Very close
Trip Start
Jan 09, 2004
1
4
39
Trip End
Jul 14, 2004
Adelaide, Australia
Tuesday, January 6, 2004
I worked my last shift at work this morning, I got a cool array of stuff from Kathmandu (like book lights and key ring compasses) as a going away present which is really thoughtful. As great an experience my media monitoring job was I'm not going to miss starting work at 6am! I'm going to rock up at the employment service at UofC and demand a decent job ASAP - it'll be a shock if I have to go from having multiple part time jobs in my field to waitressing or something. I don't know if I could do hospitality - I guess it will depend how badly I need the money!
Tonight I'll have a last catch-up with friends at the Oyster Bar, then madly pack at the last minute tomorrow (as always). Tomorrow night family dinner, then I'm off. Friday night I will actually be in Canada, in the cold, hopefully meeting my new housemates and getting my bearings. That compass might come in handy, given the absence of any sense of direction in my brain.
I've started to come to terms with it all and look forward to leaving. The weather's gone haywire which has helped. I decided not to sell my car after all (too hard) which will make returning home easier. At Kate's 21st on Saturday night I was reassured by talking to people from school. Whereas after Year 12 I was the first to venture out in the big wide world which made it all the more daunting, now people are moving all over the country and doing all sorts of exciting things, so my voyages overseas seem more a part of normal life.
I feel so lucky to have been brought up in a culture where it is a part of normal life - with family friends in the Phillipines and Vietnam on aid projects, where a 'gap year' to Europe is considered good for one's future. I like to think that I have some innate desire to travel but I know too that the dream is more easily converted into reality with this kind of support. So thanks to everyone for giving me confidence in these endeavors!
