I came home to the US exactly one week ago today, which I’m finding really hard to believe. The past four and a half months spent in Sydney were amazing, and as much as I’ve tried, this blog and my photos don’t even come close to communicating all that is Australia. [Author’s note: brace yourself for what will likely be my longest blog post yet. The re-adjustment to American life has been chaotic, so I have a lot to fill you in on!]

The last two weeks were a lot of fun. Mom and Dad’s visit was jam packed with the famous sights of Sydney. One evening, we went to a Brian Eno concert at the Sydney Opera House that was part of Luminous, which itself was part of Vivid Sydney: A Festival of Music, Light, and Ideas. The music was a bit “out there” (as my Mom put it) but it was definitely a great experience. I took Mom and Dad on a tour of campus, the Village, and Newtown. We walked around Circular Quay and the Botanic Gardens for some of the best views of Sydney Harbour, with the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House in the same frame. We had dinner atop the AMP Sydney Tower at the Sydney Tower Restaurant, a 360-degree dining experience with a revolving floor, and food that included kangaroo steak (which is actually really, really good).

The only downside to Mom and Dad’s visit was the weather. Bad weather in Sydney is rare, but it rained all week! We tried to do the famous Bondi to Coogee cliff top trail, a cute stone walkway that hugs the cliff connecting both of Sydney’s trademark beaches, with great views of the entire shoreline. We got halfway across when a storm came, getting us all completely soaked and forcing us to abandon that plan and bus back to the hotel. We took a ferry to Watson’s Bay for the day, but at every scenic view we were chased away by rain. We did have a traditional lunch of fish ‘n chips at Doyle’s, a famous restaurant that’s over 120 years old! The same thing happened when I attempted to visit Manly one last time.

The one beautiful day my parents had in their 10-day visit, we took a day trip to the Blue Mountains. It was a completely clear and brisk day, and we stopped at Featherdale Wildlife Reserve, where my parents got to feed kangaroos and pet koalas! We also saw the landmark Three Sisters, and took the world’s steepest railway incline down into the rainforest valley of Katoomba.

Despite the rain, my parents and I had a great time together in Sydney, and I was so thankful they were able to visit.

When they left, I had a final exam and four days left in Sydney. Those final four days are still a blur, and I can’t begin to describe what a surreal feeling it was to say goodbye to this place that had been my home for nearly half a year. Between the final breakfasts at Hoochie’s, the last trip to Paddy’s, and some final nights on the town, I remembered all the reasons why I’d fallen in love with this city. I also know how lucky I am to have a network of friends in Australia, New Zealand, the US, and scattered around the world.

As those last few weeks wound down, there were strange coincidences or other events that signaled that it was time to come home. For example, at Marly Bar trivia, a series of questions centered on Punxsutawney Phil, a world-known tradition that takes place only 20 minutes from my hometown in Pennsylvania. My hometown reached temperatures in the 90s, while it was rainy and 55 in Sydney. The University shut down for “winter break”, while my parents coordinated plans for July 4th.

 And before I knew it, here I was back home in America. I’m finding that I miss the relaxed, laid back personality of Australia. I notice the difference in the day-to-day ways of life: for example, the contrast between the way staff and fellow passengers treated us in the Sydney Airport and the San Francisco Airport was extreme. Don’t get me wrong -- I LOVE America and am so happy to be back. There were many things that I missed (not to mention family and friends!). However, I think we would all be just a tiny bit happier if we took on the “no worries” attitude that the Australians have, and just enjoyed the simple things in life a little more often.

Coming home was both exciting and strange. A lot of things stayed the same, which is comforting, but a lot of things are different, too. When you return from study abroad, you have to remind yourself that everyone else went on living for half a year, too. There are some things you’ve missed. A lot of good things happened. Some of my friends graduated from IC while I was away, and others got awesome jobs and internships for the summer. Some sad things happened, too. My 16 year old dog Mozart passed away 5 days before I got home, which was a really tough thing for me to accept.

Also, I didn’t exactly come home, either. I was fortunate enough to secure an internship with a well-respected international communications firm in Washington, D.C. for the summer. Luckily, I have cousins just outside the city in Virginia that I’ll be living with for the summer. They’ve been so good to me, and they’ve really made it yet another wonderful new home for me. The plane from Sydney landed at one o’clock in the morning on Monday, I started my internship at ten in the morning on Tuesday, and yes -- I think I’m STILL jetlagged.

