Cliché

 

Today I had follow up meetings, shredded some paper, cleaned my desk and walked out of the office that I had known for almost a year for the very last time.

Three months ago, I was still deciding what’s next for me. I didn’t know if I should continue to stay in Australia or to go back home. Now I am struggling to fit what I had for the whole year into 23 kilograms. Perhaps time for a short mental break to reflect my amazing adventure in the land down under.

Now that I’m leaving the country so soon, many people ask me what’s the highlight of my time in Australia/What is the best trip I had in Australia. Thanks to all the wonderful people I met here, I cannot one moment and say that is the highlight. There were so many things that I will remember for a long long time.

As for my favorite trip, it has to be: Mungo National Park. Most Aussies have never heard of this place. It is nothing glamourous and touristy like the Sydney Harbour Bridge. However, I have never felt so close to mother nature. Even the road is unsurfaced; we drove for 2~3 hours on red soil. I have seen kangaroos in the zoo the first month that I came to Sydney, but at Mungo, it was a different world. Kangaroos are jumping freely everywhere. We came close to hitting them with our car a few times. The experience doesn’t stop there. Many wildlifes on the way, many 10,000 years old bones later, it is a trip I will never forget.

There are many take aways from my journey in Australia. While I appreciate these things but it is somewhat cliché. If I am in any foreign country for a year, I might feel this way upon leaving. One sunday morning, I realized Australia’s uniqueness. That Sunday morning on a winter day, I was all by myself with empty stomach. Not feeling like wanting to cook, I went to a cafe to buy some breakfast. It was a sunny day and I was sitting outside. Then it occurred to me, that how many places in the world, that you can sit outside, without feeling cold, and enjoy a nice breakfast and coffee/tea in winter? (maybe there are many countries that this is possible but I am from Vancouver, it is a luxury)

With 3 more sleeps till I fly out, I thought I would post something like this on my blog as a celebration. Hope whoever is reading this are enjoying the photos if I have bored you with my words 🙂

Cheers,

Great Expectations

Fortunately/Sadly it is January. It is finally summertime in Sydney (even though I’m told its the coldest summer in 50 years). That also means I am almost at the half way point of my internship.

Looking back at all the things that happened in the past 5 months+, many things did not go my way. When I was boarding my flight to Sydney in late July 2011, I had expectations about my life in Sydney would be; what I want to do in Australia, where do I have to travel, how work would be like.

Some of these expectations did not end up in the direction that I wanted them to be. Some were awesome in the beginning but are gradually falling apart. When I look back at all the things that have gone wrong, all the struggles, the frustrations,  it is part of life.  I just never noticed them before because I was too caught up in my own little world back home. When something seriously goes wrong, I avoid or ignore it and hoping a solution would present itself, without actually taking time and think about how to deal with them.

My time in Australia has been filled with dealing with issues on my own as they come up. Through the mistakes I made, I learnt a lot about trust, how to deal with difficult situations, relationships with co-workers/colleagues, friends, flatmates etc., these I will never forget.

When I think about those unfulfilled expectations/goals now, they are still achievable. I have accepted the fact that they may or may not be plausible to my 1 year in Australia since many things are out of my control. With that said, life in Australia has been a great ride so far (the good and the bad) and I look forward to another 6 months of adventures down under.

To end on a happy note, I have lots of travelling plans coming up. I am super excited to take more beautiful pictures really soon. Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!

The Belated “OMG can’t believe its been 4 months!” Post

It’s been 4 months since I met Australia.  I’m saddened by the fact that over 1/3 of my internship is done!  I am very busy at work everyday. It is just the right amount to keep me busy during the day and still able to get off work somewhat on time.

It’s almost December now. I knew it’s gonna be a warm warm Christmas for me this year. I thought I was mentally prepared for this. Somehow it just felt wrong when I saw gigantic Christmas trees everywhere under the bright and hot sun! I just have to get use to it!

Travel:

Following Christmas, I will have a week of “mandatory time off” in January, when flights are the most expensive. Then Cairns in February.

While making travel plans, I receive a lot of advice/recommendations about where I should go and what I should do. It sounds like I need to cram everything in the days I’m there to maximize the amount of places I go to.

A friend of mine, who loves to travel, once told me: “leave some regrets, so you will come back for it later.” This is my state of mind right now. If I really love a place, wouldn’t I come back and visit again? If I see everything, would I appreciate it the second time around?

Recently, I had a skype chat with a friend back home. She also wants to go on an AIESEC Exchange and is considering Australia. I found out that she read my blog. I am so happy to know that stuff on my blog would actually make a difference, such as potentially making people wanting to go on exchange. It was definitely one of the best decisions I made! I wouldn’t mind promoting it any day. 🙂

Here goes another week day! Sufficient sleep needed to get through the week. Ciao!

Trips x 3

Hello friends! I really meant to write more frequently, but the past weeks has been quite busy. In fact, I barely had time to do grocery. The last 3 weeks has been filled with lots of trips (aka. lots of fun), including a weekend in Melbourne. Words cannot describe those places I’ve been to so far. Pictures will come later, so stay tuned.

Why is it so awesome to go on exchange? I get to meet other interns/international people. For the trips I have been on for the past few weeks, 2/3 were with people with diverse culture backgrounds. When we were in the car, we talk about our own cultures. Every trip, I am learning something new.  For example, I never knew Polish folks never have lunch. They have a dinner at 3 or 4pm.

I can feel that summer is right around the corner now. I’m so grateful that I am in Australia right now instead of cold, rainy Vancouver in November. I’m not used the flies here. They are everywhere. I have to be careful when I talk because I don’t want them to fly into my mouth.

Work:

Work is treating me well. We are shooting a video to promote the graduate program in my company. This Wednesday, we will have a meeting and see the video footages we shot. I am a little scared after watching the playback of my own video. It is really true that you look 20 pounds heavier behind a video camera. I think I really admire all the actors/actresses that looks great and able to talk presentably behind the camera. Even though it was really short, I think I had over 20 takes?

I cannot believe I am with VMware over 3 months now. In less than 3 months, I will be rotating to my next role – Finance; the next rotation seemed very distant back then. I think I will miss the flexibility that I have for my current role, but I lookforward to have a physical team in Australia (for rotation #2), rather than a virtual team.

Cheers for now!