Still Learning Over Here!

As my time in Sydney starts to come to a close, I've continued to learn more every day. However, I've found that as time goes on, I find myself needing to learn less about the country and instead discovering more about myself. I haven't written down my new knowledge in a while, so I thought I'd post it to remind myself one day of everything I've accomplished on this trip:

1. I have accepted that I do, in fact, have an accent. As Minnesotans, I think we always argue that we're the ones who talk normal...and we are, so long as we never speak to anyone outside the Midwest. [For real, every single time I say the word "bag" someone laughs and repeats it back to me!]
2. While 6 months of summer is going to be absolutely heavenly, it will be a long while before I complain about a Minnesota winter. It's probably one of those "grass is always greener" things, but I miss sweatshirts and snow.
3. One of the most cliche sayings of all time is absolutely true: Don't judge a book by its cover. I had expectations of people and places and events, and 99% of the time I was proven entirely wrong in the best possible way.
4. It is possible to make some of the greatest friends of your life in 3 months time. It's hard to imagine that a friendship of 3 months could compare to those I've had for years, but we've lived some of the best months of our lives together and made memories no one else will ever understand. I can't believe I'm going to leave most of them in 3 weeks, but I can't wait for the new friends who will be going back to Minneapolis with me, and to have excuses to fly across the country and see the rest of them one day.
5. I could be wrong, but I feel like so many people study abroad under the pretense of "finding themselves", myself included. I've come to discover that I knew exactly who I was the whole time, and no amount of travel could change that. The only change was that Australia allowed me to bring out my curiosity and sense of adventure in a way that isn't normally necessary at home - but that doesn't change that I've always known exactly who I am.
6. The most important, and most cheesy, realization: I am capable of doing absolutely anything. Jumping out of airplanes, making dinner, coordinating flights and taxis and hostels, washing clothes without shrinking them, finding my way around an unknown place - while some of these things are more useful than others, I've been able to do them all with great success. And if I can jump out of an airplane and face all my fears, there's absolutely no reason why I can't do the same thing in less potentially deadly situations every single day of my life.


So, that's that. Still learning, still laughing, still loving Sydney.