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 So, I am currently testing out a new blogging platform, and although I am not sure which one I will like better, for now I'm posting from Wordpress. So check it out there for updates (hint, there are a couple already), and I will keep this one here until I make my final decision. I will let you know! (and if any fellow bloggers have pros/cons about either or any thoughts on other faves and which is better, let me know in the comments!) Click below for the new link!

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100th Post!

In honour of this, my 100th post on this blog, Sydney had a massive firework show!!

Happy 100th Blog Post, Robyn Thiessen!

Well, no, it was actually the 100th Anniversary of the... well, just read this excerpt from Australian Aviation online: "A international naval review and the next Pacific International Maritime Exposition will be held in Sydney in October 2013, to coincide with the centenary of the arrival of the first Royal Australian Navy fleet into Sydney in 1913." There. Supposedly it was the biggest event in Sydney since the 2000 Olympics (not to mention that two One Direction concerts were in town the same day and the NRL the next day...Sports!). Prince Harry came, as per custom, to kick things off and represent the Queen, and over one million people were there to watch. I was very fortunate to be invited by a friend, Holly, and her boyfriend Mitch to join them in watching atop the Glenmore Hotel from its rooftop patio in the Rocks (the original landing point in Sydney Harbour of the colonists.../convicts). We were packed shoulder-to-shoulder with other people, but the view was well worth it. I've never seen anything like that. They had images and videos of the Navy's achievements and actions through the 100 years displayed like magic on the side of the Sydney Opera House, there were light shows along with fireworks, tall ships in the harbours, and even fireworks dropped from flying aircraft overhead. I think I stood dropped-jaw the whole 30 minutes. I don't even want to know how much money goes in to producing an event of that scale.... it would no doubt be a staggering amount. Frivolous, absolutely.... but still spectacular. 

Here is a short video clip found on youtube of the fireworks in action, if you're interested!

 And a few poor-quality phone pics I took from the Glenmore Hotel...

Aussie flag displayed on the side of the Opera House

More Fleet Review fireworks

 

I've been thinking lately about all the people in my life who have helped get me to the point where I am right now, as well as who make the journey incredible along the way. I feel so fortunate to know the people I know. Even with an event like Saturday night's, I would never have gone or seen the show from the vantage I did if it hadn't been for Holly and Mitch, who I wouldn't know if it hadn't been for Caitlin (since Holly is one of Caitlin's oldest friends), and I wouldn't know Caitlin if I hadn't gone to France and been put in the residence I was, (I wouldn't even be in Sydney if it weren't for her and Josh and Stu and Shaz...as well as encouragement from numerous people at home) and I wouldn't have been to France if, well, the deconstruction could go on and on. It really makes me pause and consider my own actions and influences on my friends and acquaintances, whether I am a good friend or not and what I can do to be a better friend and person. Because I just... I just couldn't do this on my own. Not figuratively - literally. When I get down - and I do get down sometimes - I remember this, I remember all the wonderful people, I think about the goals I'm working towards, and I am able to pick myself up and refocus. 

Amazing what a little break from school can do for one's outlook, isn't it?

Speaking of, this two week mid-semester break has been just what the doctor ordered. I practically feel like a new person. I've been out! I've been to the beach numerous times, I've organised my class notes in prep for exam time, I've caught up on [some of] my reading and I've watched the first season and a half of the West Wing (where has that show been all my life?). I went to a little island in the Harbour called Cockatoo Island, where Holly and I drank a jug of cocktail and shared a pizza whilst sitting in the sunshine watching sailboats go by all afternoon... and last night I saw a show at the Opera House with my roommate and her boyfriend (Cinematic Orchestra with 40 musicians from the Sydney International Orchestra). It's been a good break. Today is Labour day, and uni resumes tomorrow!

Today is also my amazing mother's birthday!!! Happy birthday mom - you and dad are at the very top of my list of people without whom I couldn't be doing what I am doing, and I am increasingly grateful for all you have done for me and the love you've shown. Your retirement is about to get amaaaazing (when I get a real job, that is).

Cockatoo Island!

This is Holly. She's wonderful!

My first visit to Coogee Beach - about a 10min bus ride from my place.

