The Life of Brigita Shela: Desember 2014

All the bags were packed, and we were all ready to go. We’ve been waiting for months to go and we were all really excited, happy and just couldn’t wait to step our feet in Australia. On 23^rd of August, we were all gathered in Reyhan’s house and waited for the bus which was going to take us to Bandung. As we arrived at Husein Sastranegara Airport, we were all looking into each other’s eyes and thought, “Is this really the time that we are all going to Aussie?” I had 6 friends and 2 counselors who’s coming with me to Australia; Ela, Pingkan, Virna, Wulan, Reyhan, Calvin, Mrs. Katri and Father Pat. Our trip begun when we were arrived in Kuala Lumpur. This was my first time in a plane and it was all really exciting! We didn’t have time to stay at KL because our plane to Gold Coast was ready to take off. So we ran as the people at the airport shouted, “Gold Coast! Gold Coast! Gold Coast!”

On 24^th of August, we woke up at the plane and we had no idea what time it was. We just couldn’t wait to arrive on the Gold Coast until the Captain said we were all going down in 15 minutes. And as I stepped my feet in Coolangatta Airport, I was screaming like a maniac, “This is Australia! We finally arrived in Australia!” Woohoo! It was really cold because it was 15 degrees. I got Lily Graham as my homestay, while Ela and Pingkan got Kellen, Wulan and Virna got Niki, Reyhan and Calvin got Blake, and Mrs. Katri got Mr. Lloyd. Lily is such a beautiful, kind, lovely and caring young lady. She came to Indonesia last year but she went to Majenang, not Cilacap. At noon we went to Surfers Paradise then we stopped at Charlie’s and got strawberry milkshake.

On 25^th of August, it was our first day at Aquinas College! We went to see the entire school and that was amazing because Aquinas is a really big school on the Gold Coast. We went to some classes and introduced ourselves in front of them and they were really nice to us. They have a lot of classes such as; science (math, chemistry, physic, biology), social science (geography, history), art, music, FTV (film and television), sports, hospitality, dance, religion, Japanese, English, business, sewing, drama, health, and graphic design. We also could find swimming pool, soccer field, basketball courts, tuck-shop, and a very big library. Aquinas is a dream school for me (or for all of us, apparently).

The next day was the opening assembly. We sang “Yamko Rambe Yamko” and did a little bit of dancing. I know we were all really silly but all of the students in Aquinas just smiled, then laught, and finally recording us with their phones! Lily and Daniel said that we were really good. What a relief.

We joined every school activities every day. We went to the class every single day. We usually gathered in Mr. Mort’s office before went to the classes. Because Lily is in year 12, I didn’t come to the classes with her because she had to focus with her studies. But I had Rose as my host at school, she was so nice to me and took care of me a lot. And every Wednesday, we had lunch at the tuck-shop and had nasi goreng made by Mrs. Lisa.

The next day after we got home from school, Ela, Virna, Pingkan, Wulan and I went to a mall in Robina with our homestays. We had dinner first at Toscani Italian Restaurant. I had spaghetti bolognese and it was really delicious (and expensive). Let’s be honest here, everything was really expensive in Australia!

The next day was a free day. I went to O’Riellys National Park, a bird sanctuary outside the Gold Coast, with Lily and her dad. After we got there, we did a birdfeeding and that was really exciting because it was my first time ever doing the birdfeeding. And then I climbed on the top of the tree and saw a beautiful scenery. It was way too high, it’s about 70 meters above the land. Ah! It was amazing and freezing. I also saw kangaroos for the first time in my whole life at the forest near The O’Riellys. They were so cute and all I wanted to do was to touch them but then they ran away. In the evening, after attending Reilly’s birthday party, I went to the Gold Coast Show with Lily. The Gold Coast Show was pretty fun and we saw fireworks over there.

The next day was Saturday, and all of the Indonesians went to Surfers Paradise! Horray! We played at the Timezone and then just hung out at the Surfers Paradise Beach and took a lot of pictures. After that we went to Go Bowling in Ashmore. I wasn't really great at bowling so I lost. Blake was the winner though! I met Georgia and Ciara & they were really nice to me. They called me "Captain" because they thought I am the captain of the group. What a sweetheart!

