What's Next?

This blog seemed to be the last thing on my mind since I have returned home (so I apologise for the 2 month gap).
I have now been back for nearly 9weeks and during this time I have had 7 weeks of uni. Although stressed and freaking out about the multiple assignments and tests due after this weekend, I find myself procrastinating and blogging instead of doing some much needed study.

Life has changed so much since my return. Coming home to a world which seems so familiar, but yet so different. I have had, what could be considered, far too many break downs for a 20 year old to have and entered into a new level of stress that I didn't know was possible. I find it very difficult to assimilate back into everyday life and find myself wondering how things changed so much in such a short time. But as a wise man (my dad) said to me not too long ago, 'it is not us that has changed, but you'.
It got me thinking, since I have been back, my life seems lost in purpose and meaning. I look forward to a change in activity, thrive on new experiences; where I once fear and stressed about change. The small, good, exciting things don't seem to outweigh the normal, ordinary, everyday things any more. And I suppose going back to a 25hr week at uni instead of a 12hr week is also a bit of  downer.

And so, I have decided that it's about time to re-evaluate my life, and what I want and expect from it. With the help of my family I have re-gained the love of myself and the want to continually improve my flaws. (It's strange how a 7month experience changes your whole perception of your original situations.)

-My love of baking has not left me, but my want of eating the sweets I make has. Since being home I have re-joined my gym and finished a 6 week challenge, all of which was to get rid of the weight I had gained overseas from eating far too much haggis and chips :P

-The respect and love of my family has increased. Living away from the people you love and once looked after you truly increases your respect for all they do for you.

-I cannot wait for my uni degree to be OVER. with the realisation that I have 3 more year left of civil engineering, I feel a great weight placed on my shoulders. Having the inability to let stress go, I find a future of study very daunting, as so welcome over loading subjects to finish this degree as fast as humanly possible.

-I have decided that I need to put one day a week aside to do what I want. No study, no homework, no uni. Recently this has been going into my mum's art class and working with her primary school kids for the day. There is something so wonderful about educating children who truly appreciate the help you give them.

There is so much more that I am implementing in my life to find the enjoyment which I had overseas. I know dwelling on the past months doesn't help, but it is always so wonderful reminiscing on the good times.
Although difficult now, knowing that these experiences have changed me for the better is motivation enough to push through the reverse home sickness that I'm feeling.

What's Next is truly the question that I keep asking myself. But I suppose the correct answer to that question is life.

The end is near

With 5 days to go and  many goodbyes to make, I'm starting to fear the end.

My last post concluded at the end of Canada. An absolutely amazing experience, in which has increased my love of Canada, and has also made me miss my wonderful Canadian friends so much more!! I cannot thank Laura and Emily enough for their lovely hospitality! I hope to be able to return the favour if they come to Oz! (which is hopefully soon!!)

After returning back to Guildford, I soon moved into my flat. The first night I remember to be awful. Being in a new house, with people you don't know, it reminded me of my first night in Glasgow. The nerves soon left me as I unpacked all my things the next day and got further settled in.
On July 8th I celebrated two amazing years with Nathaniel in Belgium. It was a very welcomed weekend away  in a Country that I am now very very in love with! Unfortunately to get over to Belgium, it takes a ferry ride to get over to France and then onto Belgium...my love of ferry's has become more apparent. The day after we returned from Belgium, I was off again, back on that exact same ferry on my way to Amsterdam with my cousin, Matt. This ferry ride was definitely not as fun as advertised, as an unexploded WWII bomb was found in Dover harbour, and so our ferry was delayed till 3am with caused our 11hr bus/ferry trip to be 13hrs.

Once in Amsterdam, Matt and I visited unbelievable amounts in only 3 days. The highlight of Amsterdam was meeting up with Cora, a friend who I worked with back at the good old RSL at home. She took us to a proper Dutch restaurant, where I tried a Dutch soup with pea and ham. It was delicious but unbelievably filling, therefore we needed to wash it down with Dutch beers! :D The time we spent together was seriously not long enough. It just makes my want to return to England/Europe increase.
From Amsterdam we bussed to Brussels (yes, back to Belgium :D )
Brussels was so different the Holland. The was a perfect mix of old and new, displaying their love of beer, chocolate and waffles EVERYWHERE!!! (hello extra 2kgs)
In Belgium, the beers are far and wide the best I have EVER had. They also include the very sweet and flavoursome fruit beers, no, not cider, fruit beer. Instead of dinner on our last night, Matt and myself indulged ourselves on many many different beers, the best.

This trip was the last time I shall visit Europe before I leave for Australia.

With two weeks left of Guildford I went on my way going to the gym, into town, bike riding, and dying in the 30 degree weather.

I have 5 days left of my trip until I return to the motherland, and in that time I have planned:
.Nigerian night
.Aussie shindig
.batman at IMAX
.Olympic ceremony
.Olympics Volleyball
.much much gym and cooking

The next days will disappear in a flash, and even though I cannot wait to go home, I don't want to leave everyone and everything behind. I am already dreading the goodbyes and farewells, and have refused to start packing in the hope of forgetting reality.

The last question that needs to be answered is through all my travels, every country, every experience, did I end up finding wonderland?

Happy 145th Birthday Canada! :)

I'm not sure where I left my last blog, probably would have been a good ideal to read over it before I start a new one...but I didn't....
NOTE: due to lack of organisation, I may repeat myself somewhat during this blog.


If anyone ever wants to go to a non English speaking part of Germany, Hanover is the place to go. My great Uncle fort in WWII as an RAF pilot and was shot down on one of his last missions, and so, my uncle thought it appropriate (considering he was the same age as myself when he was killed) to visit his war grave in Hanover. This place was unbelievably tranquil, and so very lovely. Although, if you want to go to a touristy town, this is not for you. The only things to see in Hanover are possibly the war graves and a half blown up church, other than this, it's a fairly boring, ordinary town. 
From Germany we traveled to Ireland, Dublin. We had booked day tours around the ring of Kerri and the Blarney Stone, not realising that these places were a 3hr train ride away from our hotel in Dublin. Whilst fighting the weather (which poured the whole time we were there) we pushed on and kissed the stone, saw the sights and fell asleep on the trains. 
God seemed to be very persistent on keeping us in Dublin as when it came time to catch our ferry to England,  it had been cancelled and the next one was 6hrs later. My patience was definitely challenged as we sat in an empty ferry terminal waiting till 2:30pm to board our ferry.
York proved to be a bit of an adventure. After visiting Hanover days earlier, we stayed on the theme of my Great Uncle, and so, we visited Brighton airbase where he would have flown off from. 
This airbase is now, quite literally, a manure field. hmmm...not exactly a well kept and preserved part of our history...Saying this, Uncle David did not give up on finding the runway and hanger areas of the old base. (We even drove through black, stinking manure water to get there)  
From York we traveled to London where I said goodbye to my uncle. It was so sad to say goodbye. I just want to take some time in thanking him. Although many of the people reading this don't know him, and will probably never meet my uncle, he is one of the kindest and generous people I have had the pleasure of having in my life. It is so wonderful to travel with family, and truly get to know them on their good and bad days. Although by the end of our trip i'm sure Uncle David was glad to be rid of my impatience, complaining and random 2hr naps in the middle of the day. I still enjoyed every minute and wish I could go back!

