Ahhhhhhhhh!

So, it's 12:30 am on Wednesday morning for me, and I can't believe that it's getting so close to home time.

My auntie and I went to see No Reservations tonight. Cute movie, totally clean, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones in case any of you are looking for a chick flick to watch! : )

Time is almost up! I'm torn just about right in half... one part of me is SO excited and can't stop smiling and giggling because I'M COMING HOMEEEE!!!! But then the other half wants to break out into an emotional break down and lock myself in my bedroom. Haha. So I'm trying to walk the fine line between the two.

We've been trying to spend as much group time together this week as possible. Sunday night I went out with Dan, Mike, Keith and Jaya for coffee, then went back to Jaya's for a movie. On Monday night, Jaz, Dan and I went over to Josh's for another movie... This arvo, I met Jaz for lunch in the city, which was lovely as always. And tonight we went to our movie!

Oh yeah! And I forgot to mention that this morning my uncle and I went out to Maccas for breakfast... and I DROVE!!!!!!!!!!! Soooooo much fun. A little weird and it feels like you're going to get killed by people going in the opposite direction cause you're sitting on their side... but it's so much fun. I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Tomorrow's going to be a pretty relaxed day I think. I have an appointment with the tax guy to get all my income tax stuff figured out before I leave the country, then some of us are going to go for a picnic at Kangaroo Point. I'm pretty excited about that. I'm not sure what else the evening will bring but I'm nearly guaranteed it'll be a great time.

As for Thursday, I know I have something on during the day but I just can't think of it. Anyway, Thursday evening I'm having everyone over for one last goodbye party... : ( And Friday morning, a bunch of the group are coming to say goodbye to me at the airport! I've decided that I won't do my makeup until at least Chicago. : )

Well, it's nearly bedtime. I love you all and I'll see you SO soon!

Always,

Bec*

: )

Soooooo...

I'M COMING HOME IN 10 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhhh! Can you believe it? I can't.
Today, it's excitement. I'm still sad that I have to leave everyone here... but I'm going to see all of you soon!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! : )

I can't believe that not this Sunday but the one after, I'll be (God willing) sitting in Bath Road, listening to my Dad preach, surrounded by all of you guys.

That makes me smile.

I love you all. So much. : )

Always,

Bec*

Birthdays & Mixed Feelings

My birthday was amazing. We had a birthday party for me at Josh's with a stereotype theme! I went as a stereotypical housewife. Sort of like a Stepford Wife, actually. I had the skin coloured tights, heels, a puffy skirt with an apron over top, a white blouse, a headband in my hair, a pearl necklace, diamond earrings and a HUGE engagement ring. It was fun! Everyone else came with GREAT costumes too. Everyone put in to give me a few gifts too... I'll admit, I cried. They gave me THE most beautiful book of Australian photography with verses from the Bible, quotes from people... absolutely gorgeous. They also gave me a bunch of lollies they have here but we don't have in Canada! What a great idea. It was perfect!

Apparently there's one more thing coming but they won't tell me what it is! Haha. That's okay, I like surprises. : )

That was on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning a bunch of us went to the Ekka and spent the day there. We went all over, went on a couple of rides... I got to have my first ferris wheel ride in Australia with some of my best friends on my birthday! How much more perfect could that have been?

I also tried a Dagwood Dog! That's basically a Pogo stick that you can buy at home... but WAY better. Haha.

We finished the Ekka off with fireworks. Who knew I'd have fireworks on my birthday? : )

Once we left the Ekka we met up with Josh, Dan and Ross and went out for coffee with them. It was a perfect couple of days!

Thursday night my auntie and uncle took me out for dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant. It was great! I have such wonderful friends/relatives. : )

Well, time is disappearing for me like I never thought it would.

It feels to me like I shouldn't be leaving. Like this is home, where I should be. And that's a really strange feeling to have after growing up in one place and only being here for three months.

Don't get me wrong though - I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to see everyone at home! I find my self just giggling to myself because I'm excited to see one person or another or hear about Britt's graduation or Steve & Ella's wedding. I get excited to see "my kids" in youth group, and Taba cause I haven't seen her in ages. I'm excited to see Ryan and the FBC C&C people. I'm excited to get back to church and see everyone there! (Too many to name!) I'm excited and full of anticipation to see how things have changed... to see how I will fit in, since I've changed big time too. I'm excited to be somewhere that I fit, somewhere that I know people love me and a place that I love.

But, at the same time, I'm going to miss Brisbane. I'm going to miss Arana Hills. I already miss working with Bec & Clare. I'll miss spending every weekend with the Locks. I'll miss posing with Jasmine. I'll miss laughing and deep conversations with Josh and Jacob. I'll miss Holly's hugs and Emma's theories. I'll miss Keith and/or Kyle. : ) I'll miss Jaya and all of our music talks, car rides and everything else. I'll miss Mike! I'll miss Mum & Dad Lock and April. I'll miss my auntie and my uncle. I'll miss costume parties, Taboo and trips to the Coasts. I'll miss the drive-ins and dressing up for Harry Potter. I will miss it all because I've gotten used to it. This is life as I know it, and I'm incredibly happy here. More so, perhaps than I've been in a long time.

It's so bittersweet. If only I could make my two worlds collide into one.

Anyway, like I said, I'm happy. I'm incredibly happy. And things will fall into place when I get home. All I can say is that I'm soooo glad that God's got my life figured out, because I sure don't. : )

I love you all SO much.

*11 Days*

Love,

Bec*

SYDNEY!

Sooooo, I'm in Sydney!

We left on Wednesday night from Brisbane, flying to Sydney and arriving around 11:00 pm. It was nice to have a short flight. I'm not sure how I'm feeling about my 26 hours of flying on the way home! : )

On Thursday morning Aunt Cass had some things to do in the morning so around 11 am we left to go shopping in the city! Now, I can't tell you the majority of what I bought because most things are gifts, but I WILL tell you that it was an incredibly successful shopping day! Talk about shopping 'til you drop. That was us. We figure that we walked for about 8 hours straight yesterday! Isn't that wild?

Aaaaaaaand, for anyone who knows my immense scared-ness of heights, you will be SO proud of me. There is a place called the Centrepoint Tower, and basically it's 305 metres high (same height as the Eiffel Tower!) and it overlooks all of Sydney. Well, I went up it!!! Isn't that amazing? And I wasn't even scared. Next stop, CN Tower. I will do it one day!

We came home last night and absolutely crashed. We went to bed early to get up early-ish this morning for some more sight seeing!

We started by going to Macquarie Street in Syndey and saw St. Mary's Cathedral. What beautiful architecture! We couldn't take pictures so I can't show you that but it was absolutely beautiful!

