Aussie phrase of the day: Rocked up to = got to (like walked up to), "My friends and I rocked up to the party about 7 o'clock." or "I rocked up to work late."
That is the question. I just found out today that two of my good friends that are here on exchange might be staying at ECU to get their masters degrees as well. They are German and the education system in Germany sounds like shit from what they have told me. I am really excited to hear that they might stay because then our circle of friends won't be broken after all! Not that I am against making new friends, but it's so nice when you can keep your friends around a while once you have made such a good connection with them. The only problem is that it is a lot of money for them to stay and go to school here and Germany doesn't offer federal school loans.
As you all know, I am coming back to the States for a month over the holidays. I am ready to go home and run away from my assignments and the stresses of my life here in Oz. I am excited to see everyone again, especially Teagan's new baby girl, Danna Kate, and my long lost pal, Sarah, who moved to Ohio two months before I left for Australia. But as ready and excited as I am to go home, I am also starting to remember why I left the beloved 'burg in the first place. I was purely bored having never experienced much life outside of the great midwest state of Missouri. Everyone I meet here asks me where I am from in the States. They probably expect something really exciting like a well-known city like New York or LA, or at least a state they have heard of, like Texas or Florida. Alas, they always wait with a look of anticipation for an explanation when I say Missouri. I just say, "it's right in the middle.. lots of fields and cows." I guess I should tell them I live near the B-2 bomber.
So I'm not really sure what I should do with all my time in Missouri. One particular friend here keeps asking me if I am still going home and what I am going to do there for a month. Of course, my family and friends are there and who better to celebrate the holidays with than your loved ones. Do you have a better suggestion, my friend? But recently it has occurred to me that maybe my friend is right to wonder what I will be doing at home for a month because I have started wondering myself. I can do most of my catching up with friends and get my fill of American home-cooking within a few weeks. I can talk to family on the phone at normal hours of the day where we are on the same day on a phone instead of the computer, but I don't have a car to drive, a cell phone number, or a job in Warrensburg. That is when fear strikes my heart.. and it occurs to me that when you leave home for any significant amount of time, returning to the place you used to call home will never be the same. It will never be the place it was when you were growing up or going to college, where you had friends to hang out with and keep you entertained. Returning will always be pleasureable but only temporary. Having a taste of another place leaves me forever changed and with a knowledge that I will never return home to stay. I am already restless to come back to the city and my life here in Perth.
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