1 day after fare welling him, I flew to Canada. I traveled on Air Transat...and I sweat they are archaic. Having an 8hr plane trip ahead of me, I was ready to sit down and watch some movies, only to walk into the plane and find that there were no T.V's on the back of the seats, instead they had 1 small t.v above every 10th seat in the middle row. Lets just say that I was less than impressed. (and less looking forward to my flight home tomorrow night)

At the Airport I was greeted by Emily Dubis, a friend I met on Exchange. It was so great to be reunited with her, and it's always so welcoming having someone waiting for you at the arrivals gate.
My jet lag seemed to be the end of me, and at 9pm I crashed so bad. 
The next day was Emily's 21st birthday and so I stayed home (whilst she had work) and made a chocolate mouse cake for her. That night she had many people come over to celebrate, and after being asked to 'speak Australian' multiple times during the night, I went to bed an early 12am. (mainly knowing that I had to get up to catch a 8:50am bus to Montreal)
My hate for public transport continues as my 5hr bus ride turned into a 6.5hr one due to a crash on the freeway. Arriving in Montreal was easy, having only have to make a 5min walk to my hotel I had no problem....except for the part where I tried to check into the wrong hotel, but a part from that, nothing went wrong. 
Whilst walking around in the morning, I soon realised that Cirque Du Soliel was in town (obviously, as Montreal is their home town...) and on the spur of the moment bought ticket (how lonely does that sound) to go see it that night. I had already booked in for a bike tour that day, and so after riding around Montreal in 32 degree heat, I had to run to the show so I didn't miss anything. 
From Montreal I took the bus into Toronto where I met up with Laura, my flat mate from Scotland. I still feels surreal being able to spend time with her and Emily, having met them in Scotland, now meeting up again in Canada. 
I am now an expert in travelling around on the public transport system in Toronto and although the Canadian's my complain about it, I much prefer it to England's!! I have traveled to the Beaches districts, down town Toronto, the Island, went to see a Blue Jays game (Base ball) and have gone to Niagara falls. Each place is so unique and interesting, it seems sad that I only have 1 week here to see things, it's just not enough time! 
Niagara is such an interesting place! the falls are AMAZING! SOOOO beautiful! Laura and I went on the maid of the mist and got soaked as we were awed by the wonder of Niagara falls. But alternatively, the streets leading up to the falls are trashy and somewhat reminded me of Las Vegas in the US, because there was little to no class associated with the blingy, in your face buildings. From Niagara we visited Niagara on the lake. A quaint little town that juxtaposed Niagara to the extreme! It was a much more enjoyable place to eat dinner.
Today is Canada day and whilst happily sitting here watching Spain beat Italy in the Euro (is it a bad thing that I'm Italian and going for the opposing team), it saddens me to know that tonight is my last proper night in Canada as I leave at 9:50pm tomorrow. 


Highlights of Canada: 
.THE SUN (over 30 degrees every day)
.Reuniting with firends
.Poutine
.Tim Hortons
.Bagels
.Bike riding
.Niagara


Lowlights of Canada:
.Heat rash from the sun :( (see what you've done to my Scotland)
.Montreal buses
.Knowing that after tomorrow, I wont see my Canadian friends again for a very long time


Both Laura's and Emily's families have been so wonderful allowing me to stay with them, and putting up with me. I am so blessed to have these wonderful people in my life, and to be able to experience all these wonderful new places. 


Today also celebrates my last month away. In exactly one month I will have arrived back in Australia, back to family, back to friends, and back to normality.  

Tromso, Hanover, Dublin, Cork and a little bit of York

Goodness, since my last post so much has happened, and unfortunately not all good.

Tromso was amazing, although the whole 24hrs of daylight really weired me out!
On our first day in Tromso we really didn't have all that much to do. the strangest part of 24hrs in sun is that the whole town decides that all the events will be at night time, so we were basically waiting around till 11:30pm to do anything. That night we took the chair lift up to the mountains where snow still lay on the grounds even in summer. Afterwards we saw the best choir in Norway in the Arctic Cathedral. They were actually fantastic, I really did love it, although, their conductor was just a tad crazy. I'm actually very glad he went into the profession of conducting because otherwise we may have a drug lord in our midst. I shall describe him to you. He was about 40 years old, wearing a suit with the top three buttons undone to reveal a hairy chest and cuffs rolled up, he wore a giant medallion and very blingy rings. His head was shaven and his beard was formed into a point at the base of his chin. To top it all off, he conducted the whole performance with one hand in his pocket and looked as if he was getting off to the music. Maybe it was a good thing he was so passionate about the music, but even I (who hates it when people comment/talk/laugh during concerts) could not help but release a few giggles every now and then.

On the Sunday during the day I went for a nap. I vaguely remember hearing my uncle start swearing, thinking it was just a dream I didn't wake till 3 hrs later. When I finally woke, I was told that our trip midnight sun sea kayaking was actually last night! I freaked, we both thought that it was Sunday night, and so didn't think to check! Luckily he had called up and rebooked. The main reason we came to Tromso was to kayak in the midnight sun, it would have been so disappointing if we didn't get to in the end.
The experience really lived up to all expectations. The man who was instructing us was fantastic and had been all over the world on expeditions, had even lost 5 fingers to frost bite from climbing mountains in -58 degree weather!! We kayaked about 1/4 of the way around the island and due to the rough sea and the fact that there was a family with us who had a 5yr old girl attempting to paddle in the double boat with her mum, the instructor decided it would be better to turn back and go the other way around the island.

By Monday, we were both rather happy to leave Norway, the expense of it all and the lack of darkness were both getting to us! We travelled to Hanover, Germany and went to visit my great uncles war grave. It was sad seeing thousands of troops' graves all lined up in what was an immaculate garden! Apart from the war graves and a half blown up cathedral, Hanover proved to be the most untouristy place I've been to....I should have realised this the moment that no one spoke a word of English. Even when you clicked the English button on the screens to get your train ticket, they stayed in German.

Ireland was next and we took two day tours, one to Blarney Castle and the other to the Ring of Kerry. Both of these day were POURING with rain! It never even rained like this in Scotland, so I don't understand how it was so bad in Ireland!!! They were both good tours, let down by the fact that they were a 3hr train trip from Dublin (where we were staying) and the weather.
Yesterday was possibly my most unfavourable day of our trip so far. My utter hate for public transport is now in full swing, as our 8:45am ferry was cancelled and the next one left 6hrs later at 2:30. Deciding that it was the only option, we waited in the ferry terminal the whole day, finally got on the ferry and then took 3 connecting trains to arrived in york....at 11pm.

I finally got to book things for my trip to Canada in less then a week and then got to bed. Yesterday has now resulted us to waking up, consuming massive amounts of food for breakfast, and going back to bed.

There are only 4days left of my trip with my Uncle. It's been so great to travel with him (although I won't miss his snoring...) and I can't believe how fast everything has flown!!
There's only one things left to say....BRING ON CANADA!! :D

Travels to Norway

Sadly, Glasgow has come and gone. My times there shall not be forgotten, but most certainly missed. I still can't get over how fast everything went.
Between my departure from Scotland and now, I have travelled quite far! I stayed with Nat for a few days, getting myself sorted for my trip with my Uncle :D On the 5th June, we jetsetted to Oslo, Norway. The first day was quite slow, just having a look around the place, figuring out what we wanted to do and getting to grips with our location and the city. The main difference between Oslo and basically anywhere else I have been, is the population. There may be approx 5million people living there, but it's as if they never go outside. I was so shocked by the lack of people walking around on the streets. We also came to realise how expensive everything was going to be, one meal costs around 18GBP...so about 32AUD (SOOOOO MUCH MONEY!!)
We went to a traditional Norwegian restaurant for dinner on our first night to find Reindeer and Whale on the menu. Unable to eat Moby Dick, I chose 'Norwegian meat' instead (later to find out that it was 2 massive patties of beef with ridiculous amounts of onion... weird) Uncle David on the other hand opted for Rudolph...poor Santa is now missing a reindeer :(

Our second day in Oslo called for a ferry trip in and around the Smaller Islands of Oslo. We stopped off at the largest one (which still only took 20mins to walk through to the other end) and trekked around the Islands Coast. It was such a lovely and sunny day, I even got sun burnt, which is way crazy in Norway!!

