that fun filled adventure we journeyed on to the Echidna exhibit. Echidna's are a type of monotreme (one of two, the other is a platypus). Monotremes are egg laying mammals. The Echidna looked like a porkeypink but had the cutest little face!

After that, we headed over to see crocodiles and Tasmanian devils before heading into the crocoseum for the animal show. The show was really entertaining and educational, but I am sure it would have been 10 times better with Steve :(

After a quick lunch, our group reentered the corocoseum for some zoo keeper lecturers. Keepers of koalas, snakes, birds and crocs all came out and gave 15 minute lectures about the animals and pressing issues concerning them. After they spoke we all got to have a pat of each animal except the bird.

After a very educational yet laid back morning, it was FREE TIME! My friends and I headed over to the Asia exhibit after taking pictures with "Steve". There we got to sit in on a tiger play session. It is amazing the bond these keepers have with the animals, the tiger keeper got right in the water with them playing tug of war and swimming! AMAZING! They are sooo lucky! Once the show was over we headed over to the elephant enclosure where we were able to hand feed the elephants! I fed Bimbo or Bambo, I dont remember his name, but he was a younger elephant and therefore didnt have the best manners while eating...basically my hand was covered in dirt from the trunk haha but wow what a great memory to have! Everyone picked up a piece of fruit and stepped on a yellow mat where the elephant would reach its trunk over the enclosure and scoop it out of your hand. The trunks are so powerful, muscular and rough!

We walked back to the zoo entrance where we encountered a wombat walk about. I got to pet the wombat and take some pictures...they are soooo cute! After some shopping in the gift shop, everyone hopped on the bus and we headed back to campus.

It was a great way to end the semester of field trips!

This week is my last week of classes!! I am so happy to be done with work (besides finals)! I am working on my final paper for my TV class ;) sort of.

Well there are only 27 days left for me here...bittersweet.


G'day,
Melissa

I will post some pics up later, but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet.