A few months on...

Australia was a place where I found peace. I found strong friendships. I found love of life, welcoming people, and adventure on a regular basis. I cannot accurately communicate how much my time there meant to me. As such, it should be no surprise that, while there are some good things happening currently, overall being back "home" has not been an easy transition. Yeah, it's been a few months now. In fact, it's been almost the full length of the semester already. But those few months I spent thousands of miles from my current location were formative and life-changing months.

I don't think a day passes that I don't tell someone a story about Oz. Certainly, I talk to someone from the trip every day--usually more than one person. Before the summer was over, I took two trips to visit friends from ASC. I traveled by plane to visit Toby in Connecticut, which was an absolutely fantastic few days. I got to meet several of her friends, her mom, and even got to go to Maine for my first time. The trip was well worth the effort to get up there and she and I have plans for other trips to see each other again within the next few months. Just before I left for that adventure, Rachel stopped by my house for basically 1 day. This was also a fantastic visit and I eagerly anticipate the next one. Then, on my way back from CT, I got to have dinner with Alessandra and her sisters in Charlotte. Such wonderful people. I'm so lucky.

A few weeks passed and I got the itch to travel again. Thus, looking at various options at to where I should go, I finally picked Michigan by way of Indiana. By going this route, I got to stop at my sister's new house in Kentucky, as well as get lunch with Amanda. Visiting with her was such a blessing. I can't wait for her wedding! Then, I continued up to Michigan where I stayed with Ryan for just a couple days. We went to the Henry Ford Museum, Ryan made me pancakes and steak (not at the same time), and we completed a very large and difficult puzzle. And... within a couple weeks of my visit, Ryan got engaged. I can't wait for his wedding too!

I drove home from Michigan through Ohio and Kentucky, enjoying a gorgeous day by myself in my car. I listened to music, had Lady Gaga dance parties with myself, and even called a few people while I drove. It was a wonderful end to the summer. And then, a couple days later, I moved back to Milligan.

Getting back into the normal flow of things has not been easy. I have a pretty full schedule, a good-sized class load (though it looks small on paper), I'm stage managing The Secret Garden, I'm finding a lot of my old friendships have faded quite a bit (interests change, people change, that's life...). And I'm starting to miss the people and things that made Australia so fantastic more and more each day. During Australia, I was pretty much stress free. Being back, it's like all of that stress I stayed away from last semester has come flooding back into my life. I'm trying to figure out what I do with all of the things I learned during my time abroad. I'm trying to figure out how to maintain the close relationships I made while I was gone. I'm trying to figure out how to fit back in with the people here. And to be perfectly honest, I'm having a hard time figuring any of it out.

Australia is seeming more and more like a dream every day. And I feel like I'm in that moment of waking where I'm saying, "Wait, wait, stop fading! Please let me sleep for five more minutes. Please let the dream pick back up where it left off... I don't want it to be over..."

To my friends, both new and old.

Tomorrow's my last non-flight day on this journey.

I'm bidding farewell to a number of dear friends. I don't know for sure when I'm going to see any of them again. And I'm extremely melancholic.

We said our "words of affirmation" to one another this afternoon. We shared with each other encouraging thoughts and memories and love. We talked for hours, going around the circle, speaking to every individual. During all of this, I was one of the few not to shed a tear. But inside I was weeping. I was weeping for this has been an incredible semester. I was weeping, because I don't want this to end. And I was weeping with joy for the new loves I have found in these people.

Toby, Alessandra, Nick, Rachel, Tess, Aaron, Courtney, Kara, Katrina, Paul, Aubrey, Becca, Hannah, Amanda, Sam, Ryan, Allana, Elaina, Sarah, Anna, Kim, Kristin, Alex, Casey, Liisa, Kimberly, Erin.

These are names I will not soon forget. These are the names of some of my closest friends. Indeed, a few of these people I consider just as close as anyone I've ever known. I love these people so dearly and am going to miss them so much.

To each and every one of them, I give them my best wishes and blessings. I hope each of us will look back at this time with love and affection and remember it as a time of growing, a time of learning, and, most importantly, a time of friendship and beauty.

