Saying Goodbye: A Story of Denial

I returned from Melbourne ready to make the most of my last week in Australia. Monday was Alex's birthday, so the roommates had one last roommie dinner together and I made mexican eggs! Everyone had exams they were still studying for, so it was an early night, but it was still great to just sit in the village and hang out. For the first time in weeks I could catch my breath!

Tuesday was all about the logistics of leaving. I packed almost my entire room, closed my bank account, and started to really organize. I spent a lovely evening out with friends and had yet another round of goodbyes.

On Wednesday, Wayne, Courtney, and I went into the city. We started out at Patty's Market for souvenirs and shopping, and then made our way over the Darling Harbour where we went to the Wildlife Park. The Wildlife Park is like a small zoo in the middle of the city, filled with animals found in Australia. They have koalas, kangaroos, snakes, tasmanian devils, and massive bugs, to name a few. The koalas were actually awake and eating when we were there! Such great timing!

So CUTE

 There was hardly anyone else in the park and we had a great time seeing all the animals. One of the coolest was a massive crocodile which you could see through glass into the tank. It was certainly terrifying! Before I came my mom's one warning was that Australia wouldn't stop be from killing myself jumping out of plans are being eaten by crocs. I believed why when I saw this guy!

Afterwards I had a couple hours to kill before I met a group of ALICE friends at Pancakes (where else?). I decided to walk down to Circular Quay and sit in the starbucks there. Luckily, I'd brought my journal with me so I had a nice chunk of time to write.

As I was writing I realized how much of a city girl I've become since living here. I never in a million years wanted to live in a major city for an extended period of time, but now that I've been here I could see myself spending my whole life in a city. Who knows what will happen, but I'm glad I've opened myself up to so many more options.

Pancakes!

Pancakes was wonderful, as always. There were 12 or so of us and we sat there for hours catching up since the show and laughing over memories. I stuffed myself, as always, and soaked in the time before the goodbyes started again.

Even though there were so many people there who I've come to really adore, the goodbyes followed so closely behind all of the laughter that they didn't feel too sad, but celebratory of all the great moments we've had. And that's how the rest of my goodbyes continued for the rest of the week.

On Thursday the packing continued, as well as the first major catch up on blogs (4 this week!). I grabbed lunch on campus with the lovely Steph and Stevie and then Stevie and I ran to the mac center for some errands and a marvelous Max Brenner Chocolate Bar date!

Me and Stevie :)

Stevie has been one of my closest Australian friends. She's always quick to remind me that going home doesn't mean goodbye, and that I need to keep looking forward for the next great adventure. Her wonderful wisdom and the new hug mug I have from her will definitely help me get through my first few weeks back in Ohio. I'm so lucky to have met such a witty and fabulous friend. Hopefully her and Joshy will get Alice to Broadway in time for me to debut Queen of Hearts ;)

Well played, Macquarie.

That night Courtney and I hung out for ages, reminiscing about our semester together and reflecting on how far we've come. It was a sad night as I finished packing my bags. Even though we'll see each other so soon, it didn't feel right to be leaving without her, especially since she's been with me since the very first flight over. All great things come to an end, but thank goodness our friendship will continue.

Friday was quite the extensive day! Alex, Ella, Courtney and I went to the Pylon lookout on the Harbour Bridge for one last great view of the harbour.

Ella, Me and Alex 

I will never have enough pictures of this beauty

Courtney and I then took an epic run (okay, insanly fast power walk) across the city to grab Thai food (it is really unbelievable in Sydney) before running back to Town Hall for the 3 hour walking tour of Sydney. A few other villagers met us on the tour which was very interesting and gave a lot of the history. Connor, Courtney and I then went to the Sky Tower for a nighttime view and a 4-D video experience of Sydney. It was quite the tourist day, and the perfect last day in the city I fell so in love with.