The next day we went to Brisbane, the capitol of Queensland. We went there with our homestays and Mr. Mort, but Daniel and Alex was also coming with us. It only took 1 hour from Aquinas to Brisbane. Brisbane was beautiful and much bigger than the Gold Coast. It was a beautiful place with big buildings and the shopping centers. We also had time to shopping around Brisbane and took a lot of pictures with Brisbane’s skyline. We just really enjoyed every single time with them. It was a great time! You have no idea how I missed them all!

The next week was full of the classes and stuff. But we were very lucky because Aquinas took us to the David Fleay’s Wildlife Park with Mr. Mort and Mrs. Finder. At the park we saw koalas, kangaroos, wombats, wallabies, blue tongue lizard and other Australian animals. And then we went to the Burleigh Beach and saw a very beautiful scenery of Gold Coast.

When I was there, my homestay really took care of me and brought me to awesome places such as; Surfers Paradise, O’Rielly’s, Broadbeach, Robina, Gold Coast Show, Carrara Beach, Burleigh Heads, Currumbin Wildlife Park, Harbour Town, etc. My other friends went to Sea World, some malls, and many awesome places. It was unbelievable and unforgettable!

On 5^th of September, we went to Burpengary to visit St. Eugene College. It was an hour and a half bus driving from Aquinas to Burpengary. I met a girl named Skyla and a boy named Lewis then they took me around the entire school. Twelve of St. Eugene College’s students will visit Indonesia next year, including Skyla and Lewis! And then we had this sharing things about Indonesia. Daniel, Blake, Rhi and Lily talked in front of them about Indonesia and showed them some of the pictures and videos when they were in Indonesia. I also went up to give a speech about Australia. It was spontaneous. I didn't even prepared for the speech. But I think it went well though! Then we took a group photo and say good bye to our St. Eugene friends.

6^th of September was our second last day in Australia. We had a closing assembly. Reyhan, Ela, and I were performed a band performance with some of the Aquinas students. And then I had a farewell speech. At the end of the closing assembly, I cried. I hugged every person who came to me and said thank you for being such a good friend when I was there. I just couldn’t handle the sadness and the tears. I didn’t want to leave Australia, but I had to. After we said good bye and cried, I drove home with Lily’s dad. And guess what? He got me a present, which was a trip to Currumbin Wildlife Park! I was so happy and I cuddled a koala named Milo! It was really exciting and I was the only Indonesians who cuddled a koala! My friends were super jealous of me! And then in the evening we went to Blake's house and had a turkey barbecue. There were people who came to Indonesia last year. We played truth or dare and that was fun. They learned some of the Bahasa Indonesia and we had fun a lot. It was a nice and memorable barbecue anyway. I love them. I didn't wanna leave at all!

The next day, I woke up really early in the morning, because our plane to Kuala Lumpur was at 08.40 am. We arrived at Coolangatta Airport at 6.30 am and I cried all the way to the airport and at the airport. We said goodbye to our homestays and that was a really sad time of my trip. We arrived at Kuala Lumpur at 01.30 PM (MY time) and our plane to Bandung has been canceled until 08.30 PM. We had to wait 6 hours before we finally took off to Bandung.

Being in Australia has been my very big dream since 3 years ago. Being an exchange student at Aquinas College has been my big desire since a long time, and I am very happy to be a part of this exchange program. I also got to learn how to speak English with the real English speaker. I had a lot of wonderful new things in Australia and I am very grateful for all of that.

Australia was my first time overseas, and I do really have to say that Australia is my best experience of “first time overseas”. Australia is a really beautiful country with its beautiful people. Even if we have a different roads, weather, houses, school systems, foods, or even bathrooms, I still love Australia more than ever. I know I will come back, sooner or later.

Thank you Australia, for the great experiences. Thank you Aquinas College, for the amazing new things. Thank you Yos Sudarso for the opportunity. And thank you for whoever reading this.

I will see you soon, Australia! That’s for sure! Cheers!

P.S: Here are some pictures of my long-short journey in Australia!