Tomorrow, I will go on a final adventure with Nick, Tess, Rachel, Alessandra, possibly Kimberly, and possibly anyone else who joins us. We will be heading to Rangitoto Island, a volcano in the middle of the Auckland Harbour. Tomorrow will be a wonderful day with wonderful people. I just wish it wasn't the last one.

Oh, by the way, I'm in New Zealand, which is very possibly the most beautiful place on earth. I've had my breath taken away so many times just driving through the country. It is incredible. I wish I could stay longer--which might actually happen due to a volcano in Chile causing many flights to be canceled. With any luck, maybe the adventure will continue just a bit longer....

Guys, it's been great. Thanks for a wonderful semester. I love you all so much.

To my friends back in the US, I am looking forward to seeing you. I can't wait to share with you stories of my experiences here. I hope some of you will take the time to listen and to try and understand as I tell my stories. I will never be able to truly explain what I've seen and learned here, but I look forward to trying. I hope you all will welcome me back with open arms and open ears. I'm going to need some support for a while, because it really is extremely tough saying bye to the amazing people I've met here. It's extremely tough for me to let this segment of my life go. I hope you guys will try to understand.

I may blog again when I get back. I'm not sure. We'll see. For now, goodbye.

Love, Daniel.

Bookshops, Beaches, Engagement, and Debrief

So.... what have I been doing lately? I haven't blogged much in a while, that's for sure.

Let's see, there's Newtown, which is a place with tons of bookshops (Goulds, Elizabeth's Bookshop, Books on King St, Moore Books, etc). It is a place with a few small theatres. It has a Dendy Cinema. It has tons of coffee shops and restaurants. It is a place I have spent many hours. It's the arts district of Sydney. It's basically like Downtown Asheville on crack and congested into a couple streets. I love it.

I have gone to Watson's Bay multiple times, enjoying the beautiful ferry ride there, as well as the incredible view of the Pacific Ocean on the cliffs of area.

I went on a day trip to Bondi with Rachel, Tess, and Nick. We did the coastal walk from Bondi to Coogee, which was gorgeous. That day began with frustration. The trains were having maintenance done, so we had to catch a replacement bus, meaning the route was not normal. Due to this, our bus driver got lost. We sat on that bus for a full hour before finally arriving at Bondi. However, the trip ended up being worth it. The coast was gorgeous and the weather was wonderful. We got thickshakes--mine was a chocolate raspberry one that was AMAZING. After enjoying those, we headed to Darling Harbour, where we purchased tickets to Pirates 4 at the World's Largest IMAX. We wandered around Darling Harbour for a good amount of time, enjoying good conversation and finding a small pub in which to have dinner before returning to the cinema. The screen was ridiculously big and gorgeous. The movie was enjoyable, though not great by any means.

Meanwhile, Alice Adventures in Wonderland has been gearing up. I'm the White Knight, meaning I'm one of the largest male roles in the show. My scene is at the end of the show and it's just me and Alice on stage for about 15 minutes (which is one of the longest scenes in the show!). Rehearsals for this have consumed much of my life during the week. The show is exciting and it opens this week. I'd go into more detail, but there are people reading this who I don't want to spoil things for...... so, I'll try and remember to blog about it later after the performances.

Also, I got engaged. I guess I ought to tell that story....

Toby, my current fiancee, came over for dinner last Wednesday. Every week this semester, she, Nick, and I have had a Wednesday outing after our Faith and the Contemporary Artist class. This always took place at the Bakehouse, a locally owned coffee and pastry shop near the school. I jokingly named this outing "Toby Make Out Time" saying that "Make Out" [almost] rhymes with "Bakehouse." The name stuck [for me]. Well, last Wednesday was probably the last Toby Time ever--unless we manage to somehow sneak one more this week; we'll see. Grenville, our teacher for FCA came along as a special guest star to that final outing. The conversation was good, reflecting on our semester as a whole. After finishing at the Bakehouse, we said goodbye to Grenville and headed home to Ross's for dinner. Toby Time continued well into the evening. We played some pool and enjoyed simply hanging out. Then, Toby and I left the house and headed into Circular Quay, where an incredible light show has been going on all this week.

