We have decided to move back to the U.S. for many good reasons (maybe I'll share at another time) but there are at least a million things that I'm going to miss about Australia, Sydney in particular. Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order of importance.
1. Christmas in the summer - oddly enough, I am also looking forward to Christmas in the winter again (I'm basically bipolar, I know) but there was something so surreal and strange about sparkling Shiraz, oysters, and swimsuits on Christmas day (2010). I think it's also the comraderie of a beach full of people (many expats without mothers or grandmothers to cook their Christmas dinner for them) lounging on the sand and in the grass surrounding Coogee beach. Fortunately for us, we did have family with us (Stewart and Justin Neilson) and good friends (Jocie, Jeff, and Joseph) to sweat out this last Christmas with us. [Christmas 2009 was also in the summer, but even further south on the south island of New Zealand. I think Jesus' Birthday was a warmer day (though summer in N.Z. isn't guaranteed to require swimsuits), but Warren and I spent 90% of the entire day in our hotel room in Christchurch, enoying a bed (a novelty during our 5 week camping trip), and watching random movies, namely The Sound of Music.] Where on earth will we be next Christmas?
2. This brings me to.....The Adventure - I'm going to miss the adventure of living in a foreign country. Every day (especially when we first arrived), you learn these new and strange (and often quite similar) aspects of another culture. I love this sort of passive learning, where you are learning without even noticing...it's just your new life.
3. The Currency - Australian money is just so colorful and incredibly practical. Australians don't have a coin smaller than five cents, so when paying with cash, your bill is rounded to the nearest 5 cent mark. They also don't have any notes (or bills) smaller then 5, but instead there is a $1 and $2 coin. The system works brilliantly and I'm really not looking forward to stale green bills and a pile of useless pennies.
4. The Ocean - We are five minutes walk from the ocean, a lovely warm water ocean complete with sting rays, blue groupers, cafes and many old, fat mean in speedos! I'm not sure if we will ever live this close to the ocean again..at least not for a while. I'm gonna miss it, though I'm sure Warren will miss it more.
5. The Accents - Sydney is very cosmopolitan, so nice thick aussie accents aren't everywhere, but at least every other day you hear a really good one. Everything about this country is embodied in that beautiful accent- so relaxed and at ease and so very friendly. I'm sure I'll always feel warm and fuzzy inside and full of nostalgia whenever I hear one in the future.
6. The Distance - This would also be included in a list of reasons why I want to move back to the U.S. but often the distance has been nice. It has kept me from grabbing my cell phone at every available second to call family or friends. It has allowed me to be ultimately selfish and figure out what I (and we) want out of our lives. The distance is probably what gave us such peace about being closer.
7. The Critters - Though the site of a spider in Australia immediately evokes fear of dying, I will miss the potential of seeing some horribly awful creature on my wall, hearing the sound of a kookaburra while walking down the street, or seeing hundreds of bats flying around at night.
This will certainly be the hardest chapter to close.
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