Be Good. Be Kind. Be Grateful.
Alright. So it has been ages since I got home (well, eight days), and I still have yet to blog-blog about Fiji. The time has come, mates.
I also have not blog-blogged about the whole last week in Brissie. This is gonna be a long blog-blog. Let's go...
I took my politics final June 19th. Then took my biology final the 24th. Checked my grades for my classes the other day. Got a 4 in Aussie Terrestrial. Got a 5 in Aussie Politics. Got a 6 in Aussie Pop Culture. (Translates to a C, B, and an A, if I had been taking the classes for real grades, which I wasn’t.) I am quite pleased with these grades, trust. Considering I probably attended 25% of my lectures all semester.
In between these times there was lots of hanging out and soaking up some last quality time with friends slash even making new friends who quickly started to feel like friends I had had for years for whatever reason. Which is sad in one respect because it’s never fun to find such great people and then have to say goodbye to them so soon. But mostly I know it’s better to have made the memories. And I am so happy I wasn’t the type of person who studied abroad but then hung out with Americans the whole time, drinking in the apartment, going out to the same bars. Bor-ing. Most of the people in my program were like this. It just wasn’t how I wanted to spend my time. I am so glad I spent my last couple weeks with friends around Brisbane. I love Brisbane. I love the people there. I just…love it all.
Highlights:
Italian night at Brad/Jade/Chris’ house. Delicious food, wine, karaoke on the tele. After we all (Mel, Brad, Dan, Az, etc) went out after to the Chalk Hotel, which was a fun place. I swear it was fun. So what I fell asleep in the footy-watching room…I needed a power nap. One day I will go back there after not having a big meal and wine and see how I go.
State of origin, game 2. This night was funny and due to my just completing my final exam that morning, I had a bit too much wine. And let’s just say there was a mop involved this night. Anddd Queensland won. Heck yeah.
Kirra Beach. Lindsey, Candace, and I pretending we were surf lifesavers (let’s disregard the fact that I’ve misplaced the yellow shirt, because all that matters is that I still have that super cute yellow and red cap that I will obviously wear around everywhere! heh.) and driving around all day and walking down to the beach at night and…I felt like I was in high school again but in a good way, like in a carefree, listening to music and being stupid kind of way…it was just so great.
Byron Bay. Finally went on my last day in Australia. Went with the whole crew, including Mel’s boys who crack me up. I really do love kids. I mean, obviously, since people pay me to watch them all day, but I really find them to be hilarious. Kids keep it real, make you remember what is important. Went to the lighthouse and then picnicked and threw the footy ball around on the beach (aka I made one attempt and then decided to stick with taking pictures). It was good fun. That night amidst my stressed out packing, Mel told me I had to go out on my last night, regardless of my 10am flight. Ugh. But, it was a good decision. The night, although I do remember it all, was a hilarious blur of people, and getting to see people I hadn’t been able to say goodbye to like Jordyn and Warren. It was very good times.
---
Waiting for the plane at the airport was weird. I had to fly through Sydney. And it was like a relief, even though it made my travel time longer. It was like an extended goodbye-or rather, ‘see you later’-to Australia.
And then I sat down on my flight to Fiji and the guy next to me, Scott, was headed to the same hostel as me, and had studied at UQ for the past three years, but he was American actually. Anyway, I say this because instead of sitting and stewing in my sadness I had a chatting partner. And this was good. We met up with a couple others on their way back to the States at the hostel and probably ended up staying up too late hanging out, considering I had to be up at 6:30 to catch breakfast and my shuttle to the boat…I woke up at 7am. And the bus came at 7:15. I ran out into the lobby all disoriented and the man is like, “The bus is here, hurry!” Haha so I did. And when you hurry, you forget things ☹. Boo. Hoo. Oh well!
Anyway the way the boat works is you hop on at Port Denarau and it sails all the way up to the tip of the Yasawas, which is Coral View I think. Basically every island has only one resort, and the ones this boat travels to are largely economy type resorts, so lots of backpackers and singles, or just young couples. It was heaps of fun, because mostly everyone was looking to make friends and chat with you. The first island I went to was Waya Lai Lai. I had three nights there. The first few days weren’t the best weather, but. So I was chatting with this girl Sarah the first night I was there and she was reading this thick blue book and I looked and it’s a PADI certification book. So we are chatting and turns out she is doing hers in just a few days. I told her and the instructor, who came over, how I had fractured my sternum in an accident back in April so I had to hold off on diving. Jone, the instructor, said I could put the equipment on in the morning and go into the water and see how I felt and if I felt comfortable breathing, I should go ahead and do the course. So, the next morning, Jack took me out (Jack was such a cutie) and he did the basics with me-clearing the mask and the hand signals, etc. And then we went diving and let me tell you, diving in Fiji was better than the Great Barrier Reef. Just, spectacular. I love how you go down there and you’re just in this whole new world. It just makes all your problems and issues feel so small and insignificant. You know, it’s like, get over it, man. Carry on, make it work--like the fish do. And everything down there runs so smoothly. You don’t see the clownfish at war with the lionfish over oil. Or something. Heh. Although the lionfish definitely would have won, they’re pretty damn big.