These past 5 months have involved a ton of change in my life, but it’s all been so worth it. I feel so lucky to have been in Australia, and to have the opportunities I have had. I’ve loved sharing my experiences with you, and I hope this blog inspires you to travel, to chase your dreams, and to live life as the adventure it is, every day. I promise you, it’s worth it.
 

Our week at the Great Barrier Reef was by far my favorite week of the study abroad experience! The weather was beautiful, sunny and clear blue skies with highs in the upper 80s Fahrenheit. Dan and I flew in on Thursday night and met up with our friend Mindy at our hostel, Caravella Backpackers. The hostel gave us the first of a nightly special voucher that would get us a free dinner at a restaurant and pub called The Woolshed. The meals were basic, like spaghetti or chili, but were absolutely free. You could upgrade to anything on the menu -- even steak! -- for an additional $5, $7, or $9 depending on the dish. We had a great free meal, and spent the remainder of our first night exploring the city.

A city that provides free meals to backpacker college students? Definitely a good sign. Cairns, where the GBR is located, is surprisingly small and reminded us a bit of Florida with its palm trees, weather, and Esplanade filled with shops, restaurants, and bars. Everywhere we went, we would run into someone we knew from Sydney, reminding me of the small town feel of home. I was also impressed by the locals -- kind Gloria our hostel receptionist, or the way each member of the Passions’ snorkel cruise shook our hands on the deck, responding “cheers!” and “no worries!” to our many thanks.

On Friday, we took the bus to Palm Cove, a classy beachside strip of cafes and shops. The beach at Palm Cove is beautiful, with two small islands visible just a short distance from shore. We spent a lovely day sunbathing and relaxing by the clear aqua water.

Saturday we were up bright and early at 6:30 a.m. for our cruise on the Great Barrier Reef. We went with a company called Down Under Cruise and Dive, and it was an amazing day. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, and snorkeled for two hours at each of the two reef locations owned by the boat. The reef comes so close to the surface, so you can see nearly everything up close just by snorkeling. I saw giant clams, including a small one that opened up as I swam towards it, and the most colorful array of tropical fish. At the first location I tried scuba diving, but sadly couldn’t bring myself to go through with it. The breathing wasn’t all that difficult, but my eye and nose mask kept leaking. Even though you’re breathing through your mouth when you dive, having water up your nose does travel down through your airway. I was so happy and was seeing so much snorkeling that I choose to stick with that. At one point, I got so close to one of the brightest fish and could hear it eating the coral. I could literally hear every bite it took from about a foot away. All the sounds of the fish are so amplified under the water. The Reef wasn’t quite the way it appears in photos, but at the same time it’s also more amazing in person than you can imagine -- until you see it, that is.

On Sunday, we got up at 3:30 a.m. to go hot air ballooning and white water rafting as part of a tour package we’d booked. Unfortunately, after the company’s long bus transfer, the balloon flight never occurred. It was a remarkably foggy morning, and the visibility was so poor that none of the three launch locations were suitable. We decided to cancel the tour outright for a full refund, once we realized the balloon would not go either way, and instead spent the day relaxing at Palm Cove.

At first we contemplated rescheduling the balloon ride, but I had a better idea. To be honest, I’d never been too excited about the white water rafting and though I was really disappointed about the hot air balloon, I realized that there are places to do that back home in the US. However, this was my only week to have access to one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef. So, we took it as a sign that we were to return to the Reef, and booked a second cruise, this time traveling with a company called Passions of Paradise. We scheduled for Wednesday.

On Monday I went on a tour of the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation, near Port Douglas, with a company called Jungle Tours. Our guide Dee was friendly and really cheerful. The road from Cairns to Port Douglas is called the Captain Cook Highway and runs along the ocean, and is named after the explorer who discovered Australia. Our first stop was the Rainforest Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary, where I got to hold a koala -- it was so cute and soft! Koalas aren’t cuddly by nature, and you have to hold very still so as not to alarm it, or it can dig its claws into your skin. My koala was a male by the name of Bailey.

