It’s official: I’m going home
on November 1. I’ve booked my plane tickets home and now just have to figure
everything else out, like how to pack everything, how to transfer money from my
Australian bank account to my account back home, etc. Also, I’ve been having a
bit of bad luck with some plans falling through. The first thing is that the
people who had agreed to buy my car when I leave have changed their mind, not
because of my car or anything but because by the time the girl (who is now 14)
can start driving in two years she’ll have a lot of money saved up and can buy
a “real” car. I completely understand their decision, but now I’m left with
less than two months to find somebody to buy my car, and I’m out of the country
for two weeks during that time. I’m resorting to telling everyone I know that
I’m selling so they can keep their ears open for anyone expressing interest in
a cheap car. I’ll also be posting For Sale signs in the two local grocery
stores, as well as putting signs up inside my car. I had really been looking
forward to having an easy sale and not having to do all that stuff, but I guess
now I’m left with no other choice.
The other thing that has
fallen through is the continuation of my project once I leave. The person who
was going to come out for the summer and continue taking emergence counts has
said they can no longer come for the whole summer, only for two weeks. It’s
good that they can still come for part of it, but I really really don’t want
this project to fizzle once I leave. I will be training three members of the
Friends of Naracoorte Caves in how to run the cameras and analyze the counts,
but they won’t be able to take counts as regularly as they should be taken. Hopefully
I and the park manager can figure something out before I leave. My research has
shown that regular monitoring (as in several times per week) is needed to get
an accurate population count at Bat Cave. If we want to be able to make
accurate population estimates and determine how the species is doing over the
years, regular monitoring over several years is needed.
On a happier note, I’ve been
thinking about what I’m looking forward to once I get home. Some of the things
I’m looking forward to (besides the obvious of spending time with friends and
family) are:
- Making and eating those Pilsbury cookies that come in tubes
- Chipotle!
- Having legitimate dill pickles
- Eating at the Ethiopian restaurant in Columbus where my college roommates and I frequented
- Snow!
- Graeter’s Black Raspberry Chip ice cream
- UDF Hot Fudge Sundae (with nuts)
- Confetti cake
- Toaster Streudels
- IHOP (Cinnastacks pancakes)
Very simple things but things
I’ve realized I miss, or at least miss having the option of them. I know I’m
going to be extremely sad to leave Australia, but I am getting excited
to go home, especially the closer it gets. It will be nice to be home for
awhile while I apply to grad schools. I think the time home will (hopefully)
help me clarify whether I want to go to grad school in the US or Australia. There are lots of great
opportunities in both places. I guess I’ll see where my heart and mind take me!
Can't wait til you're home! And I call #10 ♥
ReplyDeleteAww, I can't wait to do #10 with you! And will you also accompany me to achieve the consumption of #6? :)
ReplyDeleteHey Kristen! Depending on the type of bank account you have in Australia, it's generally much easier and a lot cheaper to do international wire transfers than it is in the US (I've only just managed to close my US bank acc and wire transfer the money back to Australia, but that's a saga for another day).
ReplyDeleteGood luck with it all :)
Hey Kathryn, thanks for the advice! I have the St. George Student Account that the Fulbright Commission set up for me. I haven't looked into how all that works yet. That's on my to-do list after I get back from Hungary. Hopefully it won't be too hard/expensive! :)
ReplyDeleteIf it's like most Australian bank acc's, it should cost around $20-25 from the Australian bank to send the money- there will be another fee from your US bank to receive it (Wells Fargo in the US charged me $15). So, it's not too expensive. My Australian bank lets me do international transfers online too, which makes life a bit easier :)
DeleteUm YES!
ReplyDeleteYay! :D
ReplyDeleteHi Kathryn,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. It's good to have an idea of what to expect cost-wise when transferring money. I guess I'll soon find out how it all works!