So that is basically what I did while I was in Waya Lai Lai. Diving. In the afternoon on Wednesday I ventured the 2-minute walk down the beach into the “village,” which really just consisted of a few dilapidated houses, a church, and a schoolhouse. A couple young boys instantly greeted me. They were delighted when I told them to keep the headband they started trying to grab at that I had wrapped around my wrist. Something so simple. Then, a man named Soro led me into a woman’s home where she and a few other people were sitting. I told her I would love to buy some jewelry from her and she dumped out this huge bag of bracelets and anklets and I picked out a few for me and some friends. Then I told her I’d like a bracelet, and could she make it custom for me? Of course. So I sat and picked out all the beads I wanted, a couple shells, and then some shark teeth and she made me this wonderful Fiji bracelet, complete with a Fiji flag. Soro then insisted that I try their sweet papaya, as I told him I wasn’t too keen on the pawpaw they had at the resort. He was right, their papaya fresh from the tree outside the home was delicious, very sweet. Then he showed me around the rest of the village, which didn’t take very long. We talked about the significance of God and faith to their community, and to most Fijians I suspect. It’s hard to really describe. But you go to a place like that not knowing anything. Can I trust these people? Do they even want me here? Will they understand me? Answers-Yes. Definitely. To a certain extent. They understand the words you speak, but something tells me if you took Soro and plopped him in the middle of America, he wouldn’t understand how Americans can live the way they do. And I’m guilty of every bit of it myself. That’s why talking to him was so eye opening. “That’s why there are so many bad things in this world…people don’t pray to God.” It was really a beautiful moment.
And not that I have become super religious lately, but I do keep having these moments that remind me I need to stay grounded in something bigger than myself, keep the faith a bit better, if you will. I mean, there’s a reason I didn’t leave 1 second earlier than I did the morning of April 7th, and there’s a reason that driver wasn’t in a bigger hurry. The people from Waya Lai Lai know that reason, just like the people at C3 Indooropilly do. And yeah. So on we go…
Other than diving and village visiting, I made a few lovely friends, some from France, some from America or Canada. The first night, wondering what the deal with kava was, I sat down next to one of the resort staff people watching the footy and asked him about it. “You wanna drink some kava?” He took me outside and we sat down with the rest of the resort people and they showed me the traditional way to accept a cup of kava (shoes off, clap once, say ‘Bula,’ drink it all down, then they all clap three times). Kava basically tastes like dirty water. But trust, it’s pretty awesome.
Leaving Waya Lai Lai was bittersweet. It meant leaving a really beautiful place with really beautiful people. But, I had gotten a lot out of the island for three nights. I had my PADI license, something I had long thought was out of reach for my abroad trip, I had seen a personal side of the natives, had tried kava, had done the Bula dance, had said the word “Bula” at least 300 times, had made loads of friends.
Korovou was my next and last stop, and it was also beautiful. Arguably more beautiful and a “nicer” resort amenities-wise, although I was still in a hostel room so that part didn’t much make a difference to me. I didn’t do much except lay in the sun, around the pool and on the beach, and hang out with a new friend I made Chrissy, who was a young doctor from San Diego and a total sweetheart, and Mandy, a French girl my age who was traveling around for a few months. One day we all went fishing, and caught no fish. But Mandy caught a giant piece of coral. We laughed until my sides hurt. I had a really good time talking with people from England and other countries, talking about differences in words and culture and all that sort of stuff. It’s always funny to hear misconceptions and some true perceptions that other countries have of America. I reveled in these conversations because I knew that was my last chance for such discussions for a while.
There are so many other things that happened in this weeklong stopover, but much of it I have documented in my trusty Moleskine. So I will close the Fiji chapter here. It was in the top three of my favorite places I visited while abroad. New Zealand’s in there too, as is Australia, of course =). Clearly, I will never be able to choose an ultimate favorite.