After Macquarie Street, we went over to the Botanical Gardens and had morning tea! It makes you feel like such a lady, having morning and afternoon tea. I've vowed that it is a tradition I will keep up when I'm home and I fully intend to. It really is such fun.

Well, what's next? Oh yes. After tea, we went for a long walk along the Sydney hardbour. Oh my goodness. I have wanted to see the Sydney Opera House, and never really thought it was something that would happen for me... but it did.

We were walking along the harbour and I saw it and honestly, I'll admit that I squealed! I took heaps of pictures and it was such an incredible thing. But hey, it doesn't stop there! Not at all. After walking around the harbour, we walked to the Opera House and took a tour!!! It was SO amazing... absolutely beautiful. And I learned tonnes about it too, which was great.

Normally you can't take any pictures in any of the theatres at the Opera House for whatever reason, but we were SO lucky today... we were given permission to take pictures in THE most gorgeous theatre of all of them! I was so thankful that it worked out that way. I'll put those pictures up once I'm back in Brissie because I can't upload them here.

This afternoon we went to Manly on the ferry and went for a long walk on the beach. After that we went out for dinner (which was lovely!) and then made our way back into the city.

Tomorrow Aunt Cass's Mum's house is being auctioned off, so we'll be going to that. We're also hoping to see Cronulla, which is where Aunt Cass grew up. Should be good.

Sunday will probably end up being a day that we spend with the family and that sounds like fun to me.

We leave on Monday night to go back to Brisbane, but we'll be back into the city going to the Rocks, the Sydney Harbour bridge (we're going to walk it!) and we'll go to Luna Park. All of which was pretty well known around here and/or internationally.

I don't think I probably need to reiterate that my life is amazing, but...

My life is amazing.

I love you all and look forward to seeing you when I'm back in Canada!

Love,

Bec*

An Update!

My goodness, how time flies. Seems like just yesterday that I was standing in the airport in New York saying goodbye to Dave, Mum and Dad. It's a weird feeling now, looking back, given that so many things have happened both here and in Kingston, and still feeling like time has hardly gone by at all.

Work is still going very well! I am (probably) finishing completely on Wednesday, which is okay by me. Aunt Cass and I are going to Sydney on Wednesday night until Monday night of next week, and I'm thinking that will be fun! Her mum is auctioning her house on Saturday, so we'll be there for that, and we're hoping to go horseback riding as well as shopping and sightseeing.

On Monday of next week we'll arrive home and then Tuesday night is my birthday party! We're having a stereotype themed costume party at Josh's for my 19th! It'll be so fun. Tonnes of people have been invited and I'm thinking tonnes of people will show up, so it should be a pretty awesome night. I'm planning on dressing as a hippie for my costume! It will be great. : )

Wednesday of next week (the 15th - my birthday!) is called Ekka Day. Ekka is like a HUGE fair! Think of the Kingston fair and multiply it by a million. Bec, my boss, described it as "bringing the country to the city." There are heaps of farmers who bring and show their animals, there are fashion shows, rides, music, food, and many other things to do. Anyway, on Wednesday, we'll be going there (since it's a public holiday we're all off!) and spending the day. It sounds like a wonderful time to me!

Next Thursday my aunt and uncle and I will be celebrating my birthday! I'm not sure what's going on yet, but any sort of celebrating is just fine with me! : )

Other than all that, on the 25th of August I am going to Dream World or Movie World (I forget which!) with the Lock Flock and others. And on the 26th we're thinking of having a goodbye BBQ at aunt Cass & uncle Paul's house.

Life is good, as always. : )

I love you all, and even though I'm coming home soon, PLEASE still keep in touch!

Love,

Bec*

Home Is Where the Heart Is

I was asked to write an article for my school's newspaper, and I figured something Australia related would be good. Anyway, here it is. : )

Love,

Bec*

Home Is Where the Heart Is

We’ve all probably seen cute little wooden ornaments with this saying on it, and we’ve also probably heard it a million times growing up. The thing is that I don’t think I fully understood what that actually meant until my heart was split between two homes; two cities; two countries; two continents.

“Home is where the heart is” has taken on a whole new meaning to me.

I went on a three month trip to Australia this summer, leaving at the end of May and arriving back in Canada at the end of August. My plan was to go ‘down under’ and make some friends, get a job, have some fun and come back ‘home’. I figured I may or may not get back down there at some point in my life, and also figured that that would be alright with me. Once I arrived though, things changed completely.

I started meeting tonnes of people, got a great job, gained a crazy-busy social life and started fitting in immediately. It’s a strange and probably impossible feeling to explain to someone who hasn’t felt it, but all I can say is that you feel like you’ve been there forever, when in fact, it’s only been a short time. It feels like all of the friends you’ve made were friends that were with you watching you grow up. It feels like they were there for every argument with your parents, every failing grade, every party, every boyfriend or girlfriend, every moment of weakness and every victory, big or little. It feels like all of the years you spent at ‘home’ weren’t actually necessary to be comfortable in your situation. And it feels like even though we call home the house you live in or the city you were born in, your home isn’t necessarily that place at all.

Having grown up in Kingston, I figured Kingston was home and it always would be home, regardless of what happened in the future. Little did I know that I had a trip waiting for me that would take me half way around the world and to another ‘home’. No one could have told me and had me believing that anything would keep me in Australia or make me feel the same about it as I did the country, city or community that raised me, but now I’m seeing everything in a whole other perspective. Not only am I incredibly happy to be here but I’d be incredibly happy to stay here and incredibly happy to call Brisbane, Australia my home.

Home really is where the heart is. I’m not sure how going home is going to work for me. I’m not sure if it will be exciting, seeing how things have changed since I left. I’m not sure if it will be disappointing: going back to life as it was before I came here. I’m not sure if it will be weird, stepping back into the life that I used to live and was fully satisfied with, or if it will be easy to get back into the swing of things.

I do know that I’ve changed drastically this summer. I do know that I’ve made friends that I’m going to have forever. I do know that whatever coming ‘home’ and leaving ‘home’ at the same time is like, it will be bittersweet. And I do know that wherever I am geographically at whatever point in time, home really is where the heart is.

The Cutest Thing

I finally got to meet April, Jaz's 3 1/2 year old sister the other day, and apparently last night, before she went to bed, her mum and her were praying for everyone in the family and April said "And Bec!". Soooooooo cute. : )

After spending last weekend with the Locks, April is now a big fan of me. Jaz said that every morning April says "Where's Bec?" so they tell her that I'm at work but that she'll see me again soon. To that she always replies, "Tomorrow?"

