Hi! The adjusting continues, as I think it will for quite some time. Mostly I’m fully back, but I think of the people and things in Australia every single day. I keep noticing some little things, more differences. My eyes are opened in a whole new way, I see things here that I never noticed before. Some good, some bad. I’m still randomly thinking of things I really liked about Australia as well. It’s strange, that’s for sure, the whole experience. Feelings you can’t really imagine or describe.
One thing I randomly miss about Aus, is that in their regular Skittles, the green one isn’t lime, it’s green apple!! I never eat the lime ones here unless I have nobody around to share with, so I was alone once with a bag there and had to eat the green ones - I was pleasantly surprised! Weird, I know, but it’s something. It is nice to see soooo much green around here, really something compared to draught ridden Australia! I don’t like the vast amounts of overly large vehicles however, I don’t think most people need them, they do too much damage and quite frankly get in the way and annoy me! Dr. Pepper is nice to have again, as well as wild cherry Pepsi! They don’t have either there, everyone is revolted by DP for some reason. It’s also nice to not wear shower shoes, although our units, even the bathrooms, were really quite fabulous. I still have to look at the money, it’s strange. Most of the time I’m fine, but the other day I accidentally gave the lady a 5 and 1 instead of two 1’s and had to slowly count out change. Oh well, I guess anyone could do that. I miss seeing the beautiful sky so so much. It’s amazing. The night sky especially, you can see a million stars, even right on res, it’s absolutely incredible. I could look up forever, it was so awesome! Especially in KC you can really only see a small handful of stars! Even in the country it really doesn’t compare to the southern hemisphere’s sky, I don’t think! I don’t know, I suppose I should stop, I’m making myself sad! I miss all of it so much, just being there. I was in Australia! I really want to go back, and I totally would for a visit over winter break, if I had the money, that’s the only thing stopping me really. Mostly, it is still the people I miss above everything else, without them it wouldn’t have been anywhere close the experience it was! It makes it seem lonely here, not seeing so many friends every single day, that part really makes me excited for getting back up to Manhattan, even though it will be different.
I’ve realized how much I really love writing and reading, and words in general. I wish I were better, some people really have a talent for putting words together that just work so well and sound almost like music or something, even in just a plain old sentence. I’m not sure where this came from, I guess I did a lot more of both this past semester compared to usual. I also absolutely love history, always have. It can tell you so much. I was able to learn a lot of Australian history, even though it’s a young country. I think I know more about the country than a lot of them do! Communication also interests me, kind of goes along with words. How important it all is. People can totally misread things because our words are always so inadequate compared to our thoughts. Even with our huge vocabulary, words don’t do thoughts justice much of the time. The miscommunication is huge since we all interpret words differently, and it can cause problems if we aren’t careful and don’t realize this. It’s also kind of crazy how much stuff I have. I especially notice it after only having two big suitcases of stuff for the past five months, most of it being pretty much essentials. That makes me think why do I have so much junk?! I was fine with what I had for those five months for the most part. Sure every once in awhile I wished I had that shirt or that purse or something, but I have a lot more than even that and I’m not sure why. I guess it runs in the family, holding on to things and having trouble throwing away. Well I’m trying to let go of some of it, as I have for a couple years really. I really don’t know where any of this came from, it’s really not as interesting now that I’m back.
I’m still in the process of writing about my trip, just thought I’d write a little bit more about being home. I’ve been keeping myself fairly busy, although I really miss the money, it’s been so nice to not have to work and let myself get back to normal instead. It has also allowed me to spend time with lots of people which is always good. I talked with my roommate some and we met up for dinner one night which was fabulous! I can’t wait for us to move into our house, with our other roommate! Saturday I went up to Manhattan for the day because Mark and Matt were going to play golf so I thought I’d go along and play for a few hours while I waited for them. That was really nice to drive there and back and get 4 hours alone with Matt, I don’t know the last time I’ve spent so much time with either of my brothers! I’m sure it was tough on him, but I enjoyed it! And while I was there I got to spend time with Carly which always awesome. We talked and went to the pool for awhile and got slushies, all good things. When I came back to KC that evening I met my friend Donald, who I met in Australia but goes to KSU, for dinner at Bravo. That was nice to catch up with someone else and talk about Oz for awhile. Mom picked up the new, and last, Harry Potter book on Saturday so I’ve already read all of that! It was fabulous and kept me busy for a couple days! Now I’m looking forward to a couple Royal’s games, seeing more friends, packing up and moving into our new house, Mark and Talicia’s wedding, heading back to school, and Jess coming to KC in August. Oh, and getting to see my wonderful baby boy, Oliver, again(don’t worry, he’s my hamster)!
Okay, I’ll let you get back to your lives now and keep working on my interesting, exciting retelling of my last trip through Australia! And maybe soon I’ll have a wonderful slideshow of all my pictures ready for your viewing pleasure if you’d like to see them. It’s hard to drastically cut down from 13,000 pictures to something people might actually want to sit through! So just let me know, I’ll be happy to share them. Hope you all are doing fabulously and things continue to be positive. Again, I hope to see you (again) soon. Take care of each other and don’t forget to smile at the world! Quote time:
What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope for the meaning of life. ~Heinrich Emil Brunner
When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life. ~Jean Shinoda Bolen
The really great man is the man who makes every man feel great. ~G.K. Chesterton
Love, Alissa
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