Here's to You Wollongong, Hope We Meet Again

So it's our last day in Wollongong and although it's fairly warm and sunny out, somehow it still feels a bit overcast with the prospect of leaving in a couple hours looming over our heads. We are only headed to Sydney tonight to stay with Priyanka, but it doesn't make it any easier really to have to pack everything up until the place is empty and leave it behind.

We have been pretty busy with last minute things and didn't make it out to the gardens or campus, but we did go get some delicious fish and chips, complete with chicken salt, for our last lunch here. Walking back along the harbour I got my last good look at the beautiful place I've come to know as home. I've spent the last couple days trying to stick memories of the little things in my memory so I won't forget them. The sound of the birds, the way the ocean smells, all the little things that make a place what it really is - the ones that you can't get from pictures or stories. The experiences. That sort of thing makes me want to touch everything - to remind myself that I'm not floating in memories yet, that I really am still here. Sort of like pinching yourself to make sure you're not dreaming I guess. 

Moving out and leaving behind an empty place always brings me back to my arrival - the place looks the same, and just as awkward as it did then. No matter where I'm moving out of, it always reminds me of the first impressions I had, or how I was gearing myself up to try to make somewhere new my 'home'. About four months ago the five of us trooped into our apartment, I went all the way down to the end of the hall and claimed a bed, not sure what I was in for. Looking back, those four months have been the best of my life, no exaggeration. I've done a lot, and pushed myself far - which is what I believe study abroad should be all about. I'm proud of everything I've done, loved every last second of it, and I'll never for one moment forget any of it.