GRIP, Internships Abroad Finding Love in Sydney

United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney - Australia

There's something effortless about love– the way you fall head over heels into something so easy and beautiful and you lose your breath every time you realize how incredibly lucky you are. But in a way, it makes you go crazy– it's foreign and unknown and at first, you think like it'll never feel quite right– but it's worth it, to persevere, to push through, because in the end it's everything you ever wanted. 

Love– 
It's the nervousness I felt the first time taking the bus to work, getting off two stops too early because I didn't want to end up in another zip code, or the reason I wake up half an hour early just to sit at the park as the sun rises, before heading to my desk for the next 8 hours. It's the warmth I feel when my coworkers tease me for being American, or the endless advice about what to do and visit, or the pride of being trusted with critical research and responsibility. It's the apprehensive excitement of leaving my company with an article unfinished, with promises of so much more to come (a publication perhaps?). It's the familiarity of a workplace that welcomed me with open arms, that squeezes my heart when I think of no longer being here. 

Love–
It's the amusement when I walk through the Grand Concourse at Central Station and somehow feel both absolutely like a tourist but also so at home, train routes already ingrained in my mind. It's the incredulousness at not having lost my Opal Card or my room key or my student ID, tools I use consistently every day. It's knowing some streets like the back of my hand, but also Google Maps might be my best friend now. It's the strange sense of belonging I feel here, but the wonder of always finding new places to explore. 

Love–
It's the breathlessness I feel in every corner of the city– the quintessential cityscape at Circular Quay, the crashing waves at Watson's Bay, the pristine beaches at Bondi. It's my confusion over how a country can have the most inconceivable coastline and city skyline in the same frame, and my willingness to sit on a cliff, staring at that view, for hours on end. It's the giddiness I felt when a wallaby ate from my hand, or the two inches of separation between me and a koala. It's the surprise of seeing green parrots and white cockatoos randomly flying outside my window, and the gratefulness for not having seen a giant spider yet. It's walking through the Central Business District and knowing there's hundreds of stores, thousands of restaurants, millions of coffee shops, that I'll never get the chance to go to, because everything is incredible here.

My love is the nostalgia that hit me weeks ago; it's the ache that leaves me stunned; it's the realization that two months is never enough, and I can't do long distance, and I don't want to leave. But love is also learning to appreciate what I've had– the opportunity of a lifetime. Love is the connection we make, with the incredible girls who came here with me, with my brilliant fellow interns, with my boss and coworkers, all with the wisdom of the world. Love is learning to take a breath, to pause, to realize life isn't always a rush. Love is appreciating coffee and shooing away bin chickens and sitting by the harbor, staring at the Opera House. 

This summer, I fell in love with Sydney.