Auf Wiedersehen!

The time has come for us to say goodby to Marco. After four months of adventure and misadventure, Marco has had to leave us. He would have stayed until early July but unfortunately a family emergency has forced him to reschedule his flight. On Friday Nils and I escorted him to the airport, where we were joined by Judith and Gena who wanted to see him one last time and say a final goodbye. It was quite an emotional moment to see him off to his gate. The girls were crying and even Nils and I were a little misty eyed. It's one thing to make friends with someone for four months, it's another thing entirely to live with them and see them everyday for that time. It's kind of hard to believe he's gone and that I won't see him for at least a couple of years. Nils finds the situation even more surreal, having shared a room with Marco. He complains that the room feels so empty without the pile of dirty clothes that would adorn the end of Marco's bed. He's decided to leave his own clothes strung on the empty bed to assuage the feeling. That way it kinda looks like Marco's just gone to Wooly's and will be back in a few minutes. That was three days ago. So this post is dedicated to Marco. Auf wiedersehen mein freund! Take good care, have a great life in Zurich and we all miss you around here...

Things are visibly changing around here. On a more positive note I finished my exams yesterday. All my final assignments went well and I look forward to getting my grades back. I'm also looking forward to Andrea coming down. I can't believe it's only 9 days away! Seems like 4 months ago it was, well, 4 months away. When I think of home, my friends, my family and Andrea it feels like its been so long, but when I think of my time in Sydney it feels as though it just flew by. It's a strange feeling. I'm glad she's coming soon 'cause I miss her terribly. Not many guys get to spend a year abroad, fewer still have their girlfriends visit for a month. I am definately a lucky guy. I'm also a guy who's exhausted from his first semester and is glad he has some down time before starting up again. This break is going to be a great opportunity to reflect on my first 4 months of adjusting to life here, and to set my goals for the next 6 months. Now that I am more or less fully aclimatised to life here, the coming months are going to be a very different tour. My first and highest goal is to make the most of them........ That's it for now. Goodnight folks!

School's Out For, umm, Winter?

The mid-year break is almost here. Hard to believe it's been a semester already... I still have exams and essays to go through but after that comes a month and a half off school! My grades, in case you were wondering, average around what we would call an A, and what the Aussies call a Distinction or High Distinction (depending on the class). I'm in the thick of it right now (when am I not?) going over the last three and a half months' material, as are my flatmates. So what this means is tensions are high and the kitchen is dirty. Lately we've all been locked in our rooms studying, coming out of our holes every couple of hours for coffee or food. The only time the dishes get done is when we are absolutely out of clean dishes. If there is even a plastic fork left that hasn't been used, we will eat macaroni out of a paper towel. But when everything that should be in our cupboards is instead piled up in the sink, the three of us (Montri has his own set of dishes) triple-team the kitchen and make it spotless for another day or so until the scene repeats itself again. Sigh...
Other than that, there is not much else to say. I'm juggling exams with job hunting, which seems tougher than I originally thought. The boys will be leaving in one month, so changes are gonna be happening real soon. Andrea is coming in less than three weeks! I guess we better clean the house... I'll have more to tell you guys soon, hopefully something interesting. Until next time....