January in Brisbane

Well I’ve been home almost two months so I thought it was about time I finished my Australia blog. The first little bit I wrote while still there, but the rest is very late reflection.

January 2010 has been my best January yet. Being in Australia has meant I’ve had the longest holiday since I’ve started uni. Even though I’ve been working I’ve had a lot less obligations than usual. Jenny Holtzer is an awesome artist we saw in Melbourne. For a while she posted random “truisms” around New York. One that resonated with me on this note was: “a strong sense of duty imprisons”. In Australia I was very free.

In early January I finally manage to do some exploring of Brisbane. South Bank is one of the best public spaces I’ve ever been to. Beautifully designed with a free “beach,” it’s really nice to swim (even though the water’s kind of dirty) and relax after a hot day in the city. It’s also a chance to hang out with the whole demographic of Brisbane.

I spent a day exploring the Tamborine Mountains – a slightly tacky alternative town just out of Brisbane with my aunt and cousin which was an absolutely wonderful and action packed day.

One highlight was definitely visiting IKEA on the way home; home decoration bliss. It made me hope that I got into US grad school just so I could decorate an apartment from scratch in cheap IKEA goodness.

The next weekend Max came to Brisbane. We had such a good time. The Brisbane Gallery of Modern Art is the best I’ve been to, we went three times! (This is us in the installations).

We also went to the Gold Coast and had an amazing time exploring the city together.

I popped back to NZ for a day which made me feel super important, although unfortunately not important enough as I didn’t get the scholarship! I had a great dinner with some of my nearest and dearest though

There was lots of fun with hostel friends. A pancake palace farewell and a dinner party: butter chicken and pasta carbonara – not the most usual combination – but both were delicious. Massages, bollywood dancing and complaining about food were common pastimes.

My next visit was my dearest mama and she brought with her a little luxury. We went to Tangalooma Island, Moreton Island to feed wild dolphins. All of it was incredible as mum is incredible and my best friend and favourite (equal) holiday companion.

Finally I spent a week on Stradbroke Island for the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists Summer School. It was an academic dream: great people, amazing lecturers, and fun learning. I got a lot of great advice as by this stage I was stressed about my University of Minnesota acceptance which I didn’t know whether to accept or not. Hardest life decision ever. I was so inspired by the grad students and professors and the conference helped me decide that I love academia. Check out our difficult academic life:

.

To avoid making this the longest (and possibly the most boring) blog ever I will blog about Alice Springs separately.