On our last day in Oslo, we went to the Science and Technology Museum, Viking Museum, Folk Museum, bike rode, walked, bused, trained and trammed around Oslo and to top the day off, flew in a helicopter :D It was such an amazing day. we were so lucky with all the weather, as it stayed sunny the whole time we were there!

Today we flew to Tromso, north of Oslo. It was a frantic rush to the aeroplane as we were running extremely late, but we made it...mainly due to the Indians that were yelling and throwing bags at each other trying to get on the plane which caused a 15minute hold up...
Tromso is for colder, reaching highs of only 9 degrees, and with the ability to see snow capped mountains on the other side of the lake in front of the town (the lake being only 1km wide) I certainly know where the cold winds are coming from!!
The sun doesn't set here funnily enough. In Oslo, the sun set at 10:30 and rose at 4am, but tonight we look forward to the light shining through our window all night long.
In just 2 days time we are going midnight sun sea kayaking. I'm so excited!!! I am so lucky to be able to experience such thing whilst I am away. I makes it even better having my Uncle here to enjoy the times with me!

Only 2 days left in Norway and then off to Hanover in Germany!

Last woman standing

The day has finally come. I am completely and utterly alone in my flat....unless you include the Asians sharing our living area next door....but apart from that...totally alone.

Saying goodbye to Maddy and Shaun yesterday, and now saying goodbye to Christina this evening, feels like I have lost my family. I knew it would be difficult without anyone here, but I never realised how unbelievably devastating it would be. No more bursting into the house yelling about the 2 times that it actually snowed outside, no more knocking on Christina's door to talk, only to be told that she's still not changed/out of bed (that happened far too many times), and no more family dinners celebrating Taco Tuesday. I cannot believe how fast the last five months has flown....and at the time, I half wished they would go faster. Missing family, Australia and loved ones, all contributed to home sickness throughout many times of my stay here; but now this chapter of my life is practically closed, I feel like I'm getting 'exchange sickness'.

I remember walking into my new empty flat, freaking out that I had no house mates, only to find that they were all at Ikea getting everything for our kitchen/bathroom/bedrooms, everything that I now have the task of throwing out. It's so hard to let go of possessions that have so many memories. It sounds stupid, but throwing away my wok means throwing away all the excessively large meals we made for only 4 people. Getting rid of our pint glasses means never having any more nights of far too many jager bombs, and cocktails till 2am instead of actually going out.
All I have left are the memories, but right now, that doesn't seem enough. I can't help but wish that I had taken more photos, gone out more times, made more friends. Maybe it's lessons learnt for next time.

I leave in 2 days times, and then it's the end of Glasgow. But not forever.

Awaiting the end

I can't believe it's nearly here.
There's 7 days left of Scotland. 7 days. It is so crazy how fast things have gone. It's true what they say, the older you get, the faster time flies. With only 21/2 months left of my 7 month trip I'm starting to freak.

I spent the last week and a bit in Guildford, just hanging out at Aldershot Rd (Nat's house). It was really lovely going into a house with so many people living in it; which made it a bigger shock coming back home to Scotland, two days ago, having only Christina as company, everything is so quiet.
When I walked through my bedroom door, I came to the realisation that I'm ready to leave here, nothing is really keeping me staying any more. By next Wednesday all my flat mates will have left, My room is already half empty (as I have slowly been taking things down to Guildford to make it easier) and, said in a chocked up tone, exchange is over. I have really been dreading those words, to leave everything that I have created here for myself is awful. But now, I feel quite at ease with the idea of going. I'm moving onto further adventures around the world, living in Guildford for a month, and then finally get to go back home.

It's definitely true, I love travelling, love finding new and exciting cultures to immerse myself in, but Australia is my home, and being away from it for so long has clarified that for me.
For the last few days and the next week to come, Scotland has been having a heat wave of approx 23 degrees every day. (yesterday even got to 25!!!)
The sun comes up at 5am every morning, and goes down at 9:30pm every night. There's actually warmth in the air. And it feels EXACTLY like the beginning of Melbourne's summer. So much so that I wake up in the morning half expecting to be back in my bedroom with the ability to go down the hall and hug mum and dad outside whilst they are eating breakfast; and instead I wake up to the realisation that I'm in my flat alone. This is truly the most beautiful weather, but I wish it would go away. The greatest thing about Scotland (and I've only just come to realise this) is that it is nothing like home. I could make my own adventures here with no connection to thoughts of Australia, or wanting to be back. It's now so different having such an obvious sign of home waking you up in the morning, and being the last thing you see at night.

I sit here wondering how I can be so ungrateful, having such beautiful days and complaining that I want rain (really bazaar), but I suppose I associate the rain and cold with Scotland, and warmth and sun with home, and so now, I miss home more then ever.

On a separate note, I was contacted by my cousin about coming over to visit me in July. I'm SOOOOOO excited!! We have now planned to go to Brussels, Amsterdam, Spain and possibly Greece and Switzerland. I looked up bus' and found 4Pound tickets to get to Brussels and 8Pound tickets to Amsterdam, although it may be an 11hr trip, for 8pounds I think I know exactly how I'm getting there!!

In Guildford I went to view the house that I shall be living in in July. It's a really cute, little house with the laundry in the kitchen (soooo British) and a giant living area. My room is small but will fit everything I need in it. It even has a wardrobe...oddly placed I might add, but a wardrobe is a wardrobe! (It is quite literally situated on the wall above my bed, so I have to stand on my bed to get to it... :S )

In one week and 5 days I shall be flying to Norway with my Uncle. I can't believe where my life is taking me, maybe this contributes to the reason why I'm so happy to leave Scotland.

It's times like these where you sit an reflect at how amazing life really is, and how truly blessed we are to be here living in it.

P.S. I shall no longer be living at my Scottish address, so please don't send anything there...cos I wont receive it and you will have wasted your money..... awkward. If you want to send me anything, inbox me on face book or email me and I shall send you Nat's address for June and my address for July :D

One man down, eight to go...

It's happened, the first one of our friends has left to go back home after exchange. Although I'm envious that she was able to do so because she had no exams, but this means that it is now time to start packing, saying goodbyes and going home. It's so sad to think that on the 31st of May I shall never again be able to call Glasgow home.
It's truly crazy to think where the last 4 months have gone!! I left for Japan on the 5th Jan, and now it's already the 8th May?! It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to this place, but although I have loved it over here, and shall miss each one of the friends I have made, I'm pretty sure I am ready to leave. Glasgow has been amazing, but I'm afraid that i miss the sun far too much, as silly as that sounds. Only yesterday, as I was walking home through rain and freezing winds, I commented to Nat that this exact weather is why it's so hard to go outside most of the time. Having only seen 2-3 sunny days in the last month, I'm pretty sure my vitamin D stores are running far too low!