The weather has never been awful in this fine country, but it's been even better since spring began. I found myself walking home from the bus stop late one Friday night a few weeks ago. My feet were killing me so I took my heels off and walked barefoot on the sidewalk. My usually busy street was very quiet, and the cement was still warm. I wrote earlier this year about spring in a cold climate; new life after a barren winter, and how one really must experience it at some point. Well, spring in a tropical climate is equally intoxicating, even if life never ceased for most of the flora. Warm soil, crab grass, palm leaves... jasmine blossoms, orange blossoms, faint salty air from the ocean only a short drive away... It's ethereal, magical, yet I feel those smells viscerally. I smile involuntarily. No jacket and no shoes. Divine. Memories of my childhood March breaks spent in Florida flash by and I am overwhelmed again with how blessed I have been.

This little blossom is the potent origin of one of the delightful scents I experience on my walks.

Sydney city line at night, from the Manly Ferry

The Harbour Bridge, as seen from a ferry

Reunited at last! Caitlin and I at Middle Harbour.

Lots of days look a little bit like this....

...and lots of nights look sort of like this (dinner for one?).

Brunch with friends to see off Stu (far left) who moved to Melbourne :(

 

A shot with me, further proof that I have friends.

It's not always easy being this far away from home and from my close friends and family. And despite being in the same hemisphere, Aaron is still very far away with a time difference and an equally busy schedule which makes staying in touch difficult at times. But little bursts of happiness and kindness (and modern technology...) give me strength to brush off the bad and move on to the next good thing.

New motto. Heh.

Now, will someone remind me of this next time I'm despairing? (I estimate this to happen shortly before exam season in one month).

Peace, love, blessings and good vibes.

Picking daisies

Just so you aren’t under the impression that sunshine and daisies abound in my life, a little grounder: although it is nearly perpetually sunny here, the grass is still always greener on the other side.  Maybe it’s because I literally haven’t strayed from the direct path between my apartment and my university classes in two weeks, or because I haven’t done anything other than homework in my spare time and am still behind, or because I’m spending money I don’t actually have, or because I’m on the other side of the planet from my family (ie, my adorable niece and nephew who I miss so much) and friends and, although in the same hemisphere, still a long flight away from my boyfriend.  Maybe it’s because I knew it was going to be hard but that knowing doesn’t make it less-so.  Maybe it’s because all things worth doing require hard work.  I’m feeling the strain, I’m dreaming about mistakes, and that fear of making the wrong decision that plagued me before my arrival in Sydney has not completely subsided since. 

If I could write assignments as easily as I can whip off blog entries, I’d be a lawyer already, but it’s certainly not all bad.  I’ve got a great apartment, an awesome roommate, friends at university, food in my belly, coffee in hand and more new knowledge than I know what to do with.  It’s spring here, the days are getting longer, and the biggest decision I need to consider at the moment is whether to fly to Indonesia for Christmas or convince Aaron to fly here.  As I said to him, “Isn’t life grand?” And it really is.  It’s just that when you zoom in, those daisies still need to be picked, and that takes work.

I guess, in the end, asking “what if” really doesn’t get you anywhere; the unknown remains the unknown, and all those clichés that go with it. That house in Halifax I keep dreaming of owning and decorating is what I had to tell, “Wait”, in order to dive in to law school here in Australia, but “Wait” is not the same as “No”.

One month in

I know I'm due for an update. Or, at least, some friends have stressed to me that I am. Though, I'm sure you'll believe me when I say I've been busy. Law school is, as I expected, not easy. There is a serious amount of reading to do and I'm almost never quite on top of it. Some people in the program think that those of us completing a full-time degree (four courses per semester, essentially) is impossible. Many people have dropped down to three already, some have dropped out entirely, some are only doing one course and with all their other obligations, work, family, etc., still find even one hard to do. I have the immense luxury (one which I do not take for granted) of not necessarily needing a job right away - although any work I do now helps me pay off my student loans faster in the end so I fully plan on getting a job after this semester - and so, so far, I am doing alright. Although, I cannot overstate just how much reading there is. Ha! It's comical really. Oh and midterm assignments are coming up first week of September. And one of the assignments requires I spend at least three full days observing proceedings in court (an experience I found incredibly fascinating). Fortunately I have made some friends in my program, and now that I'm living on the south side of the Harbour Bridge, I have regained a number of commuting hours in my day so things certainly could be a lot worse.

