Just a heads up, this post will be rather wordy. I just feel as though I have a lot to say.
These past couple weeks have been some what of a turning point for me. After having met so many new people and experiencing situations that have kept me constantly on my toes, I've realised how much I have learnt from this adventure and how much I still have to learn. It's as if I've only had one eye open my entire life, and now I've finally opened the other and can see twice as much. Making the decision to study abroad this semester is probably one of the best things I have and ever will do. I'd even go as far as saying it was worth the tragic trade-offs (which were not of my own choice).
Everyone here has a different story and when you take the time to listen to them, you realise that your tiny bubble back home is exactly that. A tiny bubble. The same routine encounters with the same familiar faces. Your reactions become predictable and that creates comfort within relationships. But when you take that all away, who are you? When you surround yourself with a field of new, unacquainted personalities, you question who you thought you were. Because you don't know if they will laugh at your joke, you don't know if they'll understand your stress, you don't know if you will offend them with a question. It is brand new territory and everyone is creating common ground. And so you wonder then, if you are creating a new you, at the same time. Perhaps. But it all feels rather natural and unforced. It's who you are, here and now. Although, the moment I speak to someone from home, I immediately revert back to person I am, the person I was, living in Brisbane. An automatic, uncontrollable switch triggered by familiar faces.
I don't know where I'm going with this. Maybe nowhere. Maybe to a point where you've just decided to scroll down to my Halloween pictures instead of reading the rest. The law school threw a Halloween party for $30 a ticket at a haunted mansion downtown. There was unlimited food, drinks (shots included), cupcakes and a candy bar all night which I incoherently took advantage of - I found my coat pockets overflowing with chocolate bars the next morning. Amazon, Ebay and ASOS kindly supplied my costume (at a price) for the night, where I was joined by Audrey, Wally, Gumby and even a penguin. I managed to lose my iPhone and toy guns on the night and managed to retrieve only one of them back. Luckily it was my iPhone. On the actual day of Halloween, one of my professors (who is now my favourite), sent two bowls of chocolate around the lecture room during class. Needless to say, that was a good day.
Being here has also made me really appreciate our first world luxuries that we don't even think twice about. Living without a car has left me feeling rather pathetic sometimes as I have to rely on kind help from kind friends who do have cars. I feel like I've given all new meaning to the phrase, 'riding in cars with boys'; trips to the grocery store after school are just overflowing with romance.
Alright, enough words, enjoy my latest photos!
These past couple weeks have been some what of a turning point for me. After having met so many new people and experiencing situations that have kept me constantly on my toes, I've realised how much I have learnt from this adventure and how much I still have to learn. It's as if I've only had one eye open my entire life, and now I've finally opened the other and can see twice as much. Making the decision to study abroad this semester is probably one of the best things I have and ever will do. I'd even go as far as saying it was worth the tragic trade-offs (which were not of my own choice).
Everyone here has a different story and when you take the time to listen to them, you realise that your tiny bubble back home is exactly that. A tiny bubble. The same routine encounters with the same familiar faces. Your reactions become predictable and that creates comfort within relationships. But when you take that all away, who are you? When you surround yourself with a field of new, unacquainted personalities, you question who you thought you were. Because you don't know if they will laugh at your joke, you don't know if they'll understand your stress, you don't know if you will offend them with a question. It is brand new territory and everyone is creating common ground. And so you wonder then, if you are creating a new you, at the same time. Perhaps. But it all feels rather natural and unforced. It's who you are, here and now. Although, the moment I speak to someone from home, I immediately revert back to person I am, the person I was, living in Brisbane. An automatic, uncontrollable switch triggered by familiar faces.
I don't know where I'm going with this. Maybe nowhere. Maybe to a point where you've just decided to scroll down to my Halloween pictures instead of reading the rest. The law school threw a Halloween party for $30 a ticket at a haunted mansion downtown. There was unlimited food, drinks (shots included), cupcakes and a candy bar all night which I incoherently took advantage of - I found my coat pockets overflowing with chocolate bars the next morning. Amazon, Ebay and ASOS kindly supplied my costume (at a price) for the night, where I was joined by Audrey, Wally, Gumby and even a penguin. I managed to lose my iPhone and toy guns on the night and managed to retrieve only one of them back. Luckily it was my iPhone. On the actual day of Halloween, one of my professors (who is now my favourite), sent two bowls of chocolate around the lecture room during class. Needless to say, that was a good day.
Being here has also made me really appreciate our first world luxuries that we don't even think twice about. Living without a car has left me feeling rather pathetic sometimes as I have to rely on kind help from kind friends who do have cars. I feel like I've given all new meaning to the phrase, 'riding in cars with boys'; trips to the grocery store after school are just overflowing with romance.
Alright, enough words, enjoy my latest photos!
Jess and Bella as the best zombies I've ever seen.
Wally creeping up behind Charlotte.
Sara and I with the ever so cute butterfly, Nilin,
Andrew the penguin with poor vision.
Fred Flinstone! Aka Vincent.
Teresa and I with Raoul Duke from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Aka Jacopo.
GUESS WHO.
My girls!
Roomies
MC Hammer (Akele) and Nurse Zombie (Jess)
One of our professors for our "Intro to US Law" class invited the entire class for dinner at her house. She told us to carpool, not realising the entire class is made up of international students with no cars -_-'
We all caught the metro and had another professor pick us up in his 7-seater. We got 12 passengers in.
Mandatory food photo - Maria turned 21 last week, so we celebrated at Pi Pizza (the best pizza I've had here) see here http://www.restaurantpi.com
Law school severely suppresses creativity, so Sara and I created a sign for Bella's surprise birthday party.
Bella! While everyone was setting up for her surprise birthday party, we took her to the cinema to see Rebel Wilson's new movie, 'Pitch Perfect' only to find out they had stopped screening it that VERY day. After stalling in Walgreens (a pharmacy/supermarket) across the road, we finally decided to head to the shopping mall to kill time.
One of the ways we killed time in the mall.
At Bella's birthday party.
Amongst the sultry surrounds of Brennan's wine bar after the party.
Veronica, Bella, Yuri, Jacopo, Jaran & I.