I have my final exam on Wednesday....yes, that's tomorrow....and why I've chosen to write this blog instead of study, God only knows. Sadly enough, the exam is on  a subject which I cannot even remember the title of, proof of exactly how much I care about it's existence. All I am looking forward to is 5pm on Wednesday when I can leave that exam room and go party....without feeling guilty for not studying! (Although I've done the 'not study' quite a lot lately, so you'd think that the guilt would have gone by now, but alas, it has not)

After Wednesday, I fear that my last three months will fly far faster then I want them to! On the 31st May, I move down to Guildford, only for a week while I wait to travel to Norway, Germany, Ireland, York and London with my Uncle. Literally the day after I return from this trip I shall leave for Canada (If you called me crazy I'd have to agree, I don't know what came over me when I booked those flights!!!) I shall be there till July, when I return to Guildford to live for the last month of my travel.
I am so excited, I have found my own little flat and all, to live in.....Well Nat found it for me, but that doesn't erase any of the happiness! I hope to find a small job, just a few days during the week, so I can travel on weekends. I plan on visiting a few friends I have made over here, and catching up with some old ones!
I'm actually amazed to think that after this trip I shall have been to so many new countries, experienced so many different cultures and things, and I will have done it primarily on my own. I cannot believe what I have accomplished. Travel, moving away, living in a separate country from everyone I know and love, may not seem a lot to you, but for me, this is one of the greatest milestone I have ever overcome! I hate change, and truthfully, I don't really like being alone in my own company. Living here, in this cold, isolating place is much more difficult then i first assumed it to be, but now I see that if I can do this, I can do so much more....and to my mum's disgust, maybe even IBL (Industrial based learning - it's compulsory in my course) overseas for a year....who knows...

....I guess, to be rather cliché, the world is my oyster.

When I count my blessings, I count you twice

This was the Irish blessing written on the card that mum and dad left me before they went into the taxi destined for the airport. Sitting here in floods of tears after reading it, I and more homesick then ever.

I can't help but reminisce on the last few days.

Mum and I went into Coventry town centre and soon realised that this place was definitely not at the high end of England. There were so many pregnant teenagers with 2-3 children by their side already; and then there was their drop kick boyfriends who were all on welfare. It was sad to see how such a town could be in such an awful state. Every shop we went into was run down. It took us 30mins to find a nice looking cafe that didn't look as if it was going to give us food poisoning. Coventry proved to be a place I'm happy I visited (to see where my father grew up) but a place I shall not visit again. The two best things we bought (the only things we bought) was wool, so i could re-learn how to knit, and a gorgeous vintage dress! :D

After Coventry, we then Drove to Reading and then onto Wokingham. Yes, these are both strange places to visit, but dad had meetings there, and so mum and I had a look around town whilst we waited. It was great fun spending the days with mum. I have certainly missed her, even when we fort over stupid things, I still loved having her with me. 

We stopped off back at Guildford for one night and took the train to Glasgow. A wonderful 6hr train trip that seemed to fly by (much in comparison to my other train trips that i have had alone). Dad and I watched movies along the way, laughing our heads off at the inbetweeners movie while others gave us funny looks. Mum sat next to a man who had fort in the 1st Iran war and continues today to serve for the U.K, so too does his wife. It was so interesting to hear his stories (although he never went into detail). He told us that his wife is to be sent to Afghanistan in 6months time. I can't imagine what their family goes through and has seen; more then i ever wish to!

We arrived  at Glasgow Central at 9:30pm and I was so excited to show mum and dad my flat. After the initial shock of how small/worn it all is, I think (hope) they liked it, after all, it is my home for the time being. When we woke the next morning we went food shopping, Nat had arrived from Guildford that morning too (on an overnight bus) and was practically ready to pass out, so he stayed in my flat in bed. I can't believe how much food mum bought for me! It was as if all my birthdays had come at once (yes, i do get this happy over grocery shopping) the rest of the day was dedicated to 'Charles Rennie Mackintosh'. Visiting both the Willow Tea Rooms and the Mackintosh gallery. Mum thoroughly enjoyed this, although the next day topped all. (Quick note before i go onto the next day: that night mum and I cooked apricot chicken and lemon meringue pie for dinner, it was the most at home i have felt for a very long time.) 

We took a train down to Helensburgh and visited the Hill House. This house was designed by Rennie Mackintosh and his wife, he did the exterior and she the interior. It was truly beautiful. but none appreciated it more then mum who has waited over 30 years to see it. From here, we walked down to the water front and had fish and chips on the beach whilst being attacked by the gigantic seagulls. 

The final day of mum and dad's trip was my 20th birthday. After being spoilt with Swarovski earrings from mum, dad and Lucy, and many gifts back home, we went to the willow tea rooms for breakfast. My first meal of being 20 = french toast, maple syrup and bacon. I was a very happy lassy! I unfortunately had class in the middle of the day, so once that finished, I walked down to George Square where I met mum to go onto the 'Glasgow Eye'. This is basically a very large wheel which resembles the London Eye.....but smaller. Dad had another meeting during this time, so met us afterwards for some shopping. We all literally shopped till we could no more....well, mainly cos the shops closed at 6pm.... 

All day I had been truly spoilt by mum and dad buying my anything my heart desired, and the gifts did not stop there. For dinner they took me and a few friends out for Teppanyaki. And went back to our flat for cake that the girls had baked me. It was the finish to such a wonderful day. 

Even without all the unbelievably generous things people did for/gave me, the day would still have been perfect with just the people I have been so blessed to have in my life. 

It was the worst feeling getting out of that car. Knowing that this is the last time i will properly, physically see my parents for the next 4months. To perfectly suit the mood, it was raining outside. Once our goodbyes were all said, they got back in the taxi and drove off. I reached into my bag to get my key and found a wad of money left in there by my dad, I still cannot comprehend how generous they both are.

As the days have past since then, I have found it hard. I keep wondering why, as last time I said goodbye I was not like this, but everywhere I turn, small things remind me of the things we did together in Glasgow. 

Sitting here writing this, just finishing the last tissue from the once full packet, all I can think of is the last memory I have of them here, looking through the back window of the old style British taxi, crying and waving goodbye.   

Rome, Florence and Road trips around England

If God gives you lemons, go make some lemonade.

From Nice, Nat and I took at 12hr hour train ride to Rome, This was actually not all that bad, the ride went quick, and wit the knowledge that we shall be able to have dinner in Rome when we arrive, we were both looking forward to our stay.
Once in Rome, we continued onto our hotel, greeted by an Indian man at reception, we were shown to our room. It was a medium sized room, wooden floor boards, broken window, stained bed sheets and no ensuit, instead we shared a 'murder room' with the other people on our floor (which might I add, wasn't even in the hotel building, but in a building around the corner from it). I say murder room as this room particularly resembles the room from Saw. If you have not seen this movie, spoilers: people die in there. Oh, and did i mention that there were also other peoples pubic hair lining the bath tub? How attractive....

After my wonderful experience in the 'hostel' in Tokyo, were Maree and I stayed for one night, and I received bed bugs from, I decided that my money was worth more than stained bed sheets and pubic hair lined murder rooms. So after dinner, I went down and complained. Talking to the Indian man for over 1hr, he finally relented and gave us another room....although not without some pleasant sexism added on his behalf when he told me to stay in the lobby while Nat was shown the room to see if he approved.
This room was 10000% better, and we were upgraded without charge!