We then went a bit further to Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest, where we learned about the flora and fauna of the world’s oldest rainforest, the Daintree. After a short hike, we were given the opportunity to swim in the freezing waters of the gorge, but most of us opted to stay dry! From there, we had a picnic lunch along a secluded beach with sandbars scattered about the water, before heading off on our Daintree River Cruise. The purpose of the cruise is to spot crocodiles -- and we did. There were four sightings: one female, two small ones chasing each other, and “Fat Albert”, the largest male to be sighted in the area. To determine the gender, you’d have to stick a finger inside of the crocodile, so the only way the cruise guide knew that our first was a female was because of her nesting. Overall, it was an excellent cruise for sighting -- some days they don’t see a single crocodile in the hour long cruise. They try to bring you incredibly close for photos -- so close that at one point we took a large branch off of a tree and could have been stuck, which would not be good, as crocodiles can eat a person in less time than it takes to utter a single sound. We also saw a rare heron, according to our guide the rarest bird on the Daintree River. It appeared quite suddenly, only about a foot from the boat. I got an awesome photo, and was startled when our guide said that the bird could have eaten the smaller crocodile we’d seen. He also said for that reason he would have never let us get so close if he’d seen the bird before. From there, we got back on the tour bus and took the Daintree River Cable Ferry -- a ferry for vehicles across the crocodile infested waters, since there is no road -- to Cape Tribulation. Cape Tribulation gets is name again from Captain Cook, who first crashed his ship on the reef just off the beach. On our way through the rainforest, we stopped at Alexandra Lookout for views of the Daintree and the Coral Sea. We also stopped at a local ice creamery that serves handmade ice cream made of the rainforest fruits that are in season -- we had mango and coconut. We were then given some time to wander around Cape Tribulation beach before heading back to Cairns.

Tuesday was another beach day, this time to Trinity Beach. Wednesday was the Passions of Paradise snorkeling cruise, and I am so glad we did it -- amazingly, it was ten times better than the first! We again went to two different Reef locations, Paradise Reef and Michaelmas Cay. On our way out, I spotted a dolphin swimming in the water alongside the boat. I pointed it out loudly to Mary and Dan, and soon the whole boat was crowded onto the sundeck to see the dolphin. I was really happy to have been the first to spot it. The first Reef location was the Cay, a sand island in the middle of the ocean that is a protected area for sea birds. We were taken from our large catamaran sailing boat to a roped off portion of the island by a much smaller glass bottom boat. We put on our flippers and snorkel mask on the beach before diving into the water. The waters here looked exactly like the postcard photos you see of the Reef -- such clear blue and green waters, contrasting in different spots because of the proximity of the reef to the surface. It was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. The reef was so colorful here, and full of an even wide range of tropical fish, stingrays, and sea turtles! I really wanted to see a sea turtle, but I didn’t. My friend Mary did and managed to take a photo. I did, however, see two string rays and tons of beautiful fish. Underneath the boat, there was a school of huge Angelfish that swam so close to us that we could almost touch them. After the Cay we went to Paradise Reef, which was much deeper and thus may have been the best place to dive. It was still great snorkeling though. At one point Dan grabbed my arm, pulling me under the water to point out a Nemo style clownfish popping out of an anemone -- so cool! The waves were really choppy at this location and the wind was picking up, tossing waves over the steps and platform at the back of the boat. I was amazed to find, however, that once I stuck my head under the water, a tranquil and beautiful underwater world was found. Occasionally the strong waves would scatter the fish or make it difficult to swim in a certain direction, but under the water the choppy sea was barely noticeable. But if I stuck my head out, I would soon be pummeled by the waves. At times I found myself swimming in the middle of schools of fish, and remember thinking that I hope I never forget this trip. On the way home, Passions hoists its sails and cuts the engine, sailing back into Cairns. This was awesome, but with such strong winds, we were going about as fast just sailing as we’d been with the motor running! This made some of us a bit too seasick to be on the outside deck enjoying the sails.

I arrived back in Sydney on Thursday evening, and my parents arrived Friday morning!! For their first night in town, we went to an event in the Rocks called Fire Water. Part of a larger light festival called Vivid Sydney, Fire Water was a recreation of the burning of the Three Bees. The Three Bees was a 19th century convict ship that brought prisoners to Australia, a penal colony of England back in 1814. The ship mysteriously exploded into flames, sending its cannon balls across the harbour in a frenzy of light. As part of the festival, brightly colored artwork is being projected onto the white “sails” of the Opera House roof every night, making the Opera House glow in different hues every few minutes. It’s really beautiful.

Tonight is our study abroad program’s farewell dinner cruise on the harbour. I can’t believe how fast this semester has gone! Only two more weeks until we leave.

 I’m back in Sydney, and I miss Cairns. However, I’m also loving my last few days in Sydney, too. I’ll miss this place, these friends, and the events that led to these memories, and couldn’t have asked for a better last big experience than the week at the GBR. This is exactly how I hope to remember Australia.
 

