{"id":18812,"date":"2019-10-25T20:40:38","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T20:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/?p=18812"},"modified":"2020-01-08T17:27:23","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T17:27:23","slug":"im-going-to-a-land-down-under-by-cristina-toppin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/2019\/10\/25\/im-going-to-a-land-down-under-by-cristina-toppin\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m Going to a Land Down Under!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is the year of racking up miles and boarding passes. I \nexplored Namibia for ten days through Rollins\u2019 summer field study \nprogram and delivered my collaborative research on African textiles in \nMinnesota. Now, I am about to embark on a cross-continental journey yet \nagain. My days will consist of unlimited sunlight, warm yet breezy \nweather, and surfer-bro slang in the birth country of one of my favorite\n celebrities, Chris Hemsworth. For five months, Sydney, Australia will \nbe my home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as my 15+ hour flight quickly approaches, I still cannot \ncomprehend how I gathered enough courage to challenge myself in this \nway. Growing up, traveling as far as Puerto Rico or New York was a big \ndeal for my mom and I; long, exotic summer vacations were reserved for \nmy better-off friends and family members. I guess that this unsatisfied \nwanderlust helped shape me into the adventurous, bold person that I am \ntoday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before traveling to Namibia, I have never taken connecting flights \nnor left America\/the Caribbean. I have never been in one destination \nwithout my mom or dad. My few trips to Puerto Rico were spent with my \nmom at my grandparents\u2019 house; my month-long trips to New Jersey and New\n York were spent with my dad, who lives there. That unforgettable field \nstudy certainly  prepared me to do all of the above for a significantly \nlonger amount of time, and without a group of Rollins students by my \nside 24\/7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time, I will have to plan my own activities. I will have to make\n peace with spending some days watching Netflix in-between the \nactivity-filled days that leave me exhausted by dinnertime. I want to \nfind local friends to explore the city with, finding free activities \nthat only Sydneysiders would know about, from private art gallery \nshowings to free morning yoga sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most importantly, I want to build enough confidence to be perfectly \ncontent with doing things on my own. I have always struggled with being \ncomfortable alone and practicing self-love in-general. I recognize that,\n during my semesters at Rollins, I am quick to seek the company of \nothers when times get tough. (Finals season, I\u2019m looking at you.) I \ndream of walking down the streets of Sydney with blacked-out sunglasses \nand sport leggings on, returning to my apartment after a sunrise run and\n farmers market trip by the Opera House, strutting like Beyonc\u00e9 in her \nmusic video for \u201cHold Up\u201d\u2013minus the vandalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond these grand goals of finding myself and adulting successfully,\n I am overcome with excitement by the long list of activities that will \nonly be a bus or train ride away from me. Going to college in Florida \nhas its perks, but easy, cheap, and reliable transportation is \ndefinitely not one of them. When I learned that the state of New South \nWales, which encompasses Sydney, has its own app for buses, trains, and \nferries, I automatically downloaded it without even touching down in \nAustralia yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studying abroad in Sydney will give me the best of both worlds: The \nCarrie Bradshaw life that I yearn for, and the outdoorsy culture that I \nadmire and want to dabble into. The opportunity to walk to class \nsurrounded by beautiful parks and other public works, juxtaposed by \nconstant honking and chattering, invigorates me. With a plethora of zoos\n and aquariums at my disposal\u2013unlike in Central Florida\u2013I will be on a \nsemester-long hunt to take pictures with as many koalas and quokkas as \npossible. Not to mention, the beautiful Bondi to Coogee Beach Coastal \nWalk will be my bi-weekly stomping ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look forward to creating memories (and envious Instagram posts) in a\n city that some people pay thousands of dollars to visit for only one \nweek. Adios, Winter Park!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Images from left: Airport in Windhoek, Namibia; sunset at the Independence Museum in Windhoek<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the year of racking up miles and boarding passes. I explored Namibia for ten days through Rollins\u2019 summer field study program and delivered my collaborative research on African textiles in Minnesota. Now, I am about to embark on a cross-continental journey yet again. My days will consist of unlimited sunlight, warm yet breezy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[369],"class_list":["post-18812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sydney","tag-rollinsabroad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/593"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19559,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18812\/revisions\/19559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}