The next day we went to the Vatican, We took a 2.5hr tour, which ended up being a 4hr tour, but it was definitely worth it. The Sistine Chapel was unbelievable, to think that Micheal Angelo was a sculptor that had never painted in his life before he pained the Chapel. It was truly a masterpiece.

From our wonderful experience, we then moved onto a not so wonderful experienced at lunch where we were charged 34Euro for 2 plates of spaghetti and 2 coffees. The coffees costing 5Euro each. I don't even know how this is possible in Italy!!!

The next few days we filled with walking the whole of Rome and catching yet another train to Florence. It was so wonderful reuniting with my parents again. I had such an amazing time going around Florence, seeing the sights (the many, many museums) and just being with my parents again. It is something that I shall never forget.

From climbing hills, seeing sights....not climbing the bell tower (sorry mum), and eating lots and lots of the BEST PIZZA I'VE EVER EATEN, we moved onto London. Unfortunately getting up at 5am for the plane trip out was totally unnecessary, as we ended up waiting for a non existent taxi to never arrive and had to call the owner of the hotel to drive us to the airport 1hr later. (Note, this man got up especially to do this for us, and didn't take our money to say thank you, he was truly a lovely man!!!) Once in London we hired a car and drove a good 1.5hrs, on very little sleep, to Portsmouth, where we ended up turning straight back around because the traffic was so bad and there were no parking places left, ANYWHERE!! Running on what was now, even less energy, we travelled back into London centre to see Sweeney Todd. Unfortunately our train detoured and what was normally only a 30mins trip took 1.5hrs. This only started our very bad luck of travelling.

Today we left Nat to go back to work, and mum, dad and myself got into the car to drive to Oxford (normally a 1hr trip)....with unbelievable traffic (totally grid locked) on the M25, we detoured, adding another 2hrs onto the trip. finally making it to Oxford (after dropping dad off for a meeting) mum and I visited Hogwarts...well, at least where some of it was filmed. It was SO cool!! piecing together all the scenes in different areas of Christchurch University (Hogwarts). Mum and I also visited a really cute shop called the Alice shop. Neither of us realised that Louis Carolle was from Oxford, and so there is a rather large amount of Alice in Wonderland memorabilia, which I cannot complain about, in fact I loved it. :D

considering we didn't do much in Oxford, time seemed to fly by, as 4hrs later we met dad and stated our trek to Coventry. My dad was born here, and I was lucky enough to be driven past my dad's old house. It's so strange and intriguing when your parents relay their memories of places.

again, what was suppose to be a 1 hr trip turned into a 3hr trip (this time because we go totally lost) we finally arrived at our hotel, and let me tell you, I have never been more grateful to be able to walk. after feeling car sick for 3/4 of the 6hrs of unnecessary driving, I was very happy to be walking around on land once again.

Tomorrow mum and I shall go into Coventry town and explore whilst dad goes to Birmingham for more meetings. I cannot get over how lucky I am to be able to spend this time with my parents, and as i sit here writing this, with both of them asleep behind me, I can't help but smile with happiness.

Everything is nicer, much nicer, in Nice

Turns out the beach in Nice is made of pebbles...this came to shock me when i walked down, in the hopes of laying and sun baking (although it was not even warm enough to do that)

Today Nat and I spent the day exploring. Not really knowing what would await us in Nice (other then a beach) we had expectations of a relaxing day. We walked around in the morning trying to scout out a nice breakfast shop, this came to quite a pickle when everything costs over 10Euro, and that was just for a coffee and a pastry. We finally stumbled onto a cute little bakery where we bought giant bread rolls filled with mushrooms, tomato, olives and cheese. There is one thing i have learnt here and that is that cheese dose not go amiss. In the short time i have been in France, i think i have taken all the cheese i can!

Nat then left to walk to the train station, so we didn't end up getting the worst trains to Rome for tomorrow (unfortunately we still have an 11hr train ride, starting at 7am) and i walked around the antique market, and down the back streets of Nice. It's crazy what you can find when you get lost in Nice, there were sooo many gelato shops everywhere (evidence that we are much closer to Italy then in Paris)
We then had lunch on the beach, and shopped till we dropped on the main streets! I'm proud to say that i am now up with French fashion! :D

Tomorrow is another exhausting train riding day, starting with a 6am wake up. But it's all worth it. Rome tomorrow and Florence with my family in 3days time. Life cannot get better then this! :D

Gay Paris

As I currently sit on the train to Nice, having only 2.5hrs left of my 12hr day of travel left, and the smell of McDonalds wafting in the air, I consider this to be the perfect time to write a blog (really, what else do I have to do?!)
4 days ago Nat and I landed in Paris. It was a crazy feeling having less than 2hr hour flight to get to a totally different country! Once we arrived, we had to take a 2hr bus ride to get to the centre of Paris, then a train trip to our hotel. Loosing an hour through time changes, and been very tired, all i wanted to do was get to our hotel, but once on the train, a busker playing the accordion joined us and played for the time of our trip. This was such a great entrance to France, being welcomed by an accordion. :)
Once we woke early the next day (having had to literally push Nat out of bed so we could leave at an early hour) we trecked to the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, The Lourve and down the Champs de Leysee. The day was very enjoyable, apart from a waiter at lunch time giving us bottled 6.5Euro water. (lets just say I was less then impressed to pay for it!) To all those playing at home, 6.5Euro is around $10...yeah, not cool. Don't get me wrong, this was a lovely day, but along with the expensive water, rude waiters, dehydration, cleaners on strike at the Louvre (therefore no toilets and trash EVERYWHERE), and trying to adapt to a country where you not only can't understand their accents, but also their language, this day was possibly my least favourite in Paris.
(but don't worry, it all gets better from there)

Day 2 called for DISNEYLAND!! :D not only was i pumped to go here, but excited that after being in Euro Disney, I would have officially visited all 5 Disneylands in the world :) <--and i'm not ashamed to admit this!
It was truly a day of magic, but after having our second over 20degree day consecutively and not enough water, it was followed by headachs and an early night. It's so strange how 20degrees can effect you so much when you are use to 5degrees! I never thought I'd think that 20degrees was hot, but no, I stand corrected!

Day 3 was my favourite day. We travelled to Notredame and went to the Latin Quarter. It felt like i was no longer a tourist here, having MASSIVE paninis and grilled cheese hotdogs for lunch off a side street shop, and walking through the backstreets of the Latin quarter with music playing all around, this is why I wanted to visit Paris. Unfortuntely, we then had to go book our tickets to Nice, where we found out that the only avaiable tickets would have 2 interchanges, and we would be 12hr in transit. This was a mistake we shall not make again. once we get to each station, we are going to book our next tickets, although 12hrs on a train and a waisted day in France sounds appealing, it's actually not as fun as advertised!
To finish off the night we took the train into Bastille wewre we had savoury crepes for dinner (after firstly discifering what was in them...) It was a perfect way to celebrate our last night in Paris!

This leads us onto today. After feeling rather sickly this morning, we took it easy, waking up early to shower, have breakfast, pack and check out, we then went to a French church service. Admittadly, this would have been about 60% better if i could understand what was happening and didn't feel like i was going to faint for 3/4 of the service, but it was still a lovely and culture imersing experience. We then moved on to the Bastille market, filled with fresh fruit and veg, seafood, clothes, nick nacks oh hand even paella (which we bought for lunch! :D ) This little market made me feel so much better!
we then moved onto our train station, getting prepared for our exhausting 12hr train trip. Having ow visited Lyon and Marseille for a whole 1.5hrs each I can say that i'm probably not better for it, as i only saw 10feet out the door. but I'm glad that we are nearly in Nice now. Beaches and crossants await our arrival.

until next time.