As an early birthday present for me, and an IC graduation present for Dan, my parents got us incredibly discounted JetStar airline tickets to New Zealand from May 21st to the 26th. From the very beginning, the trip was an eventful one. My door shut behind me when I took my suitcase out of my room, locking my purse, passport, and keys inside, just as the taxi called to say it had arrived. I ran to the Sydney University Village assistance phone, to call the RA, who kindly let me in, and we still arrived at the airport in plenty of time.

Australia doesn’t follow the travel size liquid laws in its domestic flights, so I didn’t really think about it. Since we were JetStar Light and allowed carry-on baggage only, the security guard confiscated my sunscreen and toothpaste, and Dan’s shampoo. We then boarded our three-hour flight to the South Island of New Zealand, which is two hours ahead of Sydney time. Upon arrival, we took a shuttle to our first hostel, the Jailhouse. The Jailhouse is the old Addington prison just outside of Christchurch, which has been remodeled into a hostel. The rooms are old jail cells, small with one bunk bed and concrete walls. The inner structure is still the same as a standard old prison like you might see in movies -- two stories, hollow in the center with a tall staircase and railings looking down into the center area. The first cell serves as a museum to the original cells, containing artifacts from the original rooms. Everything is prison themed -- the staff refers to themselves as wardens, and even the toilet seats are the clear novelty kind with barbed wire inside. After checking in, we wandered around the iconic Cathedral Square, went inside the Cathedral itself, and walked through the Botanic Gardens. We then decided to stop into The Adventure Centre, a student travel agency, to discuss our rental car options. We originally planned to travel by train to Greysmouth, where we would rent a car and drive to Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers before continuing on to Mt. Cook, and then back to Christchurch. It was a tremendous stroke of luck that we’d stopped in. As it turns out, the TranzScenic train we’d booked -- one of the top 5 train rides in all the world -- had just released its winter specials, with the roundtrip ticket only $119 NZD, more than $50 NZD less than what we’d paid for only one way. She told us we could cancel the reservation we had and rebook the special, and still receive a full refund for the first ticket. This also meant we didn’t have to drive the rental car all the way back to Christchurch. When we asked about rental options, she told us something even more beneficial -- as it turns out, there is no road connecting the glaciers to Mt. Cook, and although they are very close in distance, their separation by mountains means that you have to take a separate highway all the way around, taking much more time than we had. She said this is a common mistake travelers make, underestimating that there is only about two major highways running through the South Island. Upon our arrival to Greysmouth, we chose to take a shuttle bus to Franz Josef and not bother renting a car after all, saving us lots of time and money.

The train ride was absolutely beautiful. It’s easy to see why epic films like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia were filmed here. The landscapes are breathtaking -- pristine lakes and rivers, lush green fields, snow peaked mountains, blue skies, and tons of sheep. The movies don’t even do it justice. We took so many photos, and it wasn’t even possible to capture all of the beauty -- so we sat back and enjoyed the scene, occasionally standing outside on the viewing platform. You couldn’t be out there too long, though. New Zealand’s winters are similar to our own, and it was much, much colder than it is Sydney. From the train station we took a shuttle to Franz Josef, a road trip that featured the contrasting view of the ocean and snow peaked mountains simultaneously coming into focus.

On Saturday we hiked the Franz Josef glacier. Since Franz Josef is a very small village (you could walk the entire thing in only 10 minutes time), we slept in until about 10 a.m., which was hard to do in a four-person share hostel room. Our roommate was from Israel and had been touring New Zealand for a month, and was bound for Australia this month. Our roommate was up bright and early for the half-day hike, the same one we did that afternoon. We met the Franz Josef Glacier Guides and suited up in waterproof pants and jackets and bussed to the rainforest area at the base of the glacier. All morning a beautiful rainbow was shining overhead above the glacier and the town, which I considered a good omen. It was a sunny, moderately warm day, drizzling slightly. We walked through the company’s private rainforest trail for our first “up close” views of the glacier, though our tour guide soon told us that it was still 2 km away. We hiked that party of the valley, and after attaching our Crampons (ice gripping spikes) to our boots -- and a brief safety lesson -- we were off. The first part of the journey was a set of ice steps carved into the glacier wall, at an angle of nearly 90 degrees. I was really scared, and for a while it only got worse as the trails were steep, narrow, and winding. I tripped, badly skinning my knees, and was about ready to cry. I have a terrible fear of heights, and it was really starting to catch up with me. With Dan’s support and the beautiful views coming closer and closer into focus, I slowly gained confidence. Behind us and a long way down was the valley, a narrow river from the glacier weaving through it towards the small waterfalls amidst the greener mountains below. Ahead was a majestically blue and white glacier. We hiked up more steep ice steps, two of which had a rope along the side for additional grip. We also climbed through narrow crevices surrounded by walls of ice, and twice were given the opportunity to go through the smooth blue ice tunnels. I hope I never forget what it felt like hiking the glacier -- it was absolutely beautiful, and I was proud of myself for not letting my fear hold me back. Maybe it was the fear, but I also never really felt cold. As we descended the glacier, we discovered that there was now a double rainbow at the bottom, which I found to be so uncanny and awesome. After our hike, we had a nice dinner at a little café before heading back to the hostel for some warm hot chocolate in front of the fireplace.

