Sarah - Nov 09

Last Updated on Friday, 11 December 2009 00:42 Written by Andrew Lai Tuesday, 08 December 2009 21:50

November 23^rd was the longest day of my life, literally, it was 36 hours long. Did I mention it was also a Monday? I departed from Launceston, Tasmania late morning only to arrive an hour before my thirteen-hour flight to San Francisco,

and then spent five more hours on a plane to New York. Even though I left had Australia around 3:30 p.m., I landed on the West coast of the United States at 10:00 a.m. that same day, this certainly messed with my perception of time. Surprisingly however, my flight across the Pacific was the best of the three flights I had that day.

“Attention passengers, but we are commencing out decent into San Francisco,” said the captain of my international flight. That was the best thing I had heard all day. I was finally back in my own country, where I could go through the “U.S. Citizens” line as opposed to “Other” when I was in Australia and New Zealand. The entire time I was in Australia, people believed I was Canadian instead of American and now I did not have to worry about that, or so I thought. Upon going through customs, various officials did not believe I was American, even after handing them my passport. I had only been abroad for five months, who knew I could pull off other nationalities! At least it did not cause any issues getting through customs.

Leaving Australia was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, to say bye to all my friends that had adopted and taken care of me throughout the semester. During those last two weeks before going home, knowing that one of my friends was waiting for me at my arrival gate made it to travel from place to place. Yet, I was not prepared for those final moments with them when I did leave, I have never had to say bye to someone where it was indefinite whether I would see them again. Maybe that is why it was easier to leave in July; I knew I would see my friends and family in the U.S. again. Regardless, I could not be more excited to see my family waiting for me in New York. One would have thought that I would be completely disoriented after 24 hours of flying, but I was the complete opposite. I was still running on Australian time and I even walked to the wrong side of the car before going home…

I never imagined how getting used to living in the U.S. again would be such a challenge. At first I did not think I had jetlag, despite how I couldn’t fall asleep until after 3 a.m. in the morning and slept for a solid ten to twelve hours a day, at least I wasn’t tired, right? The one thing I was most worried about was seeing my friends again; but that fear was quickly diminished when they planned multiple parties once they heard I was back. It was a huge relief my friends wanted to see me so badly. The downfall was that they criticized almost everything about me, especially the way I spoke. I reckon I picked up a slight accent, but I did not know my friends would be taken back by it so much. First I go to Australia and got picked on for being American and being back in the States I thought it would be different, too bad I was a minority again.

Despite the way my old friends were treating me, nothing could ruin the way I felt about going abroad. Everyone I talked to was right, it was an amazing experience, but it was more than a trip. Some said it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, although in some aspects they are wrong. My friends spoke as if my being home again meant that I was going to ignore everything I had done while I was in Australia and go back to the way things were, but that was not true at all. I had met so many people, and had so many new experiences; there was no way I was going to give any of that up. Going away to school in another country changed the person who I am, for the better. It has made me more confident and independent. Studying at the University of Tasmania this past semester may have been a “once in a lifetime experience,” but who is to say that I won’t go back? When I departed from Launceston, my boyfriend and I, we didn’t say goodbye. No, we said, “See you later!”

Until next time.

Cheers,
Sarah


 

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