I napped a bit on the train ride home, and again when I was back in the village, and then began the all nighter. Friends from the village stopped in every so often to say goodbye, while Wayne, Alex, Ella, Tina, Courtney, Caitlin and I all did our best to stay up until I left for the airport the next morning. We played "nouns" (a game sort of like charades) and water pong, went on an ice cream run, and talked for hours as I came in and out, slowly cleaning my room and organizing my things. Wayne Caitlin and I were the only three left and we watched HSM as the sky started to lighten. Everyone was back in the morning, however, for my last big round of goodbyes. It was hard leaving my roommates knowing I wouldn't be back on Monday like I normally am. I lucked out with my roommates and made amazing friendships with them. Hopefully it wasn't really a goodbye, and only a see you later.

Roomies <3

The brave 6am souls

Logan was kind enough to drive me to the airport so I wouldn't have to haul my luggage (my very heavy luggage) through the train station. My last car ride through the city was pleasant, and I was cheery as I walked into the airport. I got through to my gate without any issues, and I slept the first 10 hours of my flight (besides waking up for food). I got to LA, through customs, and to my gate with plenty of time to spare, and made it all the way home without a hitch. The thing about saying goodbye, is that it doesn't seem to register as it's happening. I wasn't upset about saying goodbye to Stevie until hours later, I wasn't upset about Alice ending until the next day. Who knows when it will really hit me that I've left the most incredible experience of my life so far.

A dreary Sydney, saying goodbye.

Until then, I've got a suitcase full of tim tams, and quite a few adventures awaiting me this summer.

All My Love,

Bethany

Playing Tourist

I was lucky enough to spend the next few nights in the city with my parents. Waking up in Circular Quay with the Opera House just outside your window is quite the experience. Tuesday was a spectacular day and we decided to do the bridge climb! The Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb takes you all the way to the top of the bridge on a three hour tour where you learn about the bridge itself as well as the city below. I've wanted to do the climb for ages, and it was a perfect activity to share with my parents. We had perfect weather and I learned so much!

Super Attractive Jump Suits!

After a bit of a rest and lunch in Circular Quay we walked through China Town, through the Chinese Friendship Gardens, and up to Surry Hills for dinner.

Chinese Friendship Gardens

With my parents I was half tourist, half local as I know the city well, but not entirely,  and I could explain a lot about culture and life in Oz, but still left many of their questions unanswered. It was fun to play tourist and explore a new side of Sydney, with nice restaurants included! We had amazing chinese food in Surry Hills--one of the best meals I'd had in Australia, and we were lucky enough to have Mary and Courtney join us! It was also my first american goodbye! Mary was leaving the next morning and I wouldn't be able to see her off. I can't wait to come visit her in Seattle!

Final Goodbyes!

Wednesday morning my dad and I woke up exceptionally early and found our way up to the harbour bridge to watch the sunrise. Although it started out a little cloudy, it was beautiful to see the light touch the Opera House for the first time as Sydneysiders walk, drove, and biked across the bridge for work.

After awhile we came back down and picked up mom on the way to Pancakes before heading to the Zoo! The Taronga Zoo is a short ferry ride through the harbour. Half the zoo is fairly normal, and the other half is Australian animals. We planned poorly and ended up being rained on almost the entire time we were there, but it was still cool to see all the Australian animals!

As the weather cleared we made our way back across the harbour to the Opera House for the hourly tour. I loved hearing the story behind the Opera House, and we even got a taste of a performance as the Sydney Orchestra was rehearsing when we walked through. We stopped at the Opera Bar after for wine and cheese, and I think my dad has finally converted me to loving red wine. For dinner we got amazing sea food at Fish at the Rocks. It was so wonderful spending so much time with my parents and really appreciating all Sydney has to offer from the moment I woke up every day.

On Thursday my parents flew back to the states as Courtney and I flew down to Melbourne for one last weekend of traveling together in Oz. Armed with a LONG list of what proved to be excellent recommendations from friends, I was thrilled for a fun weekend.

Waiting in another airport!