She and I watched the lights shift and change across the Customs House for a while. Then, arm in arm, we walked to the Opera House, where a massive projection stretched across the harbour onto the sails. We went straight to the steps of the famous building and, as we marveled at the architecture, I said something along the lines of, "Toby, these last four months have been incredible and we're standing here and I'm just thinking 'wow.' Our time together has been special, you know? All the Toby Make Out Times and we went to the Outback together and we've just had so many good memories. And, well, Megan Elizabeth Tobin, will you marry me?" I, of course, got down on one knee and presented her with a ring. She accepted and, as we hugged, I lifted her off the ground and spun her around. We walked back down the steps arm in arm and sat down on the edge of the harbour watching the lights and enjoying the evening.

Oh, the ring I presented was her ring already. I was just borrowing it. And she's the fourth person I've gotten engaged to in a world famous city--though it's the sixth city I've proposed in. And though she and I are clearly madly in love, it probably won't last. I mean, after all, we kinda skipped the relationship prior to engagement period. And she's headed back to Connecticut and I'm headed back to Tennessee in just a couple weeks. Oh, and, frankly, it wouldn't be surprising if I impulsively propose to someone in New Zealand next week. Beautiful/famous places just give me this near-impossible urge to propose. It's a hard life I live, knowing I break so many hearts due to impulsive engagements. Ah well. C'est la vie.

In other news, Friday was my last day of official class for the semester. We wrapped up the course with a full day debriefing session, talking about what we'd learned and what would happen upon returning home. We talked about how some people at home are going to be interested in stories from the travels for about five minutes before they quit being polite and go back to not caring. We talked about how some people will genuinely be interested, but will still never truly understand the experiences we've had. We talked about how the only people who will ever really understand are the people who have been on the trip together and we're all separating, spreading out across the country. We talked about how, even if any of us return to Australia, it's never going to be with all of us again. It's never going to be the same. The days of this semester are coming to a close and we're all going our separate ways. We talked about the good times and the bad times. We talked about our regrets. We talked about who we were before we came here and who we are now. We talked about the friends back home who will have changed since we last saw them. We talked about the loneliness one can feel after returning home after a trip such as this. We talked about how hard things may be when we realize that nobody understands us. We talked about how hard things may be when we realize that some of our opinions and our ways of thinking are different from what they were before we came here. We talked about the coming trip to New Zealand and the incredible experience that it is going to be. And we said our goodbyes to Erin, one of our teachers, a Christ-like woman who is one of the kindest, friendliest people I've ever had the pleasure to know and to Aubrey, one of our classmates, a thought-provoking, kind friend who has always struck me as a passionate, intelligent individual. Neither of them are going to New Zealand with us. This makes me sad.

During debrief, we also watched a slide show that Aaron, a great friend of mine, put together of pictures from throughout the semester. It was during this that it clicked in my head that this journey is ending. Everything's coming to a close. The inside jokes, the lingo, the habits, the routines: they're ceasing. I'm not going to be sitting outside the library, eating lunch with friends on a day to day basis anymore. I'm not going to be wandering into Circular Quay to aimlessly catch a ferry just to see where it takes us anymore. I'm not going to go to the bookshops in Newtown or the Botanical Gardens or the Art Galleries anymore. The days of traveling with these friends south to Melbourne and west to Bourke will not occur again. Painting our faces in the Blue Mountains will not occur again. Getting fifty cent ice cream cones at every Macca's and Hungry Jack's we see isn't going to continue. Toby Time is over. Joking with Aaron about not becoming close until the last few weeks is over. Going to Top Ryde City with Nick just to go to Aldi is over. Filling weekends with Rachel, Alessandra, and Tess is over. Watching the slide show was about as melancholic an experience as I've ever had. I watched image after image of all of us happy together. I saw things from the beginning when we hardly knew each other all the way to recent days when we're the best of friends. And at some point watching that damn slide show, it clicked. I suddenly knew just how wonderful this semester has been. I suddenly knew I've been consistently happy for the longest period in recent memory. I suddenly knew how lucky I am. And, worst of all, I suddenly knew it's ending.

Guys, we're leaving. And gosh. I'm going to miss all of this, all of you, so much.