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Thursday 22 September 2016

2016 So Far

I feel like every time I write a blog post I have to explain why I haven't been blogging. And it's pretty much always down to laziness, which is something I have to snap out of because I always enjoyed having a space to write my thoughts and opinions (even though they have in the past been mostly about lipsticks...). I thought what I would do to get back into the swing of things I would update you (if any readers have stuck around?) on what has been going on this year.

I decided in about May of 2015 that I wanted to move to Australia. I had only ever been to Sydney (for one day after a three week trip to New Zealand in 2008) but my dad had told me I would love Melbourne. As he's my dad (and a bloody good one) I trusted his judgment and moved to Melbourne in February of 2016 to do a masters in Media and Coms.

Moving to Melbourne was hard. My mom came with me for the first ten days to help me get settled so at the beginning it just felt like a holiday. When she left, I suddenly felt more lonely than I have ever felt in my whole entire life. I was on the other side of the world, I had the odd acquaintance here but I still felt very much alone and very far away. I really struggled to find somewhere to live and the first month involved a lot of moving from one place to another until I found somewhere. I then started university and have since made a few friends and am friends with a few people I knew back home in the UK.

I went home in June for about five weeks back to New York and as much as I loved being in New York and seeing my family, I actually missed being in Melbourne. Melbourne is unlike anywhere else I have ever been. It has all the aspects of a big city but with less people (and the people are way more friendly), strange looking birds, not-so-crazy prices (relative of course) and just an amazing culture. I love the fact that it's a city but it's also by the beach and I generally just love everything about Melbourne (apart from the unpredictable weather). But that doesn't mean that it hasn't been difficult. I hate not being able to see my closest friends and I hate the time difference from here to the UK and the US. I also feel like while I am studying, everyone else is getting on with their lives and their careers.

My younger sister came to Australia and we spent part of August together. We went to Sydney, she came to Melbourne and then we went to Cairns - where we both did our first skydive. Kind of terrifying, kind of amazing. It was so nice to have her here and it made me appreciate being in Australia a lot more when I had her to enjoy it with. 

I appreciate that I am very fortunate to be in a position to be able to live here for a while and that not everyone gets an opportunity like this. I know that when it is all over I will miss Melbourne terribly, even just thinking about leaving brings a tear to my eye. But I also know that being near my closest friends and my family is more important to me than I thought. At this point I don't know what I will do after I graduate and where I will go. Going back to the UK doesn't seem entirely appealing but being so far away is also quite difficult and I am not sure I could do it long-term.

In November I am off to New Zealand for a week and then I will be going home to New York for a few months which I am really looking forward to.

So that's basically it! I just thought I would get back into the swing of things by updating you all on where I have been and what has been going on. I'll be back... SOON.

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