Leaving on a jet plane....well, Ryan air...

This is possibly the shortest time it has taken me to write 2 posts consecutively!! If it wasn't for the fact that it's out of total procrastination I'd actually be impressed!

There is now only 2 days before I leave for France and Italy, and 11days till I see my parents again. I'm so excited, I actually cannot wait to see them. It really is strange coming home each night and not being able to talk to your family, It's great having flat mates, but there is only so much they can offer.

There is not much to say, as I wrote not so long ago. Except the weather has been amazing!!!  20 degrees and sunny, although I found it so strange that everyone here thinks that it's appropriate weather it sun-bake and have BBQ's. All I hear, as I'm trying so hard to write an essay, are the screams of the girls on the grass in front of my flat as the guys throw the ball at them 'accidentally', and then male laughter to follow. It's times like these where I compare my experience of exchange to one of my friends who just came home from Texas. I wonder what it was like in warm weather, so much more to do, always wanting to be outside instead of being cooped up in your room because you might loose a toe from frost bite if you venture outdoors. I can't lie, I love Scotland, but I wouldn't complain if it was just a tad warmer.

I cannot believe how fast everything has been going lately. I remember when I was booking the flights to Paris 4 weeks ago, getting excited, booking hostels, and now, in only 2 days, I shall be there. It's crazy, it really puts into perspective how short a time I actually have here. I've nearly been away 3 months now, which means there's only 4moths to go. In some ways I can't wait to go home, see my family and friends, catch up on all that I've missed, but I would love to stay here too. I have decided that the best option is for everyone to just move here, that way I get both! :) But seriously, after all I've seen and done, I know I'm going to find it so difficult to go back to everyday life at home in little old Vermont.
And as cold and rainy as it is here, I don't think I'd trade this experience for the world.

Only 7 weeks left....

And after nearly another month, you are all blessed with yet another blog.
This may not be terribly long as it's already 11pm here. (time certainly creeps up on you!)

Since last I wrote, I have basically been travelling back and forth from Glasgow to Guildford. I have now become very accustomed to the train systems, especially the 4am ones which I travelled on twice in 4 days (tip: this is never a good time of the day to travel, no matter how confident you are on trains, they are not reliable!!) After little sleep, frantic taxi rides to the station, trains not showing up, and therefore missing connecting trains then spending 9.5hrs of your day moving from one train to the next, creates a very sour feeling whenever I now think of train travel. And to answer the question you are all thinking, yes, UK trains are much worse then back in Australia. I know, how could that be! But alas, the next time my train doesn't turn up I think I shall scream, and not just at the lady behind the desk who wanted to charge me another 100pound for a new ticket because their train didn't show.

Even with all the craziness on the trains, seeing and spending time with Nat down in Guildford was worth it. We went to London to see Legally Blond, I went on another baking rampage, not only cooking lemon meringue cupcakes, but also scones and pancakes. I tasted my first ever Traditional Nigerian food (and still didn't find it spicy even though it had multiple raw chillies in it), hired a car and drove to Dorking (a quaint town just next to Guildford), started and finished an essay, started and finished my maths homework, and oh yeah, read all three of the Hunger Game books in less then a week (with much help of the ridiculous amount of train travel involved!).

It feels strange to be back in Glasgow, going back to a mundane life style for the next week. But i have no need to worry, in 7days time I shall be leaving for France and Italy. Nat and I are travelling to Paris, Nice, Rome and then meeting my parents in Florence and travelling back to the UK from there. Words cannot express how ridiculously excited I am to go!! It's crazy though, a year ago I never thought that I would be here, waiting to leave Scotland so I can travel to Paris!!! How Bizarre!

To think, by the end of my travels I will have gone to Japan, Scotland, London, France, Italy, Norway, Ireland and Germany (I'm sure the list will go on, but these are the places so far that I have actually planned trips to, I also intend to travel to many many more during the 2 months after my exchange). I cannot believe where my life has taken me.

Which leads me to my next point. There is less then 7 weeks left till I completely finish my exchange! I finish exams on the 9th May, which means that after that I am a free woman to travel and live wherever I choose. Where I choose shall be in Guildford, and where I intend to travel will now be considerably less places as I need to get a job, but still, I cannot wait for the ability to wake up one morning, go to the airport and ask for the first flight out! (This is one thing I definitely intend on doing)
But until then, my life shall remain in Glasgow, finishing off my uni semester. I really shall be sad when it finishes. I can't believe it's already time to look into arrangements elsewhere.
It's truly scary how time flies!

Scotland the Brave

Well, it has nearly been a month since my last post, so evidently I have been having some fun times!
Since last I spoke, many a things have been happening: 8.5hr bus rides to Guildford, pub crawls, essays, cooking, Football matches, Ruby Matches, Streakers,  Taco Tuesdays, Tequila Tuesdays, even Pancake Tuesdays....oh, and a little bit of uni as well.  It's been a crazy, fun filled, tiring and altogether wonderful experience so far.

Every two weeks Nat (that's my boyfriend for all those reading at home) and I travel to see each other, it's so convenient that he lives in the UK at the moment, But since visiting him last, i have vowed to NEVER do another 8.5hr bus trip again!!! I was so happy to find a window seat on the bus, so I could rest my head on the window and fall asleep (it was during the night) but as the bus engine started to warm up, I soon realised my seat was on top of the engine vent. GAHHH SOOOO HOT ALL NIGHT!! I swear that is a statement i never thought i would say in Scotland! Basically: if you intend on travelling to Guildford from Glasgow I give you this warning: STAY AWAY FROM THE BUSES, YOU QUITE LITERALLY FEEL LIKE YOU'RE IN HELL!!

There is one thing I have yet to write about on this blog, and that's introduce my flat mates (hopefully they're ok with me posting about them....and very awkward if they aren't....)
I live with three girls, Laura (Canadian), Maddy (Aussie), and Christina (Aussie). They are all great to live with. When i moved in, I was so worried that i'd either have nothing in common with my flat mates, or that they were crazy and going to kill me in my sleep...I less prefer the later, but beggars can't be choosers...
I'm so lucky to have 3 girls with similar interests and cleanliness levels, and we all get along, which is always a good sign.
This leads me onto my next point of TACO TUESDAYS!!! A day invented by Laura, who also does this with her house mates in Canada.
(This day is also referred to as Tequila Tuesdays, and Pancakes Tuesdays as we always seem to have either one of these at 11:30pm that night...) If you haven't had some sort of Mexican food at least once a week for the past 5 weeks in a row, you're missing out! Like, seriously.....

This last weekend has been CRAZY! pub crawl Friday, Celtic's football match Saturday, and Scotland vs France in the Rugby in Edinburgh today. It was our own little boys weekend, and it was great!! The pub crawl was a little bit of  let down. expensive beers and crowded pubs didn't help the atmosphere either. Although the night continued into the wee hours of the morning back at our flat where we turning to making not just one but 3 pizzas and consumed all three between 3 females. (see what Glasgow does to you!?)
The football yesterday was great fun, but truly no comparison to the Rugby today. After an hour bus trip to get to Edinburgh and a 4hour wait till the game, It was definitely be an experience that i shall carry to my grave. Having crazy French men waving flags in your face while they walk down the street with chicken hats on and singing songs, to a man streaking on the field during the match. Waving my giant Scotland flag in the sky whilst the crowed screamed and cheered was one of the best memories that I can share with you all.
Before i came, my sisters boyfriend told me that Edinburgh was a place very close to his heart, and now I know why.