I am so grateful for it all.
I also have not blog-blogged about the whole last week in Brissie. This is gonna be a long blog-blog. Let's go...
I took my politics final June 19th. Then took my biology final the 24th. Checked my grades for my classes the other day. Got a 4 in Aussie Terrestrial. Got a 5 in Aussie Politics. Got a 6 in Aussie Pop Culture. (Translates to a C, B, and an A, if I had been taking the classes for real grades, which I wasn’t.) I am quite pleased with these grades, trust. Considering I probably attended 25% of my lectures all semester.
In between these times there was lots of hanging out and soaking up some last quality time with friends slash even making new friends who quickly started to feel like friends I had had for years for whatever reason. Which is sad in one respect because it’s never fun to find such great people and then have to say goodbye to them so soon. But mostly I know it’s better to have made the memories. And I am so happy I wasn’t the type of person who studied abroad but then hung out with Americans the whole time, drinking in the apartment, going out to the same bars. Bor-ing. Most of the people in my program were like this. It just wasn’t how I wanted to spend my time. I am so glad I spent my last couple weeks with friends around Brisbane. I love Brisbane. I love the people there. I just…love it all.
Highlights:
Italian night at Brad/Jade/Chris’ house. Delicious food, wine, karaoke on the tele. After we all (Mel, Brad, Dan, Az, etc) went out after to the Chalk Hotel, which was a fun place. I swear it was fun. So what I fell asleep in the footy-watching room…I needed a power nap. One day I will go back there after not having a big meal and wine and see how I go.
State of origin, game 2. This night was funny and due to my just completing my final exam that morning, I had a bit too much wine. And let’s just say there was a mop involved this night. Anddd Queensland won. Heck yeah.
Kirra Beach. Lindsey, Candace, and I pretending we were surf lifesavers (let’s disregard the fact that I’ve misplaced the yellow shirt, because all that matters is that I still have that super cute yellow and red cap that I will obviously wear around everywhere! heh.) and driving around all day and walking down to the beach at night and…I felt like I was in high school again but in a good way, like in a carefree, listening to music and being stupid kind of way…it was just so great.
Byron Bay. Finally went on my last day in Australia. Went with the whole crew, including Mel’s boys who crack me up. I really do love kids. I mean, obviously, since people pay me to watch them all day, but I really find them to be hilarious. Kids keep it real, make you remember what is important. Went to the lighthouse and then picnicked and threw the footy ball around on the beach (aka I made one attempt and then decided to stick with taking pictures). It was good fun. That night amidst my stressed out packing, Mel told me I had to go out on my last night, regardless of my 10am flight. Ugh. But, it was a good decision. The night, although I do remember it all, was a hilarious blur of people, and getting to see people I hadn’t been able to say goodbye to like Jordyn and Warren. It was very good times.
---
Waiting for the plane at the airport was weird. I had to fly through Sydney. And it was like a relief, even though it made my travel time longer. It was like an extended goodbye-or rather, ‘see you later’-to Australia.
And then I sat down on my flight to Fiji and the guy next to me, Scott, was headed to the same hostel as me, and had studied at UQ for the past three years, but he was American actually. Anyway, I say this because instead of sitting and stewing in my sadness I had a chatting partner. And this was good. We met up with a couple others on their way back to the States at the hostel and probably ended up staying up too late hanging out, considering I had to be up at 6:30 to catch breakfast and my shuttle to the boat…I woke up at 7am. And the bus came at 7:15. I ran out into the lobby all disoriented and the man is like, “The bus is here, hurry!” Haha so I did. And when you hurry, you forget things ☹. Boo. Hoo. Oh well!
Anyway the way the boat works is you hop on at Port Denarau and it sails all the way up to the tip of the Yasawas, which is Coral View I think. Basically every island has only one resort, and the ones this boat travels to are largely economy type resorts, so lots of backpackers and singles, or just young couples. It was heaps of fun, because mostly everyone was looking to make friends and chat with you. The first island I went to was Waya Lai Lai. I had three nights there. The first few days weren’t the best weather, but. So I was chatting with this girl Sarah the first night I was there and she was reading this thick blue book and I looked and it’s a PADI certification book. So we are chatting and turns out she is doing hers in just a few days. I told her and the instructor, who came over, how I had fractured my sternum in an accident back in April so I had to hold off on diving. Jone, the instructor, said I could put the equipment on in the morning and go into the water and see how I felt and if I felt comfortable breathing, I should go ahead and do the course. So, the next morning, Jack took me out (Jack was such a cutie) and he did the basics with me-clearing the mask and the hand signals, etc. And then we went diving and let me tell you, diving in Fiji was better than the Great Barrier Reef. Just, spectacular. I love how you go down there and you’re just in this whole new world. It just makes all your problems and issues feel so small and insignificant. You know, it’s like, get over it, man. Carry on, make it work--like the fish do. And everything down there runs so smoothly. You don’t see the clownfish at war with the lionfish over oil. Or something. Heh. Although the lionfish definitely would have won, they’re pretty damn big.
