Week 14: The Blue Mountains Revisited

I’ve got two more weeks of classes. Three weeks until my last paper is due. The end is in sight and I don’t quite know how to feel about it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m so ready to be done with lectures and essays. Especially essays. Two and a half months without any homework is a dream. But soon after I finish the semester, I have to leave Australia.

This morning, I woke up before 8 AM (a Herculean task). I met up with a classmate and a few of her friends, and we drove out to the Blue Mountains. I’ve been before, in the 3^rd week of my trip. It was there that I successfully threw a boomerang, rode the world’s steepest railway, and went rappelling.

Today, we did none of those things. We walked to some waterfalls and ate lunch at the Echo Point lookout. It was a nice break from the city and all the work I have building up here. Nature has a way of making me stop worrying about the things that are stressing me out. Maybe it's the vastness of the mountains that makes my problems seem inconsequential, or maybe it's just getting away from my regular scenery. Either way, it's welcome relief, even if it's short-lived.

It was a good day. I got to meet some new people and share a day with them. Oh, and I took some pictures because how else would everyone else know I went somewhere cool?

Day out with friends #bluemountains #waterfall #emilygoesabroad

A post shared by Emily (@emilyhannahk) on May 27, 2017 at 8:18pm PDT

When I got back home, I took a long nap (the consequences of waking up too early, I guess). Now I’m back to the grind, with 5 papers and a quiz in the coming weeks. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post on schedule. After that, I’ll be travelling and therefore should have plenty of time to ramble at you through the internet.

See you next Sunday (probably). And thanks for reading!

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Week 13: True Stories Told Live

Hey all!

Today marks 3 months since I landed in Australia. That puts me just past the halfway point in my trip. I’ve seen some amazing places, met some great people, and gotten to settle into life in a new city. But one of my favorite experiences of this semester so far is a thing that I totally could have done at home, but never quite got around to. I went to a Moth StorySLAM. 

The Moth is an organization that hosts live storytelling events, including StorySLAM competitions. The stories are about 5 minutes long and they have to be both true and about the storyteller. Some of the stories from these events are broadcast on the radio and on The Moth Podcast, which I love. 

I’m a writer (clearly) and live storytelling is a medium that fascinates me. There’s something about being able to hear the the pride when they talk about watching their loved one overcome a hardship, the regret when they talk about something they’ve lost, or the seriousness with which they describe a harrowing moment. It adds this dimension to the story that is one of the hardest things to capture in text (sorry, guys).

Or maybe what draws me to The Moth is that these stories are told live, with no notes allowed. I’ve got horrible stage fright. I challenge it constantly with choir and a cappella performances, but my presentation two weeks ago was delivered in a wavering voice and with a heartbeat that could probably be heard back in Boston. These people, as nervous as they are, get up on a stage in front of hundreds of strangers and tell a story about their lives. And they’re competing! Just the thought of doing what they do makes my entire vocabulary leave my brain.

The Moth holds monthly StorySLAMS in cities across the US and a few in the UK and Australia. I’ve been within an hour’s drive of a Moth event pretty much every time they’ve happened since I first heard the podcast. But I never actually went to one until Tuesday. I heard stories, ranging from a crazy firsthand account of a lightning strike (complete with St. Elmo’s fire) to a moving story about a woman’s visit to the home her family had lived in before the Holocaust. I’m still awestruck by the bravery that it took for those people to get up there, but also by the skill it takes to weave a story for a live audience. 

Maybe one day I’ll try my hand at live storytelling, but for now I’m content to keep myself out of view. And besides, there’s no backspace key on stage.

Here’s a picture from Tuesday night:

A post shared by Emily (@emilyhannahk) on May 16, 2017 at 2:21am PDT

And here’s a picture of a really cool mural in my neighborhood. The Block is an Aboriginal community here in Redfern. The history is really incredible and I'd recommend looking it up.

I'm really lucky to be staying in Eora country this semester. #aboriginalart #redfern #emilygoesabroad

A post shared by Emily (@emilyhannahk) on May 17, 2017 at 10:43pm PDT

I hope your week is full of wonderful stories.

See you soon,

Emily

Week 12: Open Letter to My Mom

Hi Mom,

I just got off the phone with you and I know I told you I was going to bed, but it's Mother's Day and I need to write a blog post.

It's been 2 months and 26 days since we were last in the same place. I'm having an incredible trip and I'm so glad to be here, but I miss you. I missed you during Passover when you weren't at the Seders I went to. I missed you when I was in New Zealand and I had to plan my own vacation. I missed you last week when I saw an ad for a Mother's Day brunch discount. I'll miss you tomorrow, the next day, and the week after that.

I could go into how great of a mom you are, how you've supported me in all of the things that I do, how you encourage me to do my best and pursue what I love, or how you've helped me grow up into a slightly taller and hopefully somewhat mature adult. But it's late and I don't want to write a whole novel.

