It is officially our last day in Australia. We board a plane for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 11:30 this evening. Our time here has been incredible - not only the travelling part, but the whole experience. I am personally starting to get emotional about leaving. I am super excited to get home and see everyone, yet I am leaving behind so many amazing people and children, including my first ever class. It is raining, and that sort of suits my mood. We did have a good last couple of weeks. We went all the way down to Victoria and drove the Great Ocean Road (HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT!!!) and were in Sydney for a few days, where I had another kidney stone attack. The people we were staying with were awesome - Ryan woke them up at 3 in the morning and she drove us to the hospital. And it was just like a Canadian hospital, so I felt comfortable. I got drugs straight away, but we had to wait for a very long time to see a doctor, because it was Saturday night, and traumas kept coming in. But we did finally see one, who confirmed it was a kidney stone (I could have told her that) and we finally left the hospital at 1PM.
Ryan and I both loved Sydney. Very beautiful and just...nice. Easy to drive around in.
And we have been in Brisbane since last night, staying with my co-op and her husband, who have been absolutely amazing to us. First thing when we arrived, we were ushered straight to the pool, where we were served drinks and chips. And then I had a wonderful bath and then we were treated to a roast chicken meal, with all the fixings. It felt like Thanksgiving or Christmas. (Nothing else here feels like Christmas...it just feels like everyone has left their Christmas decorations up too long. We felt semi-Christmas-like in the mall a couple of days ago, because we couldn't see outside, and the Christmas music was playing and all that. But then we looked at ourselves wearing shorts and sandals and the feeling promptly left.)
So it's going to be a hard day for me. I don't want to repack our stuff or do any finalizing of anything. That's too real. But I will, and life will go on. God has blessed us so greatly, and I need to be thankful for that and concentrate on the awesome experience He has given us.