After the match I needed to get home, having an essay due on Thursday which i haven't even started, I though the best idea would just be to get back home and start it off (it is now midnight, and i still haven't started it....). Laura and myself walked back to the bus station (a good 40min walk from the field), i went to the desk to change my ticket time as i was suppose to leave at 9:30pm. The man told me that it would cost 5.80pound to change my ticket, even though the ticket only cost 5.45pound in the first place. As he was telling me this the bus driver came around and started talking to me about the rugby match, and whether out of pity because we lost, or my girlish charm, he let me change my ticket for free. (I'm going to assume it was out of pity as on a scale of 1-10, my girlish charm is possibly below 0....)

I'm now back in my flat, with my giant Scottish flag pinned above my bed head. At this moment i feel so glad and so blessed that i had the opportunity to be here.

Aussie sheila turns into a Scottish lass

It has been a while since my last blog, and will probably be longer still till the next.
Since last time, life has slowly been getting back to normal.

Subjects have finally be sorted (which was a massive kerfuffle in its self)
I am doing: Maths and Statistics, Operations and Project Management, and Men and Masculinities....don't ask me why I'm doing the last subject (which is a sociology subject) but i am....it confuses me too....

I feel like I have barley anything to do here. with only 13 contact hours a week, my days consist of uni/baking/gym/movies. So, because I feel that my time in Scotland should be taken advantage of, last night I joined the choir. Call me a geek, but I really loved it. Considering last year I practically gave up singing, I hadn't realised how much I had missed it. It was strange how something like that can somehow feel like it fills you up inside. The people there were lovely too, and I'm glad to say that I'm trying to immerse myself in the culture. And so, on that note....after choir we went to the pub (as you do in Scotland after EVERYTHING!!) I really didn't realise how multicultural Scotland is. So many people from Strathclyde are from overseas.
I met a man from Sweden who told me that it was free for someone of the EU to come to Scotland to study. I was shocked. (I wish we had that back home!)

Yesterday mum told me that they were planning on coming up during the Easter holidays. I'm really excited, although it's possibly made me miss home more. During the last week the feelings of homesickness have most definitely set in, and  being told that I could see the people I miss, but have to wait ages to do so is rather taunting.
I didn't think life would be like this, being away from home. It's strange, I have all the opportunities to go out, drink, stay out till early morning, but have no want for it.
Maybe I am an 80year old woman trapped in a 19year old's body, I'm not quite sure yet. But until I decided, I shall continue my journey down Scotland's merry lane.

Flights from hell....

In the time which I haven't written a post, my life has been a massive roller coaster.
I consider myself to be a very organised, well planned type of person; until my flights leaving Japan to come over to Scotland.

My last few days in Tokyo were lovely. If it wasn't for the knowledge that I'd be leaving to go to England, I don't think i would have wanted to leave!
It was truly a pleasure travelling with Maree, and I'm very proud to announce that not once did we get lost, even with weird, cryptic directions on how to get to hostels which are 30mins walking distance away. It was strange and hard to say goodbye at the train station. Knowing that I wont see this girl who i have spent every moment of everyday with for the last 2 weeks, for 7months.

After getting to the airport, I decided having some breakfast was a good idea...so I thought, what better way to leave Japan then having rice! :) In my hurry to run to the gate after my food, I placed my purse in an open plastic bag which I was taking on as carry on luggage. When I got onto the plane to take my seat i put my bags in the overhead lockers, to have all the contents of the plastic bag fall out at me. As there were people waiting to pass me, i quickly shoved everything back in the plastic bag and took my seat.
From Japan, i had a stop over in Zurich, and then transferred to my plane which arrived at Heathrow airport.
On my second flight I couldn't remember seeing my purse in the plastic bag when i got off the plane in Zurich, so i lept up out of my seat and began frantically searching for it. I looked through each bag (I had 3 carry on bags) over 4 times each, and couldn't find it.

Then came the moment when my world started to close in on me: in my purse was a bank draft (like a travellers cheque) for over GBP 6000, (so when i arrive in Scotland i could just deposit the money without having an international transfer fee.) This meant that I lost all my money i had worked so hard to get.
Tears continued to fall as I walked from desk to desk over 4 levels of Heathrow airport trying to file a lost and found report.

When i finally walked through the gates I saw Nat standing waiting for me, and even though I was so happy to see him, all i could think about was what i had lost.
When i arrived at his house I called mum and dad. In all honesty I don't know what I would do without them. Mum, as she always does, took it in her stride and went about fixing up all the loose ends from the Australian side (like cancelling every card that was in my purse, and cancelling the cheque!!!) I don't even want to imagine what it would have been like without that support and love associated with her actions!

Although nothing has been found at any airport, things are looking up. Everything has been cancelled, and re-issued. and i'll even be able to get the money from the bank draft back!!
All that's left to do now is buy another wallet.....and not leave it on a plane!

After this crazy time, I spent most of the day walking around Guildford, Surrey, where Nat lives now. It's such an adorable little country town. It takes about 50mins to walk from one end to the other. Tonight we went out house hinting for Nat. We went to this lovely house (which I LOVED straight away, and wanted it for myself!) really close to town. They said that its first in first served, so Nat would have to send a txt early tonight to confirm if he wanted it, but he still had 3 other houses to look at....within 15mins Nat decided he wanted it, after texting and getting no reply he called the girl from the house, only to find out that not 5mins ago had the other person called to say they wanted the room! It was so frustrating too because apparently the message didn't go though, and if it had, Nat would have got the house. It's very strange, because even i was really disappointed that he didn't get the house! It was truly lovely!!
From that, i decided it was time for me to go home and leave Nat to running around Guildford trying to find a home. I hope he finds one soon!!

It's only 8:30pm here and i'm absolutely pooped! looks like an early night tonight!!

The worst and best of days (Tokyo)

To all those who are reading this, please understand that I am working off very little sleep. Maree and I have most definitely been put through the washer in the last few days, and we have come to learn that even though swearing and complaining gets you nowhere, it certainly does make you feel better!

After our 3hr Shinkansen trip to Tokyo, we went on our way finding our last hostel. (we were to stay here till we leave, so for 6 nights) we had made it this way because we finished out JR passes on the day we left for Tokyo, and so we decided to stay here (as it is close to Narita airport) for the last leg of our trip.

We searched for out Hostel and couldn't find it anywhere, finally a man pointed it out to us....the main reason why we couldn't find it was because it was built behind a garage....and this starts our horrid story.

My bag didn't fit through the doorway, it took 3 people to try and squeeze it into the hostel (if you could call it that). It was SOOO small. It was run by a very lovely old lady who lived next door...but this was the only lovely thing about this place! we were shown to out room, which was so small that maree and i had to hug to pass each other. The toilets smelt like piss and the door knob didn't work. The walls were made from plywood, were paper thin and had a 1/2 meter gap between the end of the wall and the roof, so you could hear EVERYTHING around you. Just from this i was feeling awful about the place. i didn't want to stay here, but i thought maybe i was just being pretentious. So we decided to man up and stay there for a night and see how it was....

