The past couple of weeks after mid-semester break have been a little strange. With the reality of the 14-hour plane ride home coming up in about a month, I feel like I just want to go home right now. On the other hand, I’m in a kind of panic that I have such little time left here in Australia and even less time to really enjoy it. Because the end of the semester will be here in just one week and exams begin just one week after that, I feel like I can’t go on many more adventures and I’m really starting to want to go home. It’s a strange in between.
The good news is that my birthday was just a couple weeks after Evan and I got back from New Zealand, and it was the perfect chance to relax and do a bit of celebrating. The day was perfect. I had a big presentation to give on “the arrows of time” in my last class of the day, and, with reassurance from my classmates, I think I definitely aced it. Then Evan and I cleaned ourselves up, donned cute outfits (mine included that snazzy jacket Evan bought me for the big day), and headed out to South Bank for dinner and a ferris wheel ride. How romantic!
We ate the most authentic Italian pizza I’ve had here in Oz while sitting outside in the perfect weather and people-watching. Then we strolled down by the river until we got to the ferris wheel, which I have to admit, though I’ve taken numerous pictures of it during the day, somehow looked way more massive all lit up at night. I was definitely a little nervous. It ended up being really sweet, and I got some great shots!
Then we headed back to the dorm, shared some of my birthday cake for dessert, and headed out to the uni pub with a bunch of friends. I spent the night sipping bourbon, “cheers”ing to my birthday, laughing, and, of course, dancing; I even got Evan to dance with me! It was the most fun I’ve had with all my friends in the dorm in a long time. 
As an added bonus, my family sent me really sweet gifts, including a teddy bear I now snuggle with every night, two books, tons of cards, candy, chocolate, my favorite chips, and… A LAPTOP!! I can’t wait until I can go home and have it! Goodbye Powerbook, hello MacBook Pro!
Now that the big 21st is over and research paper deadlines loom in the nearing future, Evan and I are trying to make the most out of our free time. We are taking a break from work tomorrow and heading to the Gold Coast with Jess, Andy, Patrick, and Patrick’s boyfriend, Eric. I’m excited to get off campus again and catch up with everyone! It seems like if I’m not studying or writing papers, Evan and I are just sitting in his room watching Grey’s Anatomy, which we are severely, unnaturally addicted to at this point. I’ll post again with pictures from tomorrow!