Things that Make Me Giggle (About Australia)

1. People just as often DON'T wear shoes out as they DO wear shoes out.
2. Australians "reckon" everything. I thought you had to be from the Deep South (of the USA, not the world!) to "reckon" anything.
3. Everyone is a lot nicer to you as soon as you clear up that you're not American, but Canadian.
4. Queensland and New South Wales have the same sort of rivalry that Ontario and the rest of Canada has.
5. Whenever talking about something cold, Australians refer to England... not Canada.
6. Apparently, 9 times out of 10, I am from Canadia, not Canada. I had no idea.
7. Australians make fun of Canadians for the same things Canadians make fun of them for.
8. They DO always say "mate". But they don't ever say "Crikey!" Apparently that was just a Steve Irwin thing.
9. Tonnes of people from Saskatchewan come to Australia, because Australians always only have friends from Saskatchewan.
10. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is funnier to Australians than Indooropilly, Toowoomba, Maroochydore or Mooloolaba! Hahaha.
11. Australians wear the same winter coats, toques, mitts, scarves, etc, as we do in Canada... but freezing cold for them is 15 degrees Celsius, not -40 degrees Celsius!!!!

More later : )

Half way through the trip!

Oh my goodness. I can pretty much guarantee that I can't tell you all how amazing my weekend was and describe it accurately. I'll try anyway, though! : )

Jaz, Joshie, Jacob and I went up to the Sunshine Coast on Friday morning around 11. I had taken the day off of work so we could go, because a bunch of my friends rented out some apartments at a resort in Mooloolaba where we'd spend the weekend. There were between 10-15 of us the whole time we were there, and it was so much fun.

Jaz, Elise, Beck and I shared a room downstairs, and everyone else was upstairs in another apartment. Everyone spent just about all of our time at the upstairs apartment since it was a lot bigger and held most of the people.

On Friday night we all stayed around the apartment after dinner and just hung out. It was a lot of fun. We played bowling on the Wii one of the guys had brought with him, watched a couple movies, and all that fun stuff. At about 2:30 in the morning, Andy, Jaya and me went to the ocean for a late night dip. IT WAS FREEZING!!!!!!!

Our dip only lasted a couple of minutes, but I was shivering all night. Jaz and I were sharing a bed, so when I got into bed I moved my pillow over and snuggled into her, hoping I'd be able to warm up a bit. : )

Jaz is amazing, and one of the best friends I have ever had. She is hilarious and spontaneous and everything one could ask for in a friend. Her family is awesome too. You've heard me talk about Josh & Joel, and they are her brothers. Then there's Emma Kate, Josh's twin, who just got engaged a couple weeks ago to Jacob (who took us to the Coast). The other two are Holly Anne, who's my age and April, the youngest who's 3 1/2. I haven't yet met her but I've heard tonnes about her and saw her sleeping last night when we took Jaz home. She is soooo cute. And she drew me a picture of a sailboat with an anchor, the sun wearing sunglasses, and the water being very rough. It was so very cute. And much appreciated. : ) We call the Locks the Lock Flock since there are so many of them. I love it!

On Saturday we all got up and made pancakes and bacon and eggs, and all that delicious stuff. We then went into the sauna/hot tub/pool for a couple of hours. After we were all finished with that we moved onto shopping! We went to the mall for a couple of hours before coming home for a while. It was fun!

On Sunday most people went home in the morning when we had to be out, but a few of us stuck around for a while, and then Jaz, Jaya and I stayed until around 8 pm. We went for long walks on the beach and then went out for dinner at Montezuma's, which is Jaz's favourite Mexican Restaurant. It was sooooo good, but sooooo filling! : )

We made it home around 9:15 or so and then hung around Jaz's for a bit, talking to Jacob and Emma Kate. I think we all collapsed last night, after a long weekend of getting hardly any sleep at all. It was worth it though!

I am no longer feeling homesick, and in fact I'm feeling more at home here than ever. I love just about everything about Australia but especially the people. I'm so thankful for Jaz and all the other people from Arana Hills who have been making me feel so at home lately. It really is such a blessing.

Life other than that is awesome. Everyday is wonderful. My aunt Cassandra and I will be going to Sydney for a week in August, some of us are going to go to Fraser Island for a weekend or so, and the Locks own a cottage somewhere else (I forget!) that we're also hoping to get to.

I love my life. : )

Life is good!

I've been super busy lately trying to get everything done that I've been needing to do, which makes me feel like I'm not, in fact, on vacation on the other side of the world, but rather at home, living life as normal. I am sitting here on my lunch break and I am going to try very hard to catch you all up on my life in the next 10 minutes.

I should have started writing this first.

Work is going great for me. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself and I work with an Aussie named Rebecca, and a Brit named Clare. We have a lot of fun, and call ourselves the International Department. I was only meant to be working until this Friday but they've extended me now until the 27th of July (at least) and then I guess we'll see that happens. I reckon it could go either way, and I think I would be happy to stay working here, or happy to start working elsewhere.

Tonight I'm meeting up with the Locks (Jaz, Josh, and Joel's family) and a bunch of other people to go see a movie. They have what you call the Gold Class theatres, where the seats are like recliners and you have tables in front of you, and you can make full dinner orders during the movie if you want to. It sounds pretty cool to me! Maybe we have them in Canada, but I've never been to one, that's for sure. I think it means that once I get home, the Cineplex will be rather disappointing. : )

I've taken Friday off, as Josh, Jaz and I are going up to the Sunshine Coast with a bunch of our friends to stay the weekend in some gorgeous and huge house. We're sure it's going to be a great time. Here's hoping that it's warm enough to go swimming! I think that if it's not, there's at least a sauna there so we'll be spending some time in there too.

I got homesick on Sunday. We were in the middle of a service, in the middle of prayer, and I started bawling. You know, I'm realizing I have the worst "luck" when it comes to crying. I always cry at the most inopportune moments!

So yes, I started crying and as soon as the "amen" was said, I was out the door and into the washrooms. I cried for most of the sermon but made it back in time to hear about the last 30 seconds. I am realizing all of the things I miss at home. It's not at all that feeling where you feel "sick" because you miss home, it's just that I'm realizing to an even fuller extent that I am SO blessed.

I miss the little things, like getting hugged. I miss people talking to me all the time at church, and playing with little kids. I miss talking about random things with Lauren (Irwin) and blaring Hello Kelly and singing along with my Junior Youth girls.

These are a few of my favourite things of life as I know it at home! : )

Anyway, my lunch break is over. Please keep in touch! I love you all!

(And Ryan, Kinmount's got NOTHING on just about any names here...!) : )

Love,

Bec*

more wonderful stuff goin' on!

Well hello! Lots of things are going on, and though none are terribly exciting, I am now keeping myself rather busy, and enjoying myself as much as always!