I'm having the best time in Sydney. Today alone was filled with a bonfire with friends and a Eurovision party. This is an unreal semester, but it's days like today when it hits me just how far from home I am. I couldn't even call you until late tonight because you wouldn't have been up yet.

I'm glad you're celebrating Mother's Day with the rest of the family and that it was lovely speaking to you on the phone. I'm so lucky to have the best mom in the world (I know everyone says that, but I'm objectively correct).

All My Love,

Em

Week 11: I Don't Know About You...

I got a lot of messages involving this one Taylor Swift song on Tuesday.

I don't know about you... but I'm turning 22! #damnimold #brandeisabroad #emilygoesabroad

A post shared by Emily (@emilyhannahk) on May 1, 2017 at 8:12pm PDT

It was my 22nd birthday. And like every other birthday I can remember, it involved a mini existential crisis about how the passage of time is inevitable and what it means to get older. You know, the normal stuff. This year, though, it was a little different because of graduation.

"But Emily," you might be saying, "you're a junior. You don't graduate until next year."

First of all, I don't know why you're talking at your computer screen. I can't hear you and you're reading these words a while after I wrote them.

Second, I'm not graduating this year, but if I hadn't taken a gap year before college, I would be. Which means that all of the friends who were in my grade through high school, most of my friends who are closest to me in age, they're graduating. And planning life as a "real adult" (whatever that means).

I'm not doing that yet. I've still got more school left to do before I need to worry about starting grad school or whatever it is I'll do first. But I'm also hearing about my friends' experiences with saying goodbye to the life they've built at university and trying to find a place for themselves in the larger world.

And I'm really glad I took a year off because that sounds terrifying. My 23rd year (which, for those of you about to correct me at home, has started now because you're not born on your "1st birthday") will be different from most of my friends' because I'll still be an undergraduate student. I've taken life at a slightly different pace.

This isn't one of those essays telling you to make sure that your aunt's best friend's kid takes a gap year or whatever. But there's something liberating about deciding not to go straight into tackling the next task without taking some time to plan out what you're going to do when you start it.

To all my friends (and any enemies or strangers) who are graduating this month, congratulations on all you've achieved! You're going to go on to great things whenever you're ready to get started.

To all of the High School Class of 2013 who isn't finished with college yet, we'll get there when we get there. And that's awesome.

Week 10: The Procrastination Station

Hey all,

So it's really late (like almost 2 AM late), but today was Sunday, so that means a blog post for you. I'm going to try to keep it short.

My week was spent writing essays, then procrastinating, then writing more. Honestly, it makes for a pretty boring synopsis. But it was also a really stressful week for me.

I'm a hardcore procrastinator. Anyone who's been at school with me knows that there are very few assignments that I ever start more than a day or two before the due date. I usually play it off as confidence or boredom. At the end of the day, I get the work done.

But I don't do it because I'm bored or even because I think the work is easy. I procrastinate because without the pressure of the deadline hanging over me, I can't do anything. I'll sit at my laptop with the internet turned off, trying to get a head start on my work. For like an hour. Without typing more than a few words. Even things I enjoy writing, like this blog, get pushed to the absolute last minute (or sometimes a little late, like tonight).

Yesterday is a great example. I had a short story due this morning. I had an idea for a setting, the characters, the conflict. It was pretty much fully formed in my head when I went to sleep on Friday night. When I went to the library to write it, I didn't get a single word typed. Not one. I ended up watching the entire season of Dear White People which had just been released on Netflix. It's a great show, but it really should have waited until after I'd finished my story.

I wrote it today and I'm fairly proud of it (until it gets workshopped on Thursday, at which point I'll hate it for a little while), but that doesn't do much to soothe my frustration at my inability to sit down and work when I want to.

So far, I haven't been able to find a system that allows me to motivate myself to get work done in advance. I've got a bit of a lull in my workload right now (which means that nothing big is due in the next 3 days), but if I could, I'd be getting ahead on some assignments that are due in a few weeks, but close together.

This didn't actually end up being short, but it was cathartic and that's what public forums are for, right? Sorry it's not about Australia or whatever.

See you next week,

Emily

(P.S. If you also have a hard time not procrastinating and something has worked for you, feel free to send it my way! I may have already tried it, but I'm running out of ideas.)

Week 9: Flying Solo

Okay, so I promised you last week that I'd talk about New Zealand. Now it's time.

Last Friday, I woke up early and took some trains to the airport. I boarded an airplane (depicted below) and sat down for a few hours. When I stood up again, I was in New Zealand.

Midsem break! #nzbound #airport #travel #brandeisabroad #emilygoesabroad

A post shared by Emily (@emilyhannahk) on Apr 14, 2017 at 5:44pm PDT

That's the level of detail you want, right?

Just kidding. I'm not going to give you a play-by-play. What I will do is follow a time-honored blog tradition. Unsolicited advice! I traveled alone, so here are a few tips on how to do a vacation all by yourself.