 When we got off the airport shuttle in the center of the city we realised we had absolutely no idea where we were going. We had a tiny map, and the name of our hostel, but not much else. Courtney and I are both fairly responsible, but between the semester ending, Alice, me being with my parents, and everything else going on, neither of us had gotten our itinerary nor looked anything up.

Lost Before We Began!

Luckily, we're used to flying by the seat of our pants and making things work, so after making a few calls and walking through the city in the rain, we finally found our hostel. My days are never boring when Court is there! We then walked around the city some more after dropping out stuff off before heading to bed.

The next day we woke up nice and early for the Great Ocean Road tour. We were picked up in a tiny bus for an all day trip on the coast of Victoria. We stopped several times, and on one of our stops we saw Koalas in the wild! Another bucket list item checked off :) We also went to the Twelve Apostles and several other gorgeous places along the ocean (hence, great ocean road). When we got back we went to China Town for dumplings and explored more of the city!

Great Ocean Road!

The Twelve Apostles

What a cutie!

Saturday morning we went over to the Queen Victoria Markets which happened to be right behind our hostel! We shopped around a bit for souvenirs and then bought some fruit (see mom! I didn't just live on peanut butter!). We then walked to Federation Square and went to the Hollywood Costumes exhibit at the Australian Center for the Moving Image. It was a fantastic exhibit with costumes ranging from Titanic to the most recent Batman as well as interviews with costume designers and directors, and explanations of famous costume pieces from designers and actors. ACMI is a wonderful place to visit in Melbourne and is surrounded by numerous art galleries, museums, and shops. After we walked over to the water and ate lunch on a bench, and had a nice black swan try to join in!

No food for you!

Train Station <3

In the afternoon we took a 3 hour walking tour of the city. Our guide was a bubbly University of Melbourne student and we learned so much about the fascinating city. We also found out they offer the tours in Sydney, so I think we might do one during my last week!

Street Art in Melbourne

Our tour guide even directed us to a shopping area so we could go boot shopping! I'd spent the previous couple of days wearing my Toms, which had lost all traction, were ripping considerably, and soaked through at the sight of water. It was time for a new pair of shoes. Luckily, I found a great pair of boots!

 Happy with my purchase we made our way to Lygon St for Italian. We split a pasta and pizza dish, which was a big deal because Courtney hates sharing food, and then we had a Nutella Pizza. Crust, Nutella, Strawberries, and ice cream. Amazing. We walked to Brunswick St after dinner and found a brewery which happened to have a 7 piece band playing so we sipped on ciders and enjoyed the rest of our evening.

Sunday we headed to St. Kilda's for a relaxed day by the beach. We happened upon a wonderful market when we first arrived and had a splendid time looking through all the new goodies! Now that we've seen enough markets in Sydney things start to repeat there, but this was a new city with new surprises at the markets. Even though it was a bit rainy (welcome to Melbourne!) we made the best of it and walked out along the pier to stop for some hot chocolate at the end.

We then went on a mission to find Acland St for the famous cake shops! However, we didn't quite know where we were going, so we walked in the wrong direction on Acland street for ...oh... 45 minutes before we realised we had a phone with internet access and could look up the address for one of the cake shops! 

Once we finally found the right part of Acland street we walked up and down it for hours, buying desserts, stopping for food, window shopping, and having a fantastic time.

Exhausted  we started back to the city and decided to go to one of the malls. The mall happened to have a movie theater and we gave in to our semester long protest against $20 movie tickets and saw The Great Gatsby. It was pretty good, but the strangest part was sitting in a theatre and having a moment where I genuinely thought I was back in the states at the theater near my house. It all seemed too American to be in another country. I think that was when I started to really think about coming home.

Struggling in the Rain

Melbourne was another incredible weekend well spent traveling. I am so lucky to have found my perfect travel buddy, and even luckier that when I go home, Courtney will only be a 20 minute drive down the road. She has been my best friend in this country, and I can't wait to see what adventures we get into when we're back in the states. There's just something about that Northeast Ohio blood...