My job is going wonderfully well! I worked my first day on Friday which was a heck of a lot of doing NOTHING. They made me read through this enormous binder talking about company cars and company cell phones and benefits and a tonne of other things that have absolutely no consequence in my situation, but that are protocol. However, I made a significant amount of money doing it, so whatever. : )

Canada Day was Sunday! Yes! And I'm sure that you all knew that, and being me, I felt the need to celebrate... on the other side of the world! Well, I had a bunch of friends over and we had a great time. I made elephoose pancakes (elephoose: a cross between an elephant and a moose... long story, ask me later!) and we had (red & white) smoothies and a Canada Day cake with vanilla ice cream. A great time was had by all (I think!) as we all sat around and...well... 'were' Canadian. At least for a few hours. Some of us even dressed for the occasion with Canada pins and red & white clothes. It was a really good time. There are pictures on facebook too... go see them! : )

Last night I treated my aunt and uncle to dinner at Sizzler, which was pretty much amazing and beats out ANY Kelsey's/Montana's type bar & grill I've ever eaten at. We got an all you can eat salad bar, and I STUFFED myself. When I told my mum about how I ate all those pancakes as a dare (did I tell that story in here?!?) she said I was going to "roll" off the plane when I got home... and after eating like that again last night, I'm beginning to wonder if she's right! : ) Juuuust kidding.

Tonight I went out to a friend from church's house where a bunch of us watched the final State of Origin rugby game. Basically Queensland and New South Wales are huge rivals (much like the Leafs and the Sens) and they have these "playoffs" where it's best out of three games wins. Well, Queensland won the first two (yay!) and so even though they'd already won, they have to play the third game and NSW won this one. Ah well, what can you do?

Anyway, this weekend we're going bowling which I think will be a great time, and auntie Cassie and I are going to the Eumondi markets this Saturday and to Montville which is a quaint little tourist-y type town. I'm sure we'll have fun... we always do!

Oh! Ryan commented on Woolloongabba being a funny name, and let me tell you... there is NO shortage of fantastic names around here! I'm going to Mooloolaba next weekend... there's Maroochydore, and a million others. I'll let you know if/when I find some particuarly amusing ones : )

Well, keep keeping in touch! And if you want to know something specific or if you want me to find something out for you, let me know!! I'm happy to do (almost!) whatever it takes to make this interesting. : )

Love,

Bec*

rollerblading & Canada Day!

Last night we went rollerblading! It was a lot of fun and we got some pictures, too. They're on facebook...I also put on some pictures of my friends here so you can put some faces to the names you're hearing about!

Just click on this link and it will take you to them!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2876&l=ed021&id=507133874

This one's gonna be quick... I'm basically just letting you all know that I am having a Canada Day party tomorrow!! Woohooo!! I think it's going to be a good time. Josh, Jaz, Jaya, Jas and Rob are coming, and we're having pancakes, bacon & eggs, and maple syrup for lunch, with these drinks I've concocted that are DELICIOUS and super cool. I'll take pictures (trust me, they're THAT cool...) but they've got whipped cream on top and then on the whipped cream I used food colouring and drew the Canadian flag with a toothpick!

I loved it.

Other than that, for dessert, I made chocolate cake which will also be decorated in red & white, which is fun. And it could possibly have a flag on it too... we'll just see how that all goes!

Well, I think that's about it. Oh yeah, did I mention that I started a full time job? I'm temping for the Department of Natural Resources, which is where my aunt works but we're at different branches. I'm there for at least two weeks, but possibly and probably longer. I'm so thankful to God that I've finally got a job because it took so long!

I figure that God knew I needed a month off, eh? : )

So that truly is it. I will keep you updated on any further developments on anything exciting in my life, but for now that's about it!

Love,

Bec*

another update!

Hey all!

Well, this one I am HOPING is going to be short because a) I don't have a heck of a lot to say and b) It's pushing 11:30 pm and I am up at 6 tomorrow morning.

I have great news! I got a job! I signed up with a temping agency yesterday (Wednesday) and within about an hour of signing up, I had a job opportunity! Turned out that it was way too far away but that was alright, because then another one for today popped up! I was sitting at the table in my PJs, eating THE most delicious breakfast I've had in ages (it's mostly been Cheerios for the last good long while) when the phone rang. It was Bridget, who wanted me to come into the city for a job today!

So, I made it into the city at 10:02 am. (I was supposed to be at the place at 10:00 am) This, however was not my fault because I got the earliest train I could after she called. This part, however, IS my fault. As many of you know, I am incredibly "directionally challenged". It is, more or less, a (medical?) term I have given myself to basically say that I can't find my way out of a paper bag. It's rather pathetic, though very much amusing.

I wandered around, went in not one, but TWO circles, about a kilometre each, and ended up 15 minutes in the opposite direction...of the train station... which is about 15 minutes walking to the place I was supposed to be. Argh!

So there I am, walking the streets of Brissie, laughing to myself, because hey! I can't even get from point A to point B without going in a GINORMOUS circle first. And because by the time I got there, I figured it'd be about 4:00 pm and I may as well start looking for another temping agency because would they call me back? Um, no. : )

Did I mention that I laugh when I get nervous or worked up? : )

Once I arrived, things went well and I had a good day. I was really close to where my aunt works, so I made my way over there after work and met her and we rode the train home together.

I also managed to score a 2-week deal with the Department of Natural Resources in Woolloongabba where I'll be doing reception! Can't wait. And I start tomorrow morning, so that's a very good thing!

Other than that, I'm having a Canada Day party on Sunday and Jas, Jaz, Josh, Jaya and Rob are coming! We're all excited about that. And tomorrow we're going rollerblading... should be tonnes of fun!

Anyway, I should run. My bed beckons.

Love you all,

Bec*

G'day mates!

Well, it's been another wonderful week, and I highly doubt you'll be hearing anything but that for the rest of the time I'm here!

I can hardly believe I've already been here for a month... time has flown!

This weekend was a great weekend, starting on Thursday.

Uni's just ending now, so most of my friends are in exams or just finished exams. Anyway, one friend, Jaya, was finishing on Thursday, so after he was done his exam he came over and picked me up to show me around Brisbane! We went for a walk on Kangaroo Point, which was cool because I'd seen it all from the river last week but it was interesting to see it while walking! We found a crazy tree that had a big whole in the centre of it... big enough for a few people to sit in! So, we decided that we are going to get a bunch of us together to have a picnic in a tree! Haha, doesn't that sounds great? : )

On Friday, Jaya, Josh, Claire, Mike and I went to Coollangatta, to the beach. It was a gorgeous day and we played "footy" on the beach for a while, then went for a walk. I'm living in Brisbane, which is in Queensland, and we went to the border of Queensland and New South Wales. It was cool! It reminded me of A Walk to Remember. After we went to the border we went out for pizza, and then they all dropped me off in Nerang, which is where Zoe & Martin live (Auntie Cassie's brother & sister in law). I spent the afternoon with Sofia, their youngest, and we had a great time!

