After traveling for the past few weekends it was nice to have time this week to explore the place I have been lucky enough to call home for the last few months. It's insane how quickly the time has gone by and as I look to the next month I want to see as much as I can of Melbourne before I leave. Mid-week, to take advantage of the beautiful sunny day, I headed out to St.Kilda to watch the sunset and see the penguins swim in from the sea for the night. The beach was packed with people all enjoying the sun, a stark difference to my first week here when it was freezing and deserted. It has been so fun to see the city come more and more to life as the weather heats up. On Friday I went to a market in Melbourne called the Finders Keepers Market. It was only on for the weekend and brought makers from all over Australia together to sell everything from handmade jewelry, to letterpressed cards, to clothes, to handmade candles (very similar to the City Flea for my Cincy peeps). I was giddy the whole time walking around just thinking about the big community of people around the world that are creating and making amazing things. It reminded me why I love design, screen-printing, letter-press printing and working with my hands to create something. On Saturday I went on my last trip with REAL Adventures (insert tears). This time we headed out to Mornington Peninsula and went to a local brewery and then some steamy hot springs. It was a relaxing and fun evening with people I have grown close to and the perfect end to all my adventures with REAL. The trips I have gone on with them have been some of my favorite memories while I have been abroad and I am so thankful to the awesome staff for putting up with me on every single trip and taking me on some rad real Aussie adventures. On Sunday, we took the day to just wander around the city and explore the iconic spots in Melbs. It was great day being tourists, riding the city circle tram, buying jam donuts at the Queen Victoria Market, exploring laneways and walking the length of the city blocks. And of course it wouldn't have been a true day in Melbourne without some random rain storms, thanks for staying true to you Melbs.
Since this coming week is my last week of classes in Australia, I added some photos of where I have been studying to the end of the post. Swinburne University of Technology is a world-ranked university leading the way in innovation, industry engagement and social inclusion. Our education, high-quality research and industry partnerships create positive change for students, staff and the community. But to me Swinburne is a lot more. It has been an avenue for me to learn about design in a new setting and from new professors. Here the courses are a lot less structured compared to DAAP, so it has been nice to push myself to work a lot more creatively on projects I am passionate about. I have had the opportunity here to take courses that are not offered at DAAP such as Brand & Identity Design and Production Design, which allowed me to learn about subjects I am very interested in. Living on campus is also how I have made some of my closest friends, people that have truly made my experience here everything I ever dreamed of. Having a group to travel and experience new things with or to just play pool and chat with has made the days fly by and as we all realized this weekend, it is going to be very hard to say goodbye. But hey, at least I have friends in cool places around the world I can travel and visit right?!
Side blurb: My whole life my dad has always reminded me to stop and smell the roses. To really take in the moments and appreciate every second of them. Sometimes when I am traveling or in a new place I get so caught up and excited about the opportunities and possibilities of that place that I forget to slow down and take it all in. We all know that I love to plan, to dissect a place and find the coolest things to do. But sometime I get so caught up in that plan and seeing everything that my mind thinks of what is coming next instead of where I am in the present. While I have been here I have been trying to work on that, to really take in each moment because a few months from now I will be looking back at this time and aching for a time machine to take me back. Sometimes it is difficult to do because Australia still seems so surreal to me, so at times I find it hard to be present. So here's a note to myself - slow down Kaitlyn, take it all in, breathe and enjoy every last bit you have here.
6 hot spring pools, 1 canceled train, 5 jam donuts, 1 laneway, 3 rain storms, 6 city blocks, 2 attempted hot spring whirl pools, 1 successful game of pool, 3 churches, 2 sunsets, 3 penguins, 1 conversation on swing dancing, 3 u-turns, 5 pizzas, 1 REAL trip and 2 tram rides later, I am feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. Crazy to believe that I am done class this week. Here's to making the most out of my last few weeks and taking in every moment.
Cheers - keleniak
p.s. Before this experience I promised myself I would do one new/possibly scary thing a week: This week that was relaxing in Australia's hot springs - steeeaaaammmmyyyyyy.