One week left!
Bethany

Time and Change Will Surely Show How Firm Thy Friendship OHIO

I Am The Queen of Hearts!

#queenofcoldhearts

To round out the year, there was a goodbye dinner with all of the globalinks students from all across Sydney. We met at the Art House downtown and had a great evening reconnecting with a lot of people we'd become friends with over the semester. I even met a fellow Ohio State student! It was about time. Our program coordinator also asked a few of us to give a small toast/roast about our university, and I was picked to do the one for Macquarie. On the train ride up, Courtney, Mary and I came up with what I was going to say, and it was a great time to reminisce about all the hilarious antics everyone had gotten themselves into over the semester. I came over with an eclectic and crazy group that never fails to make me laugh!

Globalinks!

After the dinner, I made my way down to Circular Quay to meet up with fellow cast members at Vivid! Vivid is a massive lights/image show in Circular Quay, Darling Harbour, and the Warf. It's put on in Winter as a way to get people into the city even when it's cold. The displays are on buildings, created especially for the event, and, my favorite, projected on the Opera House!

Vivid on the Opera House

It goes for over a week and is a must see. And I had the added bonus of getting a ride home in a car (literally, aussie friends are the best) and the double added bonus of getting quite the tour of the city as we got lost along the way. But we had so much FUN! :)

having FUN!

Wednesday of that week was student night and the first night of our second weekend of Alice! A huge group of my closest friends came to see me and we had a great audience (although I may be biased!).

Love you guys!

I had a lot of visitors that weekend support me in Alice, and I'm so grateful to each and every one of them. Having someone in the audience for me has always made my performances that much better while I'm on stage, and rewarding after the curtain closes.

Before the show

Intermission silliness

Post show shenanigans were as wonderful as ever, and I was even introduced to Cards Against Humanities (a welcomed change from more maccas!). I could not be more in love with my cast. Every day of the show meant endless hugs, laughs, and jokes, and every day without the show meant way too much time talking to each other on facebook. There's nothing quite like a cast that becomes a family.

Jo (Hare) and I <3

Friday morning I woke up bright and early to finish my two final papers before my parents arrived! I'd had something major due every day that week, on top of the show, and there were 4000 words between me and senior year! Luckily (for me at least!) my parents were delayed a couple of hours, so I finished just in time to rapidly clean my apartment and shower before they were ready to be picked up from their hotel! Alex was awesome enough to drive me over to get them, and then I took my parents on the grand tour of my apartment, the village, campus, and the Mac center. Before the show we stopped by the infamous party on the green in the village and I got to spend a few minutes with all the villagers I hadn't seen in ages.

Roomies! at the Green

Queen of Hearts Poster!

Emma doing my makeup

It was so nice to see my parents for the first time in almost four months! They seemed pretty jet lagged, but they were excited to see me as well. The best part was they were coming to see Alice that night (and the following two!). I LOVE having my parents in the audience. I have never been satisfied with a performance until I get their opinions on it. There is something about the supportive honesty they give that lets me know whether I'm actually any good or not.

Scarlett (Alice) and I with our Capes!

Emily, Daniel, Me, and Kathryn!

Each night my parents met more of my friends and were quite the hit, as the audience members to travel the longest distance! After the first show they were at I got a wonderful present- a big box of Buckeyes from Malleys Chocolate. I was ecstatic! Nothing like my parents bringing me a little taste of home. Friday night I also had friends from other uni's come to see the show!





On Saturday we went into town and visited the Sydney Sea Life Aquarium in Darling Harbour. The aquarium was excellent. I especially loved the dugongs, which are sort of like manatees. We then walked over to a nice place in Darling Harbour for dinner and I tried kangaroo for the first time--not bad! Soon enough it was time for me to head back to uni for another wonderful night of Alice, and another fantastic night after Alice!