Saturday didn't turn out the way we were planning on it, but it ended up well! Cassie has a friend who gives her a pedicure & manicure every once in a while, named Rebecca. She came over and we were going to go shopping but it ended up that we just sat around and talked until around 4 pm. Jas came and picked me up for a night at the drive in!

The drive in was hilarious. There were eight of us: Jas, Jaz, Josh, Jaya, Mike, Joel, Natasha and me, so we took three cars. Joel & Natasha went together, the boys went together, and then us girls went together! Jas was incredibly prepared, which was hilarious and wonderful for us! She borrowed her parents van, so that she, Jaz and I could watch the movie from the comfort of a van. She also brought blankets and pillows and tonnes of food.

Anyyyyway, we all made it safe & sound, and once we arrived the boys decided that they didn't want to sit in their tiny car, but rather squish into the van with us! We fought for the van but somehow we managed to get shoved out of the van by the guys, with them taking our spots. After lots of positioning of the van, and people pushing each other around we all managed to get spots in the van where we could see the screen.

Take note that I didn't say COMFORTABLE spots in the van. : )

We watched Shrek the Third (hilarious!) and Bridge to Terebithia, which we renamed the Road to Toowong (an area in Brisbane).

On Sunday, I went to Arana Hills in the evening and afterwards we all went out to Hungry Jack's, which is basically our Burger King. It's the same logo and same food and everything, just with a different name!

Everyone tends to leave that around 9:30 pm or so, and a bunch of us still wanted to do something, so we all made our way over to the Pancake Manor.

Hilarious, eh? It's a pancake joint that serves pancakes and crepes 24 hours a day. It's built in an old church and it's a really cool place! Anyway, I was there with Josh, Jaya, Keith & Rob, and Rob started going on about how there was noooo way I'd be able to eat the long stack pancakes and so on and so forth. Well, clearly they do not know me.

I'm not a huge eater in general, but as soon as you pull out the whole "Oh, a girl couldn't do that!" I will do it, just to prove you wrong. : )

So, I ordered a long stack of pancakes (4 huge, thick, ridiculously stuffing pancakes), after making a deal with Jaya that IF I ate it ALL, he'd pay for my meal. Once I agreed, Josh told me that he's never even finished the long stack of pancakes and he, like many guys, prides himself on his appetite. Loooovely. : )

Well, I ate it. It was probably the fullest I have ever been and I have not eaten anything since, but I got a free meal, and a good time out of it. : )

We all had to laugh when I was almost finished and one of the guys asked me when I would have stopped eating normally. I started laughing really hard and managed to get out "Probably after...one."

So, it's now Monday and I went for a walk this afternoon. Aunt Cass & I are hoping to watch a couple movies tonight, and I'm hoping to get together with Jaz and/or Jas later on this week. I'm sure this weekend will be super eventful as well, and I'll keep you updated. : )

I'm going to try posting more often on here, too, so that my posts aren't as long as they usually are. We'll see how that goes, though. : )

Love you all,

Bec*

there's a reason they call it (Surfers) Paradise...

Soooooooo... I lost 200 photos off of my camera.

Yep, that's right. 200, just disappeared into thin air. Vanished.

Awesome start to the day, eh?

Haha, well... that does mean that the first half of my day is not documented... my apologies, because we climbed a mountain and, well, I have no proof at all that it happened.

Anyway, even though that happened, and I was quite disappointed, the show must go on, and go on it did! Now, let me just give a little disclaimer here as I've had a couple complaints about how I write too much... : )

I fully understand that you all lead wonderfully busy lives and that you may not have all the time in the world to sit down and read my rantings and ravings about the spectacular-ness of Australia.

HOWEVER, I cannot and will not promise to be short winded, haha, because when on earth has that ever happened???? : ) So, if you can't read it all today, that's alright. Split it up into a few days, or skim, or something! Just don't not read this because I go on forever!!!!

I'm also aware that there are a few people who enjoy reading reading my rantings and ravings about Australia's spectacular-ness, even though, I admit, I do talk waaaaaaaay too much, and those people are kinda my target. Don't get me wrong! If you think I talk too much, join the club, but I really want you to read too! I just really am not very good at all at getting straight to the point. That is why this is quite possibly, an d most likely the longest disclaimer you have ever, or will ever read. : )

Anywayyyyy... shall I get on with it? I think so too. : )

So, today was the day we were going to the Sunshine Coast/Surfers Paradise! We spent part of the morning climbing this mountain I mentioned, which is about 60 miles north west of Brisbane. There are a few of them, and you'll see them in my pictures, and they're called the Glasshouse Mountains. The one we climbed was only about 280 metres, which is nothing of course, compared to the Rockies, but here, they are mountains. : )

After that we went on a really scenic route, stopping along the side of the road for pictures at lookouts. It was gorgeous. The greenery was absolutely incredible! We went for a walk in a rainforest, which I also have a bunch of pictures from, but I'll put all the explanations with the pictures so it'll make more sense to you!

Anyway, here's the link for the photos and I really hope you enjoy them!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2709&l=9426b&id=507133874

I love you all! Keep in touch...

Bec*

Another wonderful weekend on its way!

Hey everyone! Just a quick update...

I'm sitting here at Malyon College, which is where my uncle goes to school. I had to update a list of contacts for his church's conversational english class. It's a great idea -- there are a number of international people in the area and so his church has come up with this class that meets every Wednesday and teaches (for free!) conversational english. I think it's fantastic. A great way to reach out to the community!

Well, I went out last night, for mini-putting and coffee, which was a great time. I have made a few friends here who are super cool, and I'm really looking forward to spending my summer with them! It's funny, a lot of the people I meet down here are so similar to people at home, just different faces & different accents!

There's one guy, specifically, who is SO familiar to me, that if I met him in Canada I would be SURE I know him from somewhere. He's never been out of Australia though, and this is my first time here, so I have no idea who it is that is soooo close to him, but it's a really odd feeling!

So my uncle finished his semester today (Woohoo!) and so we're going to celebrate tonight, if he lets us cook dinner. Haha. Tomorrow we're hoping to make it to the Sunshine Coast, which is about the same distance away from Brisbane as the Gold Coast, but in the opposite direction.

On Sunday my aunt and I are planning to go on a river cruise, while my uncle's at a meeting, and I think it sounds like a wonderful time! Here's hoping it doesn't rain this weekend! : )

In case you can't tell, I am loving it down here, and I'm feeling right at home already. The people here are so welcoming, especially the few I was out with last night. It's so great to be somewhere with people your age, and feeling like you're fitting in completely.

Anyway, I should run, but I'll keep you updated. Keep up with the comments! I should hopefully have some more pictures up from this weekend, and maybe some pics of my new "mates", too!

