So, so much has happened in so little time. My friends are making it very painful to think about leaving them to return to America. The town of Warrnambool and everyone that I have met here will forever hold a piece of my heart.
This past week Deakin held a "de-stress" day to alleviate some of the pain of exams, and apparently baby farm animals are a crucial de-stressing tool.
Also, maybe you shouldn't hold the lambs, Georgia, they might poo on you...
On Thursday night, we had an International Farewell Dinner. The dinner theme was "Thanksgiving." I was a bit skeptical about how the Aussies would do Thanksgiving, but you exceeded my expectations. Kate put a lot of work in to get the cafe looking this amazing! We had some live entertainment from the Indian Chief Hashtag Benwatson and they showed a slideshow of pictures of us international students throughout the dinner. I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but Stacey wouldn't stop looking at me, and Jared had to message me "Have fun at the dinner <3" and the floodgates were open.
The two food tests I implemented for Australia to pass Thanksgiving were corn and pumpkin pie. I will admit, it was no "home-grown Amish sweetcorn" like I get back home from the cute Amish boy... but it was still pretty good! And most of my Aus friends had never had pumpkin pie. Although it was square, and obviously not homemade, it was still delicious! And you get an A+ on presentation!
That night was a rowdy one for everyone on res. Dry period started yesterday...so it was our last uni night. Some of us attempted "Centurion" (100 "shots" in 100 minutes) but I wimped out at like 38. We ended up at the Shan until close, listening to the live music then made our way to the Gal. It was a pretty chill, fun night filled with all the people that I love to be with. Jared, Jake, and I ended the night with Neapolitan ice cream and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Not a bad ending, I'd say!
On Friday Sarah, Jacinta, Emily, and I went to see Maleficent which was so badass. Angelina Jolie gets 7/10 stars for that role. Also, we have some pretty birdies living right outside our house!
Saturday Jacinta had netball, then her, Sarah, and I got lunch and ate it at Logan's Beach where the whales will migrate past. We didn't get to see any whales, but there were a ton of surfers out that day which I could watch forever. One surfer had a golden retriever who would run up to him every time he caught a wave in and jump in the waves, then when he'd paddle back out, the doggy would run back up on the sand and wait. I couldn't not go pet him, so I walked all the way down to pet him for a bit.
And now we arrive at the story of how Alix is an Airhead.
It all began when Jacinta told us that her parents would be in Mount Gambier that weekend and was going to go meet them. She asked Sarah and I if we wanted to tag along and meet her parents. I agreed, but I wasn't completely sure if I wanted to go. On Saturday morning, I asked Jacinta and Sarah what the plan for the day was because I enjoy knowing at least a little bit how my day is going to go. She said she wasn't sure because "her mom's not good at communicating things." So I messaged my mom saying that "today is going to be a long day because I don't know the plan and that makes me really anxious, blah blah blah" and she told me to "go with the flow."
It came time to leave and Jacinta tells me that her parents had decided to camp and that I should pack stuff to be prepared to stay the night. So I do that and we go to put it all in the car and Sarah asks Cinta to open the boot, but Cinta says the boot's "broken." At this, I was like WTH but dismissed it because whatever, it's not my car right?
So we're driving along, the whole time, I'm thinking we're on our way to see Cinta's parents. We turn down this long road and start seeing some campers. We pass one camper and Sarah says "Hmm does that look like your mum, Jacinta?" "Nooo nevermind, that's not her..." We keep going and I see Jared, Jake, Owen, and Gemma at a campsite and say "Hey they're camping here too! We should go say hi later!" To that Sarah replies, "So we lied to you, we are actually camping with them!"
I truly had no idea and am still in shock that apparently this had been planned out over the last couple of weeks under a facebook message group entitled "Shhhh this is a secret." I'm quite impressed that no one let anything slip and that I didn't suspect anything at all. You are all such beautiful amazing people, thank you so so so so much for doing this for me. Especially you, Jared.
These sneaky little gits. :)
Magic Tent of Cuddles.
I took on the responsibility of building the fire. I learned it all from watching dad and Uncle Dave build the fires when we used to go camping! I tried my best to track down Aussie foods to replicate a s'more and I think that I did a pretty good job! They seemed to like them :)
Regardless of the fact that they were all freezing in clothes, the boys (Tim, Jared, Daniel, Owen, and Jake) decided that crossing the waist-deep part of the river to swim in the ocean was a good idea. Gemma and I stayed behind and tried our hardest to not steal their clothes and run. Sometimes I wonder what goes through boys' heads.
By this time, it was probably only 10:00 and we were all tired so we sat around the fire talking. Timmy and Jake ended up getting into a very heated argument about Twilight and whether vampires or werewolves were better. Timmy was pro werewolves and Jake was pro vampire. At one point, I believe I heard Jake yell, "Are you super strong, super fast, AND SUPER SPARKLY!?" I will hand it to Timmy though, he even referenced the movies and talked about keeping Bella warm in the the 3rd one...I'm impressed that he knew what he was talking about.
Sarah, Cinta, and I went to bed in our tent at about midnight and were awoken at 6:22 am to the rain tarp flying off and rain coming into our tent. While Sarah "supervised" the inside of the tent, Cinta and I went out and put it back on so we wouldn't be soaked in the morning...although it was all for not. At this point in the morning we also heard Daniel say "Hey a dog just bit my head!" And we dismissed it because we thought he was sleep talking. Everyone ended up wet except for Tim in his swag, Timmy in the back of his truck, and Gemma and Jake who slept in Jake's car. And apparently, Daniel did in fact get bitten on the head by a dog the night before...not a dingo though apparently. And no babies were eaten.
After getting everything packed up, Sarah, Jacinta, and I headed the rest of the way to Mount Gambier to actually meet her parents this time! Mount Gambier is in South Australia so we had to cross the state line, making that 4 Australian states that I've been in!
We stopped at a McDonald's for the sole purpose of changing our clothes, washing our hands, and brushing our teeth. Once we did that, we set off to meet Cinnabun's mum, dad, and younger brother. They were so so nice and bought us lunch and took us to see the Blue Lake. It was very beautiful, especially because the lake crater was created by a volcano before it filled in with water to create the Blue Lake.
MASSIVE THANK YOU TO JACINTA'S PARENTS!! I know her mum's reading this :) I'm so happy I got to meet you! Your daughter is so amazing and I love her so much!!
After that, we finally were on the road home...until 30 minutes into it we realise that Jacinta left her wallet in Mount Gambier. So, we sat on the side of the road and waited for her parents to drive to us and give it back. That's what you get when you set your wallet down to grab the free wine your mum is giving you :P
We finally made it back to Warnie at about 7, which was in time to see the last end of The Voice, which Dani and Chris were already watching, obviously. It was such a great weekend and I love you all so so much. I am so overwhelmed with happiness that you would all take the time to do this for me. I honestly haven't ever been surprised this full-on before...or at all. Thank you to Sarah, Cinta, Jake, Timmy, Tim, Daniel, Gemma, and most of all, thank you to Jared who has been there for me and kept me sane these last couple of months. You are one amazing person.
Here are some pictures that Katie had posted from our trip to Rottnest Island while we were in Perth that I thought were so cool and had to post! The kinda show how close the rainbow fish were getting to me!
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