Dugongs! So cute.

Sunday morning my parents and I ventured back into the city and they checked into their hotel for the second half of the week-- the Park Hyatt on Circular Quay. We then ventured to Glebe because I was keen to buy a necklace I'd been thinking about since I first saw it a month or so prior. It's Alice themed and quite lovely. However, when we got there I realised Glebe markets were only open on Saturdays. It was quite the fail considering the long trek I'd taken my parents on through the city on foot. We made the best of it, however, and got brunch at a local cafe before shopping in a few of the boutiques!

Emma in our "dressing room"

Scarlett and I

Closing night of Alice was that night, and I was terribly sad to see the show go. I'd spent the prior two weeks refusing to admit or talk about the fact that the show would come to an end. The end of Alice meant the end of Australia was following very closely afterwards. The show that night was amazing. Everyone was giving it their all, and leaving absolutely everything they had on the stage. We were playing off each other with a new sense of ease and the audience was eating it up.

I am the Queen of Hearts!

I certainly gave it my all, and as the final number was ending and we sang the last lyrics to the show "and now the tale is done" I sang to my director in the audience, and a few tears might've run down my face. Only to be increased as I peered through the curtains during bows and saw my parents give a standing ovation to each and every cast member. I could not believe they had come all this way just to see their baby girl on stage once again. I could not believe I was taking my last bow in the Lighthouse Theatre. I could not believe I was saying goodbye to the Queen of Hearts already.

Ashley and Josh came to see Alice!

Emma, and Todd and I goofing off

Alice became so much more than some show I auditioned for in some society I participated in while I was abroad. Alice became the family I will always have on the other side of the world. My cast spent countless rehearsals explaining everything Australian to me, bringing me new chocolates to try, and debating word pronunciations. They answered all of my questions, no matter how stupid, and always kept me giggling at theirs. They even all spent several hours trying to teach me how to phonetically say the word "no" the exact way Stevie says it. I finally did it, and ran around the theater saying "NO!" to everything like a 2 year old, to much congratulations.

#incharacter

 They gave me a space to really assimilate myself in, and become an honorary aussie (an-hon-aussie, as Stevie would say!). There is really something about theatre people that can not be beat. They're unlike any other group, and I've been so blessed to have been taken in by such a brilliant and kind cast. They all came into my journey at the perfect time, and going to rehearsals kept me moving and smiling even when life got tough this semester. Most of them will never know the extent their impact has had on me, but they all will know that anytime any of them is in the states to give me a call, because it can't be goodbye, only see you later.

After the show we did speeches and presents. I got a Queen of Hearts sweatshirt from Emma, quite a few wonderful cards, heart earbuds, and an awesome queen bracelet!

My new favorite sweatshirt! 

Next we went to Maccas (where else?) and then a cast members house to spend the night. We were up all night talking and laughing around the campfire, and I was soaking in all the in-jokes and show references I could. We woke up bright and early and had another maccas stop before going back to the theatre for bump-out. This is when we strike set and put the theater back together after the show.

After party

Then the goodbyes started... Emma, who became one of my best friends this semester, was leaving for holiday in London that evening, and stopped by the theater to say goodbye to me. I've said goodbye to tons of people since then, Americans and Australians, people I know I'll most likely never see again in this life, and people who I'll most likely see again in the states, but this first remains the hardest I've had to do.

Emma has driven me everywhere, been there to talk to at all hours of the day, and always knows the perfect playlist to put on no matter my mood. I can not believe someone I became friends with just a month before could already give me a look and it was like she'd just planted a novel into
my brain. True friends are few and far between, but thank goodness they exist around the world too. Somehow, as Stevie, Emma and I hugged for one last time, I knew we'd be together again. I don't know what country or what year it'll be, but to know it'll happen at some point is enough.

Love,

Queen Beth

Photo cred to Michael Twomey, Sophie Nyssen, Jo Finnis, Courtney Werner, Wayne Gross