Love,

Bec*

: )

I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to say everything that I want to about this weekend... hmm... where to start?

This weekend was incredible. I went out with a young adults group for tacos and games on Friday night, which was a good time. The group was mostly couples, mostly married and so although I had a good time, it wasn't a perfect fit. It was really great though to meet people who were my age (give or take a bit!) and just hang out, and to see what Aussie young adults do for fun!

On Saturday morning, my aunt and I made our way to the Gold Coast. Ohhhh my goodness! Absolutely breathtaking. The whole day worked out perfectly. There was a lot of traffic on the way, as we were initally going to go to Byron Bay which is further than the Gold Coast, and so we decided to just stay on the Gold Coast for the day and see what it had to offer us! Well, we stopped about 1:30 pm and went out for lunch, where we got hands down, THE most delicious lunch we have ever had. Mine was a spinach and feta fritatta, which was soooo wonderful. I honestly did not eat until about 8:00 pm or so that night! haha.

Anyway, clearly you don't want to hear about my food choice, so I shall move on!

We made it to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located in Currumbin (duh!?), which is a part of the Gold Coast. I was pretty excited to make it there, and I was really looking forward to see the animals that you don't see in Canada, like dingos, kangaroos, all that jazz. Well, I got to see koala, dingos, kangaroos, crocodiles, tazzy devils and a million other things. It was awesome!

I actually got to get a picture of me holding a koala, which was sooo cool! I know that they're really vicious in the wild, but this one, Dooda, was SO cute! He cuddled right into my neck when I picked him up and he was so soft and sweet. Apparently koalas sleep 19 out of 24 hours each day, and so it was quite exciting that I got to see him awake, as well as a number of the other koalas, awake and eating.

Right before we left, we went to the lorikeet feeding. My aunt was saying how neat of an experience it was, so I was also looking forward to that. Anyway, I fed the lorikeets and they sat all over you! They would land on your head, arms, all over, and just hang out even if you didn't have any food! It was so funny, and all of the kids there loved it!!

At the end of that, we went back to the beach just in time for the sunset, where I took loads of pictures. I can't even explain the beauty of it all. It's really something spectacular. My aunt and I were talking about how we find it so hard to understand that people can see the ocean, and the sunsets, and these incredible animals and all of the beauty of nature and NOT believe that there's a higher power... a powerful and wonderful and creative God who brought it all into being.

I think looking at the ocean and the gorgeous skies above it can give you such perspective... I mean, if your head is ever getting too big, or you're feeling like such a hot shot, just step outside at sunset, and look around you, and you'll see you're nothing but a tiny little critter, in the midst of a huge world... and yet God, for some reason that you really can't describe as anything but love, was willing and did give up his son as a sacrifice for our sins. What an incredible God we have! I am so thankful to be here.

Well, on Sunday, I went to church with my aunt and uncle, and I was feeling a LOT better than I was last Sunday, so it was great meeting new people and talking to people I've already met, and getting to know them. After every Sunday service you can stay for a "cuppa" and a chat with people from the church. A "cuppa" is basically a "cuppa" tea or coffee, or whatever, but they just leave out the "tea or coffee, or whatever." : )It's a pretty familiar phrase around here!

Sunday afternoon my aunt and I watched Pride and Prejudice (which I LOVE!) and then I was off again, to another church in the area. I went to their evening service, which is for youth and young adults, and it was absolutely incredible. The worship service was fantastic, and then the fellowship after was perfect. I felt right at home right away, and I've made some friends from the group already! I'm so thankful that God has been and continues to open all of these doors for me, allowing me to have such a wonderful summer break! I really couldn't ask for anything better!

I especially got along with a girl named Jas, and she and I will hopefully be hanging out at some point this week. She's a regular in the group and so she'll be introducing me to a number of other people, and so hopefully in no time I'll be the social butterfly I am at home, here. : )

Well, I think that's about all I had to say! I thought I'd get it out while it was still fresh in my memory! I've uploaded some pictures from the Gold Coast onto Facebook, so check them out! : )
I haven't put the captions on yet (it's after midnight and I'm exhausted!) but if you're interested in seeing some pics, go to:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2612&l=b0b2d&id=507133874

It should work! If it doesn't, let me know and I'll figure something else out!

Love,

Bec*

Lost in Translation? : )

G'day mates! Haha, I love how no one even tried to figure out what I was saying! That's okay though, I'll give you the translation now!

Here's the Aussie paragraph:

Well, the blokes and sheilahs are gonna have some chooks and snags off the barbie this arvo, maybe with some avos and bundy on the side. The banana benders and cockroaches will be barracking the aerial ping pong if it's a beaut game. Hopefully though they'll have nothing to big-note about since they have buckley's chance of winning that one.

...and in Canadian:

Well, the guys and girls are gonna have some chickens and sausages off the BBQ this afternoon, maybe with some avocados and Bundaberg (the infamous Australian beer!)on the side. The banana benders (People who live in Queensland) and cockroaches (People who live in New South Wales) will be cheering for the Australian Rules football if it's a good game. Hopefully though, they'll have nothing to brag about since they have hardly any chance of winning that one.

Crazy, eh?

Well, it's 10:41 am here for me, and we're just about to leave to go and see the Gold Coast/Surfers Paradise! Need I say that I'm excited?

Anyway, I just thought I'd translate that for you... and I'll be back to tell you about my day and my C&C experience last night either later tonight or hopefully at some point tomorrow! I'm also hoping I'll have some pictures for you soon enough! And I have a funny story about Aussie slang... and how I got lost in translation! : )

Thanks for all the comments! It's so wonderful to hear from you all!

Love,

Bec*

It's true!

I walked into the "toilet" today and something on the wall caught my attention. A little gecko thing! Haha. I can't say for sure what it was because I'm not sure, but it was like a tiny gecko...only about the length of my pinky! So cute! It's funny that here you find geckos on your wall, when at home we find spiders.

I think I'd take a gecko any day. : )

So, a number of you have been asking me different questions about Australia, and I will answer one of them right now. IT'S TRUE! Water really does go down the drain the opposite way here! Crazy, eh? It blows my mind. Perhaps I'm easily amused, or perhaps that's really cool, but either way, I enjoy it. : )

Things are good here. I went out looking for a job yesterday and went out for lunch with my aunt. I had a great day! Today it's pouring, which is wonderful because there has been hardly any rain for the past 2 years. We'll take what we can get. So, here I am, cuddling up with a warm cup of tea, and telling you about the exciting and not so exciting things about my life! : )

Tonight I'm hoping to go to a young adults group, which I'm definitely looking forward to. I can't wait to meet some people my age! I think it will be a great time. Australia is such a wonderful country.

