90%

Wow. Feels like last week I was titling a blog post "35%." Twelve days from now I will be on my way home. I don't know why I'm so surprised at how fast it's gone, and yet here I am. The weather here has taken a turn for the worst, and according to a few people today marks the first day of winter. When I say "the worst," I mean 50s and rain. It's not really "the worst," but it makes it quite a bit easier to say goodbye knowing I'm going home to summer.

A couple of weeks ago, a group of us international students went out to dinner as an end of trimester celebration. Countries/states represented: U.S Virgin Islands, Canada, Denmark, United States (Washington, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Iowa of course). On an experience like this, it was crucial to have people who were sharing the same troubles and joys of living in a foreign country. I still haven't quite wrapped my mind around the fact that I have to say goodbye to them and the other friends not in these pictures.

Last Sunday, Jess, Issy, and I represented our fraction of Res (coincidentally also named Deakin) in some Australian football in the inter-college footy competition. We came in second after beating Barton but losing to Parkes. I made the first goal of the day, and my playing pretty much went downhill after that! Nearly a week later Jess's finger is still swollen and unusable and I have a bruise on my foot that is still tender to the touch. Regardless of the rampant tackling, there were no other injuries!

Tuesday night, my cousin Rachel flew in to Melbourne. She spent the last two weeks in Greece with UNI and is completing her trip around the globe by visiting me for a week. Her visit is perfect timing too, because the last few weeks are the hardest for exchange students. If she weren't here, I would be focused on counting down the days until I'm home and missing out on properly saying goodbye to such a beautiful country. Thursday, we took the train into the city and went to the Melbourne Zoo. We warmed up afterwards with the Australian delicacy of meat pies and took the train back.

(Be sure to check out the pictures of Rachel with butterflies on her in the butterfly house!)

Friday, we rented a flexicar and drove to You Yangs Regional Park for a hike. We saw plenty of wild kangaroos, and after the cold hike (it was raining on and off) since we still had the flexicar, we drove to Narana Aboriginal Center. My dad, Joe, and I went to Narana back in March and met their emu, Nigel, and their friendly kangaroo. This time I went into the fenced in area confidently, found Nigel, found the kangaroo, and pet the kangaroo like he was my dog. After a couple of minutes, Rachel worked up the nerve to get closer and eventually pet him too. We then went to the best Fish & Chips shop in Torquay, and had some bomb ice cream next door despite the cold. Make sure to check out the videos of the kangaroo at the end of this post.

Today, despite it being the first day of winter and despite the 55 degree air temperature, we went surfing! I signed us up for surfing lessons a month ago not knowing it would get this cold, and, well, when else are you going to have the chance to learn how to surf in one of Australia's most famous surf towns? We were in a small group with two other women, and for two hours we battled the waves. The wet suits were incredibly effective at keeping us warm, and the cold was the least of our concerns once we really got going. We were also not the only ones surfing, as we saw at least twenty to thirty other people down the beach surfing. Some as young as six or seven. I managed to stand up a few times (keeping in mind, this was my second time surfing) and Rach managed to ride quite a few waves in on her knees. After a hot shower we had some really great sushi next door before making it back to my apartment. Once we returned, Jess and Issy surprised me with a cake they made as a way to say they'd miss me. Even though I don't leave for 12 more days, they presented it today since the next week and a half will be filled with exams and preparing to go home.

Tomorrow, Rachel, Nina, Jarryd and I are going on a winery tour/tasting around Geelong. A few nights ago I booked my tickets to the Grand Canyon to visit my best friend and boyfriend and I am so overjoyed and excited it's working out to go visit him! I can't wait to get home, but I'll write more about that when I get a bit closer. :)

Some videos from the zoo:

A cassowary (native to Northern Australia)

I don't really remember what this was...a tapir?

One of the elephants

The kangaroo and I becoming besties

A close-up of my pal :)

Thinking of you guys always, can't wait to see you!