The Last Week in Melbourne!

When I returned from Airlie Beach, I had only eight days left, which was entirely overwhelming and saddening since I had a paper to write and an exam to prepare for, but also so many people and places to see. Fortunately, it worked out that I managed to see everyone and say my goodbyes.

My friend Mike, from Adelaide, had a gig so I went to see his band perform at the Old Bar in Fitzroy and met up with Nathaniel Enright as well. It was a fun night and since those two are two of my favourite Australians, I'm glad I got to see 'em. I have vowed to increase Aviator Lane's popularity in the United States, so: http://http//www.myspace.com/aviatorlane.

On the Friday after that, I got to see Alex Sutton! It was nice to see a familiar face from the U.S. We caught up for a bit and later on I went to James' to experience his famous pizza-making and to watch a few movies. James is one of my friends with a real life, also added to the list of favourite Australians. Really, anytime that I found myself at an apartment or in a car, I felt like a less temporary blip on Australia's surface (if that makes sense, I hope it does).

So the weekend continued and I found myself seeing lots of movies, exploring nightlife with my housemate Lauren, and making an attempt to see the aquarium with Alex, but failing and eventually parting later that evening.

The week was a bit rough, due to the fact that I procrastinated to an obscene extent with my Australian culture on the relationship between Australia and Asia, which is quite interesting because although Australia is so geographically close to Asia, has an increasingly large population of Asian people, and depends greatly on Asia's economic markets, it is still ideologically attached to the Western world and has a long history of an anti-Asian mentality. So I ended up reading quite a few articles about Australia's changing identity and the difference between financial and cultural acceptance of such changes. I mean, Australia is incredibly isolated from the 'Western world' yet it is incredibly western in its ideologies (for obvious reasons). Australia finds itself in quite a culturally tricky situation. Anyhow, the paper was completed although it was quite an effort on my behalf to focus in the last week and I eventually found time to study for my exam on the 'Meaning of Life' or more honestly, Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy. Fortunately, I managed to pay attention all semester and found the material engaging. It is fortunate because the night before my exam I found myself at the State Library (which is beautifully distracting) and then at my favourite bar in Melbourne (Hell's Kitchen) with James, Chris, and the Wednesday night Trivia crew. I managed to get myself an HD (pronounced heych-d, an equivalent to an A). Thankfully.

The next evening, I went to the Corner Hotel in Richmond to see Deerhunter with my friend Chris (who I should have met two-three months prior); however, it was a grand time. When I purchased tickets to see Deerhunter, I thought it was a band called Deerhoof (it really gets confusing with all of these 'deer' and 'wolf' bands); however, Deerhunter was far, far, far from disappointing. In fact, my appreciation of them increased post-gig. One of the oddest things did happen to me that evening, something I will never be able to forget. Well, two things. First of all, my friend Chris brought me 'chocolate' with 'nuts' in it, so it was actually vegan chocolate with some sort of odd nut substitute. Probably the greatest thing, second to James' pizza, that I consumed in Australia. Second of all, whilst sitting on the stairs, waiting for Deerhunter, someone fell on me. My first reaction (being at a gig) was 'What a jerk!' assuming I was the victim of some inebriated kid stumbling about; however, after falling on me, he fell to the floor and appeared to be unconscious. After being startled awake, he stood up, took three steps, and fell to the floor again. I found the situation incredibly unsettling. Anyhow, Deerhunter was great! and afterward, I met up with Lauren in the city, for another adventure.

Reflecting upon that last week, I am now realizing that it was quite dominated by that Wednesday night trivia crew, which I particularly enjoyed. Friday, my last night in Melbourne, I went out to dinner with my housemates Lucy and Lauren to a delicious restaurant in Chinatown and then went out to celebrate Suzan's departure. We went to two pretty neat bars, one called '1806,' which served drinks based primarily on historical significance and such. There are so many clever bars in Melbourne. After saying goodbye to everyone, I returned to Box Hill South to say goodbye to my International House friends, which led to more sadness! I found myself in bed by 4am and waking up at 8am or so to gather my belongings and prepare for my departure.

I dragged my suitcase and backpacks to the Richmond to meet up with Chris. We were going to go to the Salvador Dali exhibit (I do everything last minute), but because the queue(!) was so long we went to the Eureka Tower, which turned out to be an amazing last-hours-in-Melbourne experience. The Eureka Tower overlooks the city and is the 'tallest viewing platform in the Southern Hemisphere.' It was amazing. Then I had lovely accompaniment to the airport, where I was too sleepy to realize that I was actually leaving Melbourne. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I imagined myself returning in a week or two. I managed to get myself and my belongings on the plane and headed to Auckland, New Zealand, which is a whole other story.

There are so many things I am still processing since I've left Melbourne. I miss it and I miss Australia in general, but it is also good to be home (hmm, perhaps I did not mention this, but it must be clear from the date that I am writing this after two weeks of being home in New Jersey and about a month since I left Australia). It is just hitting me that there are so many subtle things about Australia that I miss. Just the other day I tried to pay $4.01 with 8 quarters and a penny thinking that the quarters were fifty-cent pieces. In the same day, I hit the windshield wipers instead of my turn signals. Sigh. Australia finds me at the oddest moments. And I truly miss the sound of Australian voices, just so pleasant to the ear, and their odd sayings. I refuse (for as long as I can) to drop the UK English spellings, they just look so much more full and complete. As I mentioned earlier, traveling was becoming extremely emotionally draining since people and surroundings kept changing so rapidly. Absolutely worth it, but draining still. Home is very refreshing in light of that, but I think I'll find myself in Australia again sometime. It's nice to know that I have a handful of favourite people and places to visit when I do return.