Things I Am Going To Miss

Despite my first final looming at 1:50pm tomorrow, I can't help but think of all the things I am going to miss about Sydney.

When I first arrived, I didn't know anyone, had an empty apartment, quiet days and nights, and an insignificant knowledge of the city. While this may seem like a horrible situation for some, it was possibly my favorite time of my trip. Due to my jetlag, I was up early and off exploring the city, the beaches and the people. I remember wandering down to Darling Harbour and walking in the rain through the Rocks to Circular Quay and up to the QVB. Or, another day I walked from the university to Bondi Beach exploring the different suburbs in between. Learning an exciting new city on foot was the best decision I made whilst being here. For me, being able to be on your own, travel and be comfortable doing it is an important ability to possess. Now, granted I have been to Sydney before but I had never been on my own in Sydney- constantly being surrounded by family and friends, never being taken out of a comfort zone, does not allow one to truly learn and experience a city.

Besides the exploring aspect of my trip, I will truly miss the social aspect. Obviously, it was exciting to meet new people and experience different nightclubs, music and party cultures. Australia is definitely in a league of its own when it comes to partying- it resembles the Euro nightlife with a bit more sophistication. More than just going out, I enjoyed reacquainting myself with family. Us American Wallach/Melvilles are not as close with family as we should be given where we live compared to the rest of the family. It is hard to see some cousins close with others solely because they have grown up together. While being here, it felt good to be in the family loop and not feel like an outsider or visitor like I typically do when we visit Sydney. Being able to share time with Miriam, Emma, Laila and Jordy has been just as fun for me as meeting the new friends that I have gained here. More than that, I enjoyed visiting Aunty Kathy and chatting with her for an hour here and there about nothing in particular. Just being able to have frequent conversations with family is nothing that I have experienced before. I feel like I know Brian and Susie on a whole other level now as well. I mean, Dad is not going to be happy when Brian sends him the bill with all the charges I acrued in the past 5 months but it was totally worth it!

Work. I will miss everything about my 5 month internship with Cirqulate Publicity. The clothes, the magazines and most importantly, the girls! To this day, I get excited walking up to King Street to catch the bus to Beaconsfield to go to work. The fact that each day brings something different to the showroom is refreshing compared to the monotonous work that is school. Not only have I deepened my love for fashion and PR, but I have (I believe) created lifelong friends that I will always keep in touch with. This 5 month position has taught me more about myself and my future than any experience I have had before. The fashion industry is not the superficial, materialistic world that I once thought it was- there is a lot of hard work, writing and research that goes in to each aspect of it. Besides having an interest in law, this job has taught me that journalism (especially fashion journalism) might be a good career path for me and something that I consider for my future.

School. Now, while I do not agree with most aspects of school, I truly love learning. Sydney Uni has taught me so much in one semester that I feel I have missed out on with my 3 years at Davis. For example, my environmental politics course has made me want to pursue a degree in environmental policy and maybe even environmental law. I would have never been able to take such a course at Davis due to my lack of experience in scientific courses such as chemisty and biology. More than this, experiencing a new culture of learning and teaching has taught me to appreciate my education more than I ever have. Being able to go abroad and study has taught me how important education is on a global level. Obviously I had known that knowledge is the most valuable possession one can have but, seeing it's value in another country solidified that fact. Knowledge and education is universal and with it, one can truly go anywhere in life. More than all this, the students and the schooling system at Sydney Uni has shown me that education in the US is far inferior to what this country has.

These are just a few specific things that I can think of at the moment that I will greatly miss after leaving. I believe this trip has really made me mature- I believe I have become less anxious, more accepting and more responsible for myself. I know I wanted to believe that I was an adult before I left and I was, to some extent, but I am even more so now. I have adopted the Australian laid-back lifesytle and believe in just going with the flow more than ever!

I think it is about time for me to wrap up my cliched feelings about my time here and the experiences I have had. As I think of more aspects of Sydney that I will miss, I will post them. Also, this is just a good outlet to get away from all the studying that has yet to be done!

I love and miss everyone at home! 13 days until I see all your gorg faces!
xx