And she's far far away..

Byeeeee Australia :(

Wow. I can't believe I'm back in the USA already.

It so doesn't feel like I spent the last 3.5 months in a foreign (and totally amazing) country. It's only been 2 days and I miss it (and certain important people) like crazy already.

This is also the final blog entry (I can tell y'all are heartbroken) seeing as it's called "Ish's Aussie adventures" so writing more while back home would kinda defeat the purpose.

Anyhow, here's what I got up to the last 4 days of my cross continental adventure...

-New song obsession.. heard it while shopping and think it's hilarious. Get it Willow Smith :)

-Played Billy Luu at pool on Monday. He won 2 of 3 and therefore deserves a shoutout :)

-Went to this cute little place called Grandma's bar with G, Lil, and B, which is like a hole in the wall place with toastie sandwiches and unique cocktails. (note- "unique" doesn't always mean delicious) It was a cute place tho and right up the street from PhD.

^G stole my drink^

^Thank you for photobombing this Billy... not.^

-Aced my final exam for cinema. Granted it was open note and took me all of 45 min to complete but what does one expect from a study abroad program.. an education? Get real.

-Spent the day with Kayla on Tuesday. We decided to eat in Avalon where there happened to be freak 150 mph winds (ok maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but it tore up our hair like it was) so we rush picked a restaurant to get out of the weather. Turned out to be the most random/ not tasty lunch ever. We were both VERY unimpressed. Constantly pleasantly surprised by how amazingly well I get along with Kayla tho, she= awesome :)

:)

-Made up for the horrible meal by gorging ourselves an hour later on Max Brenner. Standard behavior.

^why don't we have white chocolate chai here?!?^

-Ate with G. at this restaurant called Pump House. His food was literally neon yellow and both of our dishes were extremely questionable. Needless to say we won't be returning for another meal there.

^questionable meal @pumphouse^

-Wandered around Darling Harbour for the last time with G. and re-lived my head slamming incident when we passed the spot on the sidewalk. Ahh memories.

-Met Mama Carbert. She is an amazing woman and reminds me so much of my grandpa it's not even funny. She is also hysterically funny so I can see why she's G's favorite. I have now met the entire clan basically and can safely say I adore every one of them!

-Managed to get all my stuff into my 2 suitcases/ carryon without being overweight. Not entirely sure how this was possible but I have no issue with it.

-Ate with a lovely group at GPO's tapa's bar called Postales. Was so delicious! It was even better watching Sassycakes try so hard to understand the share plates. Apparently the Shire doesn't do tapas :)

-Said goodbye to lily and my most favorite person. Was so heartbreaking.

^Miss this already^

-Am now the owner of a stuffed Koala named Nellie. G thinks it has creepy eyes. I disagree.

-Ate breakfast my last morning with G at this cute place called Ripples right under the Harbour bridge. Was a perfect last day and even got to talk to Chrissy during the meal to say goodbye. Love him!

-Sat in front of a GLEE club.. yes, a GLEE club on the 14 hr flight back to the states. They literally didn't stop talking/ singing once. I wanted to die.

Reflecting back on my time in Oz here are some conclusions I've reached...

*I hate vegemite (Sorry G.. but you already knew this... nothing will ever top PB&J..nothing!)

*I will miss this place like none other

*I need to come back if for no other reason besides the fact that I have been here twice and still haven't experienced a true Aussie summer. Damn.

*You can buy 13 pairs of shoes without going over the baggage allowance for Qantas. Yeee!

*I missed the environment of NM even less than I originally expected.

*Sydney > Melbourne

*Koalas are not friendly creatures apparently. This is disappointing since I just want to hold them baby style at all times.

*Australia needs to experience Hot Cheetos. PRONTO

*Being on "holiday" = best excuse to get fat for a semester

*Sydney is scarily similar to SF, but with better accents and more sunshine.

*I am now officially a Bourbon and coke drinker.

*New girl is the best show ever. Totally Hysterical.

*AU needs a country music station. BADLY.

*I will be back. See y'all in the spring (give or take 6 months) so GET READYYY :)