We were planning to go to someone's house for a BBQ on Friday and then out to see one of the guys from the church who's in a band play, but I guess that fell through or something, because now we're going for tacos and games! Sounds like fun to me!

There's not really a tonne going on here right now, though I'm sure things will be picking up soon. I thought I'd leave you with some fair dinkum Aussie slang before I left though! : )

Fair dinkum: True, real, genuine.

Aerial pingpong: Australian football... the rugby players and others make fun of it!

Arvo: Afternoon

Brisvegas/Brissie: Brisbane, where I'm staying!

Chokkie: Chocolate

Apparently they love to put "ie" on the end of things... for example, my aunt Cassandra is usually Cassie... Australia is Aussie... Rebecca is Beckie or Rebeckie... : )

Well, that's all for now. I'll be back soon though. Oh yeah, and anyone can make comments now, so please comment even if you don't have a google account!

If any of you can 'translate' this for me I'll be extremely impressed. : )

Well, the blokes and sheilahs are gonna have some chooks and snags off the barbie this arvo, maybe with some avos and bundy on the side. The banana benders and cockroaches will be barracking the aerial ping pong if it's a beaut game. Hopefully though they'll have nothing to big-note about since they have buckley's chance of winning that one.

Let's hear what you think : )

Love ya!

Bec*

I'm baaaaaack!

Wow, a lot of things have happened since I last wrote! Let me try to catch you up a little.

Hmm, where did I leave off? Well, I think I was on my way to Sydney, if I'm not mistaken. I made it safe and sound to Sydney, although I was extremely sick on the way there. I managed to get through the flight, thankfully, and also chatted up my poor neighbour. I think he enjoyed it though, and he definitely seemed like a nice man. He was only staying in Australia for 5 days, which absolutely blows my mind, as I am perfectly happy to not step foot onto another plane for another three months. Ahhh, the poor guy.

Anyway, once I arrived in Sydney, things got slightly complicated. Oh right, did I mention that I didn't sleep on the plane from San Fran to Sydney? That's right. I spent about 14 hours on a plane, overnight, and the absolute maximum amount of sleep I got was about one hour. Ah, yes. How lovely. Anyway, I managed to make it through to Sydney, which was great, but once I arrived things started to unravel slightly. As I was only flying from Sydney to Brisbane, I was told to go towards the domestic transfers area, where I would have to pick up my baggage, make my way to security, get my visa, go through security and customs, and get to my flight... in about 45 minutes.

Well, turns out, after getting my visa, waiting around FOREVER for my bags, and going through customs, that, in fact, I was flying on an international transfer and therfore was in entirely the wrong area of the airport.

Lovely.

So, I went and talked to a wonderfully helpful security guy who told me where to go, and took me as far as he could. That was great. I made my way upstairs, and then got lost again. Haha. I looked around forever for those screens that tell you the departure gates and everythig, but I couldn't find any. Anyway, I eventually found one, thankfully, and realized that I had absolutely no idea where Gate 35 was! (I was looking between gate 50 and 65 or something like that!) I asked another wonderfully helpful security guy and he helped me find my gate.

Now, downstairs in customs, a man told me that I would be able to get my boarding pass upstairs at my gate, and that my baggage would be transfered through, so I wouldn't need to worry about any of that.

As I arrived at my gate, I walked up to the man at the desk, and told him very nicely that I was told I would be able to get a boarding pass here. He looked at me, really snobbishly and said, "Nope, I can't get you on this flight now. You needed to go to the transfer desk."

Please, keep in mind, that I had now been travelling for close to 36 hours and this was the last leg of my journey (only a 1 hour flight!) and so I wanted nothing more than to just get to Brisbane and see my aunt and uncle. Also, keep in mind the fact that I had no sleep, that I was sick, and that I had been oh, so misdirected for the last hour and a half or so.

So, instead of saying all of that, I said, "Oh...okay..."

And the tears started coming.

Then the poor man just looks at me, like it's his fault that all of this happened. You know, this poor little puppy dog-like Canadian girl is sitting here crying because he can't get her on a flight. So, he all of a sudden cramps up (like men do around girls crying!) and says "Oh, um, well, uh, let me see what I can do."

And within about 2.5 minutes I am sitting comfortably in seat 63A. Gotta love it.

Well, once I got to Brisbane, my aunt and uncle were right there to pick me up and take me home, and what a relief it was!

Amazingly enough, I have not needed to deal with jet lag at all!!! It is possibly the most beautiful thing in the world! We went to "The Chemist" yesterday, which is basically a pharmacist. Apparently Aussies are huge fans of going to the pharmacist instead of going directly to a doctor. I got some cold/flu medicine I've been taking and it seems to be working well!

My uncle Paul preached today in church, which I thought was wonderful, as he's studying at Malyon College here in Brisbane, to be a pastor. I met some wonderful people at church this morning, especially some young adults. They're having a BBQ and one of the guys in the C&C group plays in a band, so we're all going to go to one couple's house and t hen to go see him! It sounds like a wonderful time, and from who I've met, they've seemed to be really great people.

The culture is pretty different here than in Canada, which I find sort of surprising. I thought it was going to be very much similar to Canada, and in a lot of ways it is, but in others it's quite different.

Words here are taken very differently as well. It's funny... as soon as I arrived in Sydney, I looked for a washroom, and they don't exist. They're called Toilets here. I find that slightly amusing. And it's not Men and Women labeled washrooms, it's Male and Female.

Another thing is that the toilet is in one room and the bath/shower and sink are in another room entirely! Weird, eh? Oh yeah, and you know in Canada how if we go into a home and it feels warm and comfortable, we would call it "homey"? And if we're being condescending or whatever, it's called "homely", right? Well, it's the exact opposite here. So I'm going to have to watch out. : )

I was talking to my aunt today, and we were walking outside, and I said something along the lines about "It's so good when you have people rooting for you!"

Well, "rooting" here, has the same or similar connotation of "the f-word" in Canada. Oops! You can count on me to come out with something like that! Hopefully it won't come out again!

I got to meet aunt Cass's brother and his wife and kids today, which was a load of fun. They have three kids. Olivia, 5, Max, 3, and Sofia, 1. They are cute. Crazy running around and all that, very energetic, but a wonderful time. It was so fun to play with kids. I think kids always make me feel at home wherever I am... : )

So, Australia is fantastic. I love every aspect of it so far. I haven't taken any pictures but I'm hoping to soon enough! I'm just getting settled in right now. My aunt and uncle are wonderful - very similar to my family at home. It's great, and I feel very comfortable with both of them.

I'm happy about this trip and I'm feeling that it's come at exactly the perfect time. It's going to be a great time to get things in life straightened out, and figuring out priorities and goals and whatever else for when I'm back in Canada.