....during the night the heater turned off and even with 3 layers on and a foam mattress acting as a blanket, i was freezing cold. I think, all up, i had a pitiful 2hrs sleep. In the morning i wanted to get up and have a warm shower, but on my excursion to the shower, i realised we couldn't close the door of the bathroom, because other people needed to use the sink to wash their face/brush teeth. I went in to the shower cubical, and the 'shower head' (tap) was located at belly button height. The shower had hair all over it and was unbelievably dirty!

Whilst in the shower i noticed i had the beginnings of a rash on my body and bed bug bites on my arms and legs. This was the last straw.
Thin walls, confined rooms, no sleep, freezing cold, gross shower/bathroom and bed bugs? We asked our self this question many many times 'WHY DID THIS PLACE GET A 84% RATING ON HOSTEL WORLD?!?!?!'

I walked into the room and burst into tears. Maree turned to me and said to pack our bags because we are leaving. This was the SMARTEST thing we have done all year!! I couldn't believe that such a place could exist!

we were really disappointed that we ended up wasting 2 days being at this hostel, trying to get there and trying to get away from there!

We found a hostel which is 'sister' to the hostel we stayed at in Hiroshima. AND WE COULD HAVE CRIED WHEN WE GO IN THE ROOM!! It is soooo lovely!! Our experience has truly made us appreciate everything that we have here!! 

Life has been looking up since our little experience. We went to a market and temples and had a most lovely time out. Our hostel organises many tours and trips, and so tonight we are going on a sushi and sabo (i think thats right) making course. it should be great fun, and delicious!! I cannot wait!!

All i can do now is thank everyone who we talked to in our time of need. You truly made all the difference!!

Osaka/ Kyoto

When travelling to Osaka, it seemed to bring up a lot of sadness, both Maree and I started our journey of homesickness, and although sleeping arrangements were interesting, they did not offer much sleep; and so travelling off little sleep and much homesick feelings, Osaka seems to be the downfall to our trip so far. 

For anyone considering coming to Osaka, i suggest you only stay for one night as there is only enough to occupy 1 nights worth of entertainment...that is unless you enjoy over priced aquariums with whale sharks. 

The hotel we stayed at was a capsule Hotel with communal baths. Although I was willing to try out the bathing situation, I think my former expression of views on communal bathing scared Maree from showering for the 2days. The capsules themselves were really interesting, but very uncomfortable (much like all the beds in Japan, although these had an extra hardness to them) 

We travelled to Kyoto yesterday, and after walking a good 40mins to our hostel with our 25kg bags, we were told that check in wasn't for another 4hrs, so we decided to travel to Nara. Nara is a small town about 1hr train ride from Kyoto station. It has many many temples, mainly known for the Giant Buddha, and yes, it is GIANT!! Although I had seen it all before, it was really lovely, even though we walked EVERYWHERE!! 

When we arrived back at Kyoto station, both Maree and i spelt this AMAZING smell, it was JAPANESE CURRY!!! it is now our new love, today we even travelled back to Kyoto station (we are two stops from Kyoto station, at Nijo) just to have lunch there!! it is only 450 yen for a plate so big that we have to share!!! (450 yen is about $5.50)

Today we rented bikes and travelled to the golden pavilion. If it wasn't so cold and rainy it would have been one of my favourite days so far. Even though we were bike riding, the wind today cut though all warm feelings, and even sitting here writing this in bed, i am still cold. Once the sun goes down here (which is at about 4pm) so too does all the warmth!!!

For a few days now we have been trying to change our hostel bookings so we go straight to Tokyo from Kyoto (where we are currently) instead of stopping over at Yokohama. Although it would be lovely to go there, Maree and myself are both UNBELIEVABLY exhausted!!! so much so that we are taking turns on the train trips to sleep, making sure that one of us stays awake to ensure we don't miss our stop. 

I emailed our hostel in Yokohama multiple times, worrying about cancellation fees, but receiving no response. With each email i became more and more assertive, worrying that if they didn't understand then they would charge us for the nights we had booked. After many phone calls we finally got a hold of them and with a translator, found out that the man from the hostel didn't speak English, nor could respond to our emails in English, so although he received each email he had no way of responding. 

All was a massive misunderstanding, and am VERY VERY happy to have it all sorted out!!

Tomorrow we travel to Tokyo and will be there till the end of our trip!

We will be visiting Mt fuji and many many castles and temples!

Hopefully Tokyo will make up for the lack of Japanese crepes here. 

Japan is truly an unbelievably place. 

Japan - Hiroshima/Osaka

I`ve never really been fond of the idea of a blog. As my uncle said to me before I left, the irony of blogs are that the more bored you are, the more posts you will be writing; as you have the time to do so. And that, I most definitely agree!My blogs probably wont be very detailed, nor very frequent, but what there is of them, I hope i do not disappoint, and that my apparent boredom at the time of writing doesn`t show through.

The flight into Japan was a rocky start. After being waved off by our families, Maree and I jumped on to our flight for Sydney, unfortunately this stop over lasted longer then expected due to the lightning storms, But luckily this didn`t hassle our connecting flights! 

Maree is not very use to flying, and had a hard time at the start of the flight. But after an hour or so sleep she soon came around. I on the other hand slept really well and found the plane flight to be really fast! Less is said for the 3 bullet trains we then had to take to get from Tokyo to Hiroshima....which took 6hrs!! (nearly as long as it took to get from Sydney to Tokyo!)

Hiroshima was AMAZING!! we visited the Atomic bomb dome, The Peace memorial Museum and Miyajima Island. Miyajima was SOOOO beautiful!! We were so lucky to have arrived at the time of day that we did. The water was out, and so we got to go up to the gates and touch them!! 

All over the island are little traditional street shops; food, ornaments and accessories. It was crazy, the smells, the sights, it was a place which i would definitely visit again!As it`s located water side, there was so much delicious looking seafood. and many many oysters being cooked and shelled in front of us!For lunch Maree and I had Steamed Pork Buns from a little side shop. They were soooo YUMMY!!

The next day we went and had breakfast at a little cafe. We intended to leave quite early as we need to head to Osaka by Shinkansen at lunch time; but as we sat down a lovely old Japanese woman came up to us and started speaking English to us. She invited us over and ended up paying for our breakfast. She was so lovely!! Both Maree and I can`t get over how kind hearted all the people here are! She showed us around the shopping area and got us some bargains on a few items we wanted to buy. We all agreed to stay in touch, and shared contacts before we headed off!! :)

The shinkansen to Osaka wasn`t that bad! only an hour and a half. 

When we arrived in Osaka we had to find our way to our Capsule hotel. Let me tell you, if you have the opportunity to stay in one of these, DEFINITELY DO!! I didn`t even mind the communal bathing like I thought I would!

We ran into 2 Australians from Sydney (Hugh and Alex) and ended up spending our night walking around and eating dinner with them. It was actually lovely having new faces and people to be around. Although, we didn`t get an opportunity to transfer contacts, so it seems so strange to have spent a very enjoyable evening with people I`ll most likely never see again....

Today we really haven`t done all that much, as there really isn`t much to do or see in Osaka except shop. Saying that, we have walked a good mile and a half today.

Tomorrow we are off to Kyoto, and i`m really looking forward in immersing myself in all the culture. It will be great to go back and visit some of the sights i saw last time i was here!

I shall leave this post here. 

Until next time.

8hr 45mins till take off

Not long now.....nearly time to find wonerland