Gday mates!

It’s been a while, and I am sorry for that. This time it was not because I have been crazy busy or anything. There was another problem. Which was that I had nothing to write about. I know that many of you will think: “nothing to write about? Fleur, you’re in Australia, of course you have something to write about”. And yes, this is true in some kind of way. I could have written about how great everything was, and how the time flew by, and about everything I did everyday. But the people who have been reading my blog so far, and for the ones who read my ‘American’ blog as well, they should know that that is not my type of writing. I do not enjoy describing my daily activities, so why would I spend time on doing that? The writing that I do enjoy is more about how I experience things and how I feel about my experiences. And the past few months I was happy and everything was great. Uni was going great (passed all my exams & classes), I had a lot of fun with the friends I made and I felt really home in Sydney. So yes, I could have written about how great everything was, but that is not my thing, so sorry for the silence the past months.

I cannot help but compare this exchange semester with my American exchange. Because it has quite a big similarity: I went to a foreign country by myself, where I did not know anyone. But of course, it were also two totally different experiences in some ways, because now I did not have a host-family, nothing was planned in advance, I had all the responsibilities and I had to take uni more seriously because it counted for my degree. And I think the biggest difference was that here in Australia everything was great. I felt home the moment I arrived. I felt happy all the time. And I did not have a lot of (or maybe none) challenges and setbacks. And how stupid it might sound, I sometimes missed those challenges and setbacks. Of course, feeling happy and good is great and all, but I did miss the feeling of overcoming a challenge or setback. Especially, when I spoke to some friends in Sydney that were on an exchange for the first time, they experienced the whole rollercoaster of culture shock, missing home, having a hard time adapting in the new country, and overcoming all of this. And how I remember it from my time in America, overcoming all those challenges is the best feeling. But here in Australia, I did not have those. Which of course, is a really good sign and I am happy and proud of myself that everything went so smooth this time. During the semester I thought that by not experiencing this roller coaster of feelings again I missed out on something and that I did something wrong. But now I realize a very important thing, which is that feelings are not wrong or right. Feelings just are. You cannot change feelings. You cannot choose your feelings. You can only feel your feelings. And feelings just are.

Talking about setbacks, my trip is definitely not going as smooth as my semester haha. My final exam was on the 16th of November, and right after that exam I had to catch my flight to New Zealand. But my landlord was late, so I couldn’t check out of my house, so instead of being at the airport 2 hours in advance I arrived just one hour in advance. Which would have been fine if the lines at the baggage drop and security wouldn’t have been so long. So I ran through the security, or at least I tried to, but of course I got chosen to do a random check. In the end, everything was all good and I arrived at the gate right when the boarding started (perfect timing actually). So it all started out a little stressful, but after that I had two amazing weeks. I saw my parents again after 5 months (on the other side of the world, so cool) and we did an amazing road trip through New Zealand. The two weeks flew by and after that my parents flew back to Sydney with me so I could show them around in my new hometown. I really enjoyed showing them around where I lived and we had a great four days. After those days in Sydney, they flew back home to the Netherlands. But I still had two months of traveling left. I was supposed to travel together with a friend I made in Sydney. But she got a very bad fever, so she couldn’t continue her travels and went home instead (so sad). When I heard this I was really disappointed and I honestly wasn’t looking forward to my trip anymore. But now, two weeks of traveling alone have passed, and it is amazing. Of course, I really miss my friend and it all would have been easier and maybe more fun if we did this trip together. But at the same time, traveling alone also gives you a lot of things. You meet more people, you are more out of your comfort zone, and you enjoy the great moments even better sometimes. And hey, I think I just said that I kind of missed the challenges haha, now, there it is. Also, the weather sucks. The East Coast of Australia (which is where I am traveling) is supposed to be hot and sunny with a lot of blue skies and beautiful beaches. But the past two weeks there have been two cyclones, which means that it is not hot and sunny, but hot, humid, stormy and rainy. The Whitsundays tour (3-day sailing tour) I was really looking forward to got cancelled because of the bad weather, and every time I wanna go for some sightseeing I come back soaking wet. So, this really sucks and then it sucks even more that I am traveling alone, because if you have a travel buddy you can at least play some games together or anything. But I have to admit, regardless of the weather and not traveling together with my friend, I am still enjoying (almost) every single second. I asked for more challenges, and I got them. And I have done some very very amazing activities so far, like diving in the Great Barrier Reef, rafting around the Whitsunday islands, driving around in a 4WD on the largest sand island of the world and, of course, I have been surfing.

Cheers,

Fleur!