I spent my last two weeks in Sydney taking acting classes at the prestigious NIDA (during January they have short summer sessions), which was a blast, and tying up some loose ends before I left, including seeing things I hadn’t gotten to yet, like the Pylon Lookout.  Of course, the last real bout of nice weather we had was during my week at NIDA, so the only real time we had outside was during lunch. I was glad I wandered over to the Australian National Maritime Museum to see their really cool exhibit about Vikings–since the weather wasn’t great, I figured I might as well see a museum.  For my birthday, I went to Quattro Formaggi to get tiramisu and a glass of wine and later that night went out for Indian food and gelato with my French roommate Lulu.  My last full day in Sydney was Australia Day, so I wandered down to The Rocks for some of the festivities.

I’ve been back in the States for a week now.  It took me a few days to get back on a somewhat normal sleep schedule, although even in the past day or two I’ve still found myself desperately tired around 3 p.m.  I spent the weekend catching up with friends in Northern Virginia, and this week I’ve been getting more into “real adult life,” i.e. making necessary phone calls and writing e-mails, although my suitcases are still mostly full because I have no idea where some of those things will go once they’re unpacked.  Now that I’m back in Richmond camping out at my parents’ house, I plan to get a little more acquainted with the city and try not to take it for granted as much.  For example, a friend’s pictures of the graffiti murals along the River Walk have me really curious to see them–I had no idea they were there.  I’ll be sure to report back here or on Instagram or Facebook on what I find!

There are a number of things I wish I’d done in Australia this time, but I felt like the time was right to come back to America, not to mention how much easier it is to be here in the same time zone with family and friends.  But you can bet I’m still looking at travels in the near future.

• Uncategorized