One major item I have at least ticked off my list now is finding an apartment! It was a long and somewhat frustrating search, but what I lost in expediency I gained in quality. I moved in yesterday to a place just around the corner from the university. It's really quite centrally located to a lot of places I wanted to be close to, and the girl I am now living with, Georgia, is so lovely. We are continually discovering new similarities with each other, and she might - might - be even more tidy and organised than I am (!!). Not only did she take me to Ikea yesterday and help me close out the store (and then build my bed), but we went for a fantastic brunch this morning, and then did some grocery shopping too. Roommate win! I'm currently drinking a really delicious cup of loose leaf tea in a double glass-walled bodum cup (she knows), sitting on the back fire exit door step of our 2nd level apartment while the sun slowly goes down behind some gum trees. Avoiding reading about the tort of negligence, I need not add.

Despite the workload, I am enjoying myself. Law is interesting and stimulating. Australia is busy and beautiful. Also, two words: palm trees. Also, every cafe begins at a level of quality that the best I know at home strive for, it would seem - plus, you don't have to tip your servers because they already get paid well. Taxes are built in to prices. Sure, things are expensive, but at least you don't then get to the checkout and have an additional small fortune tacked on. The transit system is complained about by locals, but I find it perfectly adequate, and half of it is by ferry. That's like, boats, guys. When I was living up in Manly with the Pooles, I could take a boat home from school.

Speaking of the Pooles, gosh, I just cannot say enough how wonderful they are. My goodness. It was like being in a home away from home. Except this time I got a little sister! (Two, in fact, with their exchange student!). And a dog that was allowed indoors just like we always begged mom and dad for! But I don't know just how to express to them how thankful I am. I still have a key to their house....  maybe I'll just sneak back here and there. Put supper on in a crock pot, bake some muffins, clean up, sneak out. It'll be like the Mrs. Doubtfire ghost! Heh heh heh...

Anyway, tea's done, readings remain. I don't have any more photos to add yet (just click on the instagram link at the top right of this page if you haven't seen what I've posted there). Aaron has arrived safely in Indonesia, so we're in the same hemisphere now and you can follow his adventures on his blog if you'd like! I'm pestering him to take photos as well, though he is notorious for not listening to that sort of pleading... ahem. In any case, I don't know when the next update will be and you'll have to forgive me if I'm absent for a while (until mid-terms are complete, perhaps?). As always, much love, and please keep me updated as well!

Cheers (mate) 

(Listen to this while you read the post...if it's not working, click here, it'll open in a separate window)

I missed my stop on the bus this evening in downtown Sydney and had to walk a couple blocks back to the main station to catch the next bus home. I had my headphones in because there had been some punk kids listening to rap music in the seat behind me and it was annoying (...get off my lawn!). I played Leif Vollebekk (linked above), a new-found favourite of mine. While I walked with this as my soundtrack, I was kind of overwhelmed.

I gazed up at the tall honeycomb buildings. I glimpsed snatches of soundless conversations across dining tables through ambient-lit restaurant windows. I noticed the refreshing lack of pervasive advertisements throughout the city, and how there is both water, and palm trees, all around. I met eyes with a stranger and smiled, and felt happy that neither of us had been staring at our feet or our phones. It was around 7pm. Dark but still well-lit downtown. The clouds that made it cooler during the day were now keeping the air insulated by night and it didn't feel as cold as the previous few evenings (I think I've finally come to terms with the "winter" weather, which is really more like a late Niagara spring). A white cockatoo flew overhead. I watched some city workers nearly soak a guy walking by as they washed the ground of Martin Place square. I thought about the speeches from the faculty members earlier, at the Law meet and greet, and how I'm actually... in Law School - at the 12th ranked law school in the world, no less. I guess it all just finally hit me. I knew there would be a delay in my brain catching up with what was really happening, but, you just don't know when it will all sink in. I'm in Australia now? Whew.

I realise this honeymoon stage won't last forever, but until [next week, when] the workload starts to compress my soul, and analysing cases overtakes composing blog posts in my head, I will keep soaking it in, taking mental snapshots of the wonder around and trying to create a picture of it with words... and trying to remember just how blessed I am.

