“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

I finished my exams yesterday, so I didn't really have anything to do. I slept in really late because of lack of sleep recently and having nothing else to do. I initially woke up at 11, but then just laid in bed and fell asleep again until 1. I am running out of clothes, so I was going to do laundry. I went to the village office and paid my cleaning fee and wanted to get $1 coins for laundry. They only had two though so I couldn't do laundry since it costs $3 for one load of wash. I also went to the library to get some Sprites because you can get a guild discount there so it's cheaper than vending machines. Stupidly I didn't check that my ID was in my purse, the ID has a guild sticker on the back, and I forgot it. Luckily the girl at the register gave me the discount anyway. I also partially cleaned my room, really exciting stuff actually :P It reached 104 F, which is 40C, so it was really hot. (Despite the fact that the sun wasn't even out when I was outside) An exciting thing is that my parents are currently over the Pacific Ocean now and will land in Perth around midday tomorrow!!!


My mum suggested that I talk about how my semester abroad has changed me and any new insights that I didn't have before. This would be hard for a lot of people because you don't often see yourself change until you are with other people that you haven't seen and realize how different you are in comparison. I am a very contemplative person, however so I've thought about this. It is also probably good to think about this because I'm sure there is something on what Hope is going to make me fill out about this. My time abroad has definitely matured me more. I think that any time you go away from your usual comfort zone forces you to mature. College is a good example of this, but study abroad places you in another culture, away from parents, makes it harder to talk to people at home, and you have to deal with your problems on your own. The set up of the village also helped with this because in the States all colleges/universities have a dining hall. I also only go to the store at Hope when my dad is in town. Here I had to go to the store and cook all of my own food and pay for my own things like groceries. After living on my own, I think that it will be weird to go back home.

I also did a lot of contemplating on my relationships back home. I realized that there are certain things that I didn't miss from Hope/home and things that I missed a ton! It's hard to realize what you really love or dislike until you separate yourself from it. I also definitely realized that I appreciate my family more than I thought and I can't wait to see my parents tomorrow!

I also have become more aware of human injustices because of the two Aboriginal studies classes that I had, especially Contemporary Indigenous Issues. As hard of a grader as my lecturer was, I learned a lot about the injustices, especially for things like health. I had no idea that there was so much racism in Australia, either. I now care about them fixing this, but I am still far from becoming a Democrat. :P I also feel that my religious beliefs have grown. Thanks to Murdoch Christians United. I have never been in a bible study and haven't analysed the bible in that way since elementary school. Ever since my brain surgery, I have been extremely thankful to God for every day and that has only increase with Chapel at Hope College and then MCU here.