Looking back at my amazing time in Sydney

Advice

I’ll start off by saying, some of the best advice I received during my trip was given to me on my first day of class by Kate, the director of IES Abroad in Sydney. She told us to try new things and to not get stuck in the loop of comparing new experiences to old ones. Instead of comparing, Kate said that we should think of our experiences with the mindset of, “it’s not better, it’s not worse, it’s just different.” At first, I did not put much thought into those words, but as my time in Sydney passed, I began to realize the value which they held. Without this in the back of my mind, I would have not given Vegemite a second chance and would have not tried it again. Surprisingly I grew to love it so much by the end of my trip that I actually brought some back with me.

My advice would be to try something new every day and not be afraid to get out of your comfort zone every once in a while. It doesn’t have to be something big, it can be a new coffee shop or a new pastry at a nice bakery. I knew that I wanted to do/try something new every day so I chose something I loved that I knew would make me feel good if I was having a bad day or make a good day better, I had boba. At first, I went to all the locations around me and after I had gone to every cafe I returned to my favorite ones and tried different flavors. I was known for my “Boba of the day” snaps, and all of my friends came to me for recommendations of places for different types of teas and boba.

Without exploring and trying new things we would have never found one of the coolest bars that held a trivia night hosted by a hilarious drag queen. I also would have probably never tried kangaroo or crocodile, which turned out to be quite delicious. Looking back, I would most likely not have gone scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef since I a tend to freak out in confined spaces, but I told myself “when will you ever get the chance again.” I took the leap and it is now one of my most cherished memories.

Scuba Diving at the Great Barrier Reef

Things I miss I can’t believe that the program is over, the five weeks really flew by. I find that I miss all the little things the most, like getting a $5 pork roll from down the street after class as a quick lunch so I could finish writing my essay. I also miss my favorite barista that would start my morning off right before class by giving me some of the best coffee I have ever had. I miss going next door and watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine while everyone ate dinner, and everyone coming together Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm to watch the Bachelor (we are rooting for you Brooke!). I miss the late night runs to Coles to buy Tim-Tams so we could have snacks for when we played Cards Against Humanity. Looking back at everything that happened these past five weeks, the best thing wasn’t the places I visited, or the things I learned in class, or even the new food I’ve tried. The best thing that came out of this awesome adventure was the new friendships I made. Without them, the class excursions and the trips we took wouldn’t have been as much fun as they were. Going into this program I wasn’t particularly close to anyone but by the end, I had met a great group of people that I actually bonded with and I am now lucky to call them my friends.

Last day spent at the Taronga Zoo