I think that's about all I have to say so far, but please keep keeping in touch! : )

Love ya!

Bec*

Last 'til Australia!

I have now been up for close to 20 hours, in 3 (soon 4!) different time zones, and it's probably not necessary for me to say it, but I am EXHAUSTED. I am also starving. I realized as we were landing in San Fran that I have eaten half a bagel and a muffin since this morning at 5:30 am. Oops, haha. But with all these nerves, I'm not sure how well eating would have gone over! I have some rice crispie squares in my bag, and I'm thinking I'll pull them out in a minute.

What a day it has been. I am so thankful to God for making everything go through hitch-less, and I am very excited to meet my aunt and uncle on the other end.

So, I made it to Chicago, made it to San Francisco, and thankfully I sat beside a very nice man from California, which allowed me to get somewhat of my daily quota for talking in. Honestly, I had no idea that I would be as talk-deprived as I am. That, in and of itself, makes it worth having a travel buddy! : )

I am now sitting in San Fran, just about to board my next flight, which is the whopper flight. Oh yeah, 14 1/2 hours... I think. Maybe more. Anyway, to be completely honest, the sooner I get on, the sooner I get off, so I'm feeling good : )

The flight to San Francisco was beautiful. The sun was just setting and the colours were incredible. I have had a window seat on both flights so far, so it will be really nice if I can keep up with that!

Well, I think we're boarding soon and I need to switch some carry-on stuff around, so this shall be my last until I'm safe and sound (Lord willing!) in Brisbane. Thank you all sooooo much for the Facebook messages, MSN messages, emails, and comments. I hope you're all enjoying my "adventure" and I'm thinking that once I get out of these airports I'll have something more exciting to say.

Love,

Bec*

Me again!

Hi everyone,

Well, although this day is going absolutely wonderfully well, I am suffering from some sort of really brutal cold. I have lost the hearing almost completely in my right ear, which can't be good, and I'm eating Halls like they were chocolate or something that actually tasted good! : )

Also, the threat of terrorist attacks has been raised by Homeland Security to orange, which means that there is a significant threat. Maybe that's the way it always is, but if you guys could pray that today would go well and that no terrorists would do anything, that would be wonderful.

Love ya!

Bec*

The Big Day(s)!

Whew! We left home this morning at 6:30 am, after a long night of not much sleep! I spent most of last night packing and getting ready for today, and since we were having issues with the airline putting me on a flight that would allow me to make my next flight comfortably, we decided to leave early and try to get onto an earlier flight.

Well, I made it! I got onto a 10:14 am flight, and it went smoothly. The first half of the flight or so was spent listening to a child scream like you would not believe. I think though that eventually I just got used to it, because I can't tell you now when the kid actually stopped. : )

Anyway, I'm now here in Chicago, and have almost 7 hours to kill before my flight to San Fransisco and then to Sydney. Thankfully everything has gone well so far. I did not beep when I went through security, which is nice because I have not experienced that before! Haha.

I'm getting pretty hungry, as it's close to 1:15 Kingston time. However, it took me about a year and a half to get set up on this oh, so uncomfortable bench, and so leaving it is not sounding particularly attractive to me at the moment! : ) I had to spend like $10 bucks to get internet today, which is slightly ridiculous, but what else am I going to do while I wait? : ) I have 3 books ready to go for the flight to Sydney, so and I don't want to start them yet, in case I get bored and have to spend 19 hours talking to myself or something else equally useless.

My only issue so far is that my laptop has stopped working altogether. I have to admit this worries me slightly, simply because my warranty runs out in August... and I won't be in Canada to get it fixed!

Hmmm... I don't think I have anything exciting to say, and so in order to not bore you all out of your minds, I will say goodbye! I hope that you'll hear from me at least when I arrive in Brisbane, if not before. Maybe something exciting will happen to me between now and 6:30 and I can write another blog ; )

Love you all,

Bec*

7 Days!!! (...well, almost!)

So, in one week from 16 minutes, it will be May 31st and I will be heading almost half way around the world, to Australia!! Wooohoooo!!

Now I don’t know how much point there is to me saying that I’m extremely excited, but…

I’m extremely excited!!

I started packing today and got quite a good amount of my packing done, which is making everything feel a lot more real. For a while, Australia has simply been talked about, and even though I know in my head that I’m going, it hasn’t really felt like I was actually going! But now that my room is covered in clothes and papers and everything else I need to remember to bring (I know I will forget something important!!) it is starting to feel a lot more real to me.

As a matter of fact, my dad and I were going over my itinerary last night and we realized that I have only 45 minutes in Chicago to get off of my plane and onto another plane in another terminal. Yeah, okay.

Anyway, my dad spent a good hour on the phone with the airline company trying to get them to switch me to another earlier flight (which still has room on it!) but they won’t budge. He’s going to call the customer relations people tomorrow and talk to them, and I am just praying it gets switched.

However, you should probably be praying that my flight doesn’t switch and that I do miss my plane, (and then my San Francisco plane and then my Sydney plane!) because it will make for a much more interesting blog! : )

I was feeling slightly crabby tonight about the whole situation, but at the end of our conversation, my parents have convinced me that regardless of what happens I will have a great time and will make it fun, whether or not I have to spend another night (or two, or three, or four…) in an airport. I have no doubt in that!!! : )

I am out to have a great time in my travels, and that is going to include my airport adventures. Like I said, it will make for a much more interesting blog if I DO get stuck in an airport or two.

Perhaps I should write a book about how NOT to travel! : ) It could be a best seller.

Again, I am very excited to be going. It's starting to seem like everything is wrapping up. My final math exam is on the 30th, this is my last weekend of work, and my last night leading youth group was tonight. I have to admit, the only thing that I'm not entirely enjoying is the whole saying goodbye thing. I'm not very good at that. And even though I know that I will be back in the fall, I still don't enjoy saying goodbye in the first place. : )

Anyway, I'm blabbing on and on and on, and so I'm thinking it's time to zip my lip. I'll write more often and more later on, once my adventure actually begins!

Love,

Bec

28 Days!

So, for anyone who doesn't know, I am embarking on a crazy around-the-world trip to Australia, from May 31st to August 31st this summer!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! How exciting, eh?

I thought so too.

To be precise-ish, that's 16,633 kms from Toronto to Brisbane! Pretty crazy if you ask me.

Bsically, my aunt and uncle live in Australia and so the plan is for me to go and visit them and live the Aussie life with them! I got a working holiday visa, so I'm able to work while I'm down there (or should I say, "down under"?) and I'm thinking that it's going to be a great time.

I'm very, very excited.

Anyway, not much to say right about now. I'm stuck here until the end of May, but the count down is on, trust me. I'll keep you updated though, with what's new and exciting (or new OR exciting!) in my life.

Love,

Bec*