So that is basically what I did while I was in Waya Lai Lai. Diving. In the afternoon on Wednesday I ventured the 2-minute walk down the beach into the “village,” which really just consisted of a few dilapidated houses, a church, and a schoolhouse. A couple young boys instantly greeted me. They were delighted when I told them to keep the headband they started trying to grab at that I had wrapped around my wrist. Something so simple. Then, a man named Soro led me into a woman’s home where she and a few other people were sitting. I told her I would love to buy some jewelry from her and she dumped out this huge bag of bracelets and anklets and I picked out a few for me and some friends. Then I told her I’d like a bracelet, and could she make it custom for me? Of course. So I sat and picked out all the beads I wanted, a couple shells, and then some shark teeth and she made me this wonderful Fiji bracelet, complete with a Fiji flag. Soro then insisted that I try their sweet papaya, as I told him I wasn’t too keen on the pawpaw they had at the resort. He was right, their papaya fresh from the tree outside the home was delicious, very sweet. Then he showed me around the rest of the village, which didn’t take very long. We talked about the significance of God and faith to their community, and to most Fijians I suspect. It’s hard to really describe. But you go to a place like that not knowing anything. Can I trust these people? Do they even want me here? Will they understand me? Answers-Yes. Definitely. To a certain extent. They understand the words you speak, but something tells me if you took Soro and plopped him in the middle of America, he wouldn’t understand how Americans can live the way they do. And I’m guilty of every bit of it myself. That’s why talking to him was so eye opening. “That’s why there are so many bad things in this world…people don’t pray to God.” It was really a beautiful moment.
And not that I have become super religious lately, but I do keep having these moments that remind me I need to stay grounded in something bigger than myself, keep the faith a bit better, if you will. I mean, there’s a reason I didn’t leave 1 second earlier than I did the morning of April 7th, and there’s a reason that driver wasn’t in a bigger hurry. The people from Waya Lai Lai know that reason, just like the people at C3 Indooropilly do. And yeah. So on we go…
Other than diving and village visiting, I made a few lovely friends, some from France, some from America or Canada. The first night, wondering what the deal with kava was, I sat down next to one of the resort staff people watching the footy and asked him about it. “You wanna drink some kava?” He took me outside and we sat down with the rest of the resort people and they showed me the traditional way to accept a cup of kava (shoes off, clap once, say ‘Bula,’ drink it all down, then they all clap three times). Kava basically tastes like dirty water. But trust, it’s pretty awesome.
Leaving Waya Lai Lai was bittersweet. It meant leaving a really beautiful place with really beautiful people. But, I had gotten a lot out of the island for three nights. I had my PADI license, something I had long thought was out of reach for my abroad trip, I had seen a personal side of the natives, had tried kava, had done the Bula dance, had said the word “Bula” at least 300 times, had made loads of friends.
Korovou was my next and last stop, and it was also beautiful. Arguably more beautiful and a “nicer” resort amenities-wise, although I was still in a hostel room so that part didn’t much make a difference to me. I didn’t do much except lay in the sun, around the pool and on the beach, and hang out with a new friend I made Chrissy, who was a young doctor from San Diego and a total sweetheart, and Mandy, a French girl my age who was traveling around for a few months. One day we all went fishing, and caught no fish. But Mandy caught a giant piece of coral. We laughed until my sides hurt. I had a really good time talking with people from England and other countries, talking about differences in words and culture and all that sort of stuff. It’s always funny to hear misconceptions and some true perceptions that other countries have of America. I reveled in these conversations because I knew that was my last chance for such discussions for a while.
There are so many other things that happened in this weeklong stopover, but much of it I have documented in my trusty Moleskine. So I will close the Fiji chapter here. It was in the top three of my favorite places I visited while abroad. New Zealand’s in there too, as is Australia, of course =). Clearly, I will never be able to choose an ultimate favorite.
I am so grateful for it all.