In the days before teletransportation...

I am currently sitting in the morning sunshine in Allambie Heights, Sydney. It is absolutely lovely outside, I've showered, and I even have a coffee in front of me. Although 36 hours of transit is a very long time, and the customs queue at Sydney International was incredibly long, I feel good. All is well! The following is a blog post I wrote in the air between Vancouver and Shanghai, that I couldn't post using the free wifi in Shanghai because of all the Chinese firewalls. 

****

I think I can say that, comparatively speaking, I have travelled a fair amount in my 27 years on the planet. Not nearly as much as some, but more than lots. I’ve spent time in South America, countless trips to the Southern States (Florida, namely), I’ve driven far north, driven far south, driven far east, flown far west, lived in France, travelled to six countries in Europe, lived in Hawaii, spent time in Fiji and Vanuatu, and even popped in to Auckland on a long layover. I’ve run to catch many planes, trains and busses in my life. I’ve been that girl with so much luggage she can hardly stand. I’ve paid my share in extra or overweight bags. That being said, I knew this trip to Australia was going to be a long one, but in all my travels I don’t think I have had as rocky of a departure as I did today (yesterday? Or was it the day before? Who am I?). This one was one for the record books.

You know that moment in Home Alone (the original, of course)… you know it. The quintessential moment. The family is halfway across the Atlantic Ocean en route to France when Kevin’s mom suddenly realises what it is that she couldn’t put her finger on of having forgotten.

“KEVIN!”

It dawns on her like a bout of really explosive diarrhoea realised too late. The blood drains from her face and the following hour and a half of movie is spent watching her desperately figure out a way back home to her unintentionally abandoned child. The needy one you sort of wish you could do without but of course can’t and you don’t really mean that. Do you see where I’m going? Am I being too melodramatic about just a bunch of dumb possessions? I don’t seriously mean to compare my having left two of my bags at home with leaving a child at home, but, you at least now have a feel for how I was feeling when I opened the trunk at Pearson International in Toronto and realised there was only one suitcase (of three) in the back.

Leaving at 4am isn’t good for anyone. Four people leaving (Aaron came with us too) means that it’s easier to assume everything necessary got done without performing the usual checks. It was dark. We were tired and distracted. And we were making good time. Yet somehow, fatefully, I arrived with only half the things I meant to take with me as I moved across the planet, and although it isn’t my usual method of getting my way (anymore), I discovered that bursting out crying in front of the WestJet check-in employee was one sure way to make sure she didn’t question your one (remembered) bag that was slightly over the weight limit.

In fact, I was more upset that I might not get to spend my last hour in the Northern Hemisphere with my parents or even say goodbye to them properly. They took off immediately to attempt to go home to get my stuff. Fifteen minutes later they were back, realising the futility of getting home and back to the airport in under two hours, and me still having any chance of making my flight. We called Uncle Larry to the rescue and he rushed to salvage my departure by picking up my bags and driving them to the airport, but alas, despite unequalled hope and optimism, I had to be rushed through security before he arrived and had to run, once again, to my gate to catch my plane. Fate was not on my side again, because they’d already closed the gate but my tears must have swayed them as they reluctantly reopened it to let me board. If they hadn’t, if I’d been a minute later (if I hadn’t decided to run), I would have missed it, would have had to catch the next flight out an hour later, would have had my bags and would have saved the cost my parents are now looking at to mail me my things.

All in all, an eventful morning?

I hate eventful mornings.

Needless to say, the WestJet employees were stellar and the hug I got from the attendant who met me when I ran on to the plane with eyes still glistening was a special touch. The messages of encouragement and phone calls and texts from loved ones helped me realise what I already knew but couldn’t quite grasp in that moment (and maybe still can’t quite) – it’s just stuff. It can all be replaced and it isn’t the end of the world. And, most importantly, I have the essentials and I’m going to frickin Australia for crying out loud. Will I feel unprepared to begin school on Monday? Probably a little. But I guess the adventure began before I thought it would and caught me off guard.