1) Find the free walking tour. Go on your first day.
Lots of cities have "free" walking tours, which are the best introductions I've ever gotten to the more touristy areas of any city. I have done these in a few cities and they're always super interesting and the guides are always really cool. They'll point out good places to eat and attractions you should go back to. If you go on your first day, you'll have some sense of direction for the rest of your trip and a to-do list for later!

2) Hostels are actually a pretty great option.
I've heard a lot of friends say that they find hostels to be weird. And I get that. Staying in a room with strangers is definitely different. And the hostel didn't provide a towel. It was super cheap, though, and in a central location. The atmosphere was social, so even though I was traveling alone, there were people for me to hang out with. And people who had been there longer than I had gave me some ideas for things to do, like climb a volcano to watch the sunset.

3) Try something new.
On Wednesday, I walked about 16 km (that's roughly 10 miles) across Auckland. I've done long hikes before, but never by myself. This one started at the harbor near my hostel and went out into the suburbs, which I hadn't visited yet. I walked through some parks, climbed a few volcanoes, ran out of water for a little while (make sure you don't do that. It was bad), and took lots of pictures. I almost gave up about six separate times, but I made it all the way to the end in about 6 hours. Between the views and the sense of accomplishment, I think that this was my favorite activity of the whole trip.

I hope you like my little foray into the ancient art of listicles (or whatever they're called). In case you couldn't tell, this is really just a way for me to tell you about what I did while making it sound like I have something profound to say. (I don't.) Anyway, here are some pictures I took.

It's a little rainy, but I can't skip the harbor pic! #auckland #newzealand🇳🇿 #travels #midsembreak #brandeisabroad #emilygoesabroad

A post shared by Emily (@emilyhannahk) on Apr 15, 2017 at 7:05pm PDT

Enjoying an informative morning walk with @aklfreewalking #auckland #newzealand🇳🇿 #travels #midsembreak #brandeisabroad #emilygoesabroad

A post shared by Emily (@emilyhannahk) on Apr 16, 2017 at 4:20pm PDT

Watching the sunset over #auckland from a volcano #newzealand🇳🇿 #travels #midsembreak #brandeisabroad #emilygoesabroad

A post shared by Emily (@emilyhannahk) on Apr 16, 2017 at 10:49pm PDT

Another beautiful Auckland sunset. This time from a different angle #newzealand🇳🇿 #travels #midsembreak #brandeisabroad #emilygoesabroad

A post shared by Emily (@emilyhannahk) on Apr 17, 2017 at 10:29pm PDT

I did a 16 km walk today! Here are a few pictures. #mylegshurt #coasttocoasttrail #aucklandcoasttocoast #outdooradventurephotos # hiking #newzealand🇳🇿 #midsembreak #brandeisabroad #emilygoesabroad

A post shared by Emily (@emilyhannahk) on Apr 19, 2017 at 4:09am PDT

School starts up again tomorrow, so I should get some sleep. I'll see you next week for another installment of me telling you about all the stuff that I'm doing while living in a cool place!

Week 8: Why is This Year Different…

Hello!

In case you don’t remember from last week’s post, it’s Passover! If you don’t know what Passover is, it’s an 8-day long Jewish holiday that celebrates the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt. I’d recommend Googling it if you want to know more (or ask a Jewish person).

I’m in New Zealand right now on vacation, but I’m not going to write about that at all until next week. I want to write about being away from home for the holiday.

My mom sent me an article about a girl studying in London who got invited to a Seder (a traditional Passover meal held on the first 2 nights). She posted about it in a rather lovely series of tweets. Honestly, I don’t think I can do a better job than she did of talking about my experience of celebrating a holiday without my family, but I’m going to try anyway.

First of all, I’d never attended a Seder without my family before. I took a gap year before starting college and they came to visit me for Passover. My school at home aligns spring break with the holiday, so I get to be home. But this year, I’m too far away for my parents to visit and I had school, so I couldn’t go anywhere.

I wound up at two very different Seders. The first night, I went to a local synagogue. There were probably about 80 people there, including a good number of students from abroad. Seders are super formulaic, so on the surface it was the same. The same words as every year sung to many of the same tunes. The order of events (The Hebrew word seder literally translates to “order”) was the same.

But the people around me were mostly strangers and our only link was our Judaism. But Judaism is a strong connection, so I felt right at home in this new community, as if these strangers were long-lost friends.

On the second night, I went to a friend-of-a-friend’s family. I’d only met her once before, but again the Jewish connection made me feel comfortable. Her family and their friends laughed and joked around the table and I was fully included. Again, it felt so familiar to me that I almost forgot that I was 10,000 miles from home.

I went back to that synagogue for Friday night dinner (which is part of the Shabbat celebration), where I had some delicious food and great company. In classic Jewish fashion, I met someone who knows my mom. But I also found a community where I can find the comfort of familiarity, even in a place so far away.