We were really sad to go, but our bank accounts told us it was time to go back to the States and continue mooching off of our parents until we figure out jobs. Well, they probably won’t let us mooch too much, but at least they’ll let us sleep in their house and use their shower.
Our flight home was pretty turbulent but overall uneventful. It was nearly full, with everyone heading home for the holidays and all of those study abroad kids finishing their fake semester abroad. (I wish I had been smart enough to study abroad, earning college credit for doing things like surfing, sailing, and petting koalas.) We managed to snag three seats for just the two of us, allowing us some space, though we still didn’t manage to sleep much. We arrived in LA and made it through customs before meeting up with my brother who was on the same flight as us back to Chicago later that afternoon. Since we had about 8 hours to kill, we went down to Hermosa Beach for lunch. This means that we sat on the beach on both sides of the Pacific Ocean in the same day, which is pretty cool (well, we think it was the same day…we’re kind of confused on what day it is right now…I guess we went back in time?)
We arrived in Chicago to this very unpleasant thing they refer to as snow and cold. One day we were in 42 degree Celsius weather, the next we were in 22 degree Fahrenheit weather. Hmm, why do we live here? Turns out there is a whole huge country full of open land we could live in where it is plenty warm. We’ll have to investigate further. If you know how to gain Australian or New Zealand citizenship and employment, please let us know.
We had a blast every single minute of our trip (ok minus the time the cockroach was in our room) and cannot believe how quickly it went by. We’d go back in a second if we had the time and funds, of course. I wish everyone would have the opportunity to travel in these countries at some point. We had so much fun seeing new sights, doing new activities, and comparing cultural differences and quirks. Although the U.S. doesn’t always admit it, other countries sometimes do things more efficiently and effectively, and we found it interesting to make these observations and comparisons. It helps us to be more aware of our actions and decisions.
We’re so happy we took this opportunity while we had it, and just hope things work out in the next few months as far as jobs and what not. Either way, it was the experience of a lifetime and we wouldn’t change a second of it.