Now, if only this 12 hour leg to Shanghai had the luxury of seatback TVs, or even plug outlets (or wifi but that’s asking a lot I suppose), I’d be set. I was gunning for an upgrade to business class but there’s no way the universe was going to be that redemptive for me today. I’ll settle for the hours to pass quickly and thank my stars that I’m sitting beside a lovely, quiet Chinese woman (and that the Korean guy on my earlier flight still thought I looked pretty even though I’d spent the entire morning in a stunned deer/headlights state and couldn’t find it in me to be very pleasant). Oh, and that my computer currently says I have 19 hours of use still. Amazing.

One day I will look back on this trip and laugh. Not today. I hope you have a bit though, even if it is at my expense.

Let it go, Robyn. Let it go. Deep breaths. Shake it out. Onward and upward.

Will post this from the other side.

Spring Redemption

If you have never experienced the transition from winter into spring in a place whose climate knows the extremes of the solstices, do your soul a favour and move somewhere - anywhere - where you can do so. It is not enough to just be in a place in the spring, to witness the rebirth of nature; you must know the depth of cold, barren branches, the wonder of early morning hoarfrost, and the brightness and inaccessible warmth of sunlight when the ground is frozen solid and the snow crunches beneath your feet. Only then can you understand the glory of 10 degrees Celsius, of budbreak in the vineyards, of baby maple leaves and open windows, of leaving your jacket behind and plots of land transformed into seas of pink blossoms for only three days out of the entire year.

Even then the enormity of the redemption of spring cannot truly be fully grasped.

*******

In Niagara, spring reaches its full potential with spectacular verdure. Then all at once the migration from the sunshine of the front porch to the shade and breeze of the back balcony occurs over the course of one day on a long weekend. Suddenly, socks are a burden and rosé a necessity. (Good thing I live in wine country!)

This particular post has been a long time coming. It's been 'percolating' (as Heather would say) in my head for days... weeks, even. Just like the seasons, much has changed since my last post... and then changed again, and then changed back. So many things that I assumed to be steadfast have proven not to be, which can be pretty rattling and provoke some serious soul-searching. Maybe I'm being a laughably typical 20-something, to talk about this crazy time of my life where the day-to-day is an unending rollercoaster ride. The reality of it, however, is that underneath an attempted facade of having it all together is a whole lot of self-doubt and sometimes crippling indecision.

In fact, sometime around this time last year I was riding literal roller coasters at the local amusement park, having a minor crisis of identity trying to decide what to do with my future. Namely, whether to go to law school in Australia or not. I eventually decided I wasn't going to - it took me nearly an entire year to come back to the decision and reverse it. But it terrifies me, and as exciting and promising as this path for me may be, I wrestle daily with doubt and worry over the risks.

Does this mean I'm getting old? This newfound hesitation to uproot again, to seek out the next adventure? Or maybe it's just that this time is farther away and for longer than any time before. Or maybe it's because I am on the knife-edge of two incredibly different options for my life, and the decision for one side or the other cannot be (easily or cheaply) rescinded once made. My friends nearly all have settled down, with families and houses and careers. They may have undertaken large amounts of debt, too, but for mortgages--tangible, sheltering, shining models of utility--not for a piece of paper that may or may not guarantee said shelters, families or careers. I envy them. I admire them. But I am not them, nor they, me, so I must keep walking my own path and trusting that the God above has my life in His hands and under control and that He is bigger than my doubt and my inabilities and what I think my desires are or ought to be.

One thing I continually remind myeslf of to keep my sanity in this, is that there is not necessarily only one "right" path to take. Every choice alters the trajectory, whether microscopically or massively. Every option has its own set of hurdles, joys, challenges, mistakes and successes. There are entirely different groups of people to meet and new connections to make along each way. 

My problem, is that I want it all.

But you can't have it all, can you? And if you sit around too long wondering which choice is the best while remaining cautious in the interim, you may wind up realising, with alarm and dismay, that you've spent your life dreaming of a future you no longer have the time to ceate or enjoy. Maybe it is not so harsh as that - I wouldn't chance it though, would you? 

So mark your calendars for July 14th, bring some bocce balls and lawn chairs and come on over for my last BBQ as a 27 year old, bachelor-degree-holding bank teller and Niagara resident, because I'm taking the plunge and I'm not looking back. The winter subdued but the spring has revived and it's time to build some wings. 

(...I hope.)