On Sunday we took the train back to Christchurch, a 7-hour journey including the shuttle bus. The views were much foggier this time, but perhaps even more beautiful. We were scheduled to take a Wildlife Cruise to see the Hectors Dolphins, among other things, but it was cancelled due to the weather. The rain stopped, but the swells in the ocean were apparently still too much. Since the sun was coming back out, we therefore decided to go punting on the Avon River, which goes through the park and Botanical Gardens. We took in more of the sights of Christchurch, and saw the movie The Reader for only $11 NZD at an old movie theatre.

New Zealand is absolutely beautiful. The entire country has a smaller population than that of Sydney alone. Thought this may be exactly why the landscape has retained its natural beauty, it did make it a bit hard to find any sort of nightlife, and at times anything at all, to do. However, I kind of enjoyed that break from the fast paced life of cities -- though perhaps not every second was an adventure, it was nice to just appreciate the beautiful scenery, have a break from studies, and rediscover the joy of hot chocolate and good company on a cold night.
 

This weekend was a lot of fun. Dan, Becky, and I were up bright and early to take the 8:30 a.m. bus from Central Station to the Eastern Suburbs for Relay for Life. Our other team members, Mary and Rebecca (both fellow IC students) and Tamara met up with us there, since we go to different “uni’s”. It was the first ever Relay to be held in this part of Sydney, and I think it is off to a great start.

It was a considerably smaller crowd than most of my teammates are used to seeing at American college and university Relays, but it reminded me a lot of my hometown Relay for Life that I participated in for the first six years of my eight years of Relay. It was an older crowd, mostly businesses and organizations like Rotary. The Relay was held at the McKay sports grounds in Centennial Park, and we lucked out -- it was a beautiful sunny day. There was lots of live music, games and crafts for the kids, and food booths of barbeque and Malaysian cuisine. They had "mascot races" where the mascots of companies participating in Relay joined with other symbols in a race around the track. The other symbols were a double cheeseburger and a cigarette, which of course always came in last due to their unhealthy nature.

Sadly, we missed the luminaria lighting ceremony, but with good reason. We left around 4:30 to catch a bus back to Central to meet everyone else from our study abroad program. From Central, we caught the train to Sydney’s Olympic Park to attend our first game of Australian Rules Football, or “footie”. Our team, The Sydney Swans, is part of the Australian Football League (AFL). Basically, footie is a full contact sport that appears to me to be a blend of soccer, rugby, and American football. The “kick off” resembles the tip off in basketball, and the game often invokes the violence of hockey -- it’s truly a blend of all things sport from my perspective. Despite maintaining a steady lead through the first three quarters, the game was a nail-biter, with the Swans beating the West Coast Eagles from Perth by only 5 points (one goal). The “goal posts” at either end of the field consist of four poles. If you kick it through the middle two posts, you earn 6 points, and if you kick it between the posts on either side you earn 1 point. This summary is a big oversimplification of one of Australia’s favorite sports, but it was definitely an awesome environment -- nearly all of the fans wear scarves displaying their teams colors, and most of the children can be seen waving flags.

Sadly for me, I’m afraid the Malaysian cuisine’s ingredients of egg and chicken may have been sitting out in the hot sun a bit too long. I became pretty nauseated midway through the game, and so my genuine excitement of such a thrilling end was a bit overshadowed and subdued. On our way out of the stadium, I became even more ill. That decided it -- I wouldn’t be making it back to Relay to see the track lit with luminarias, I had to go home to the Village to get well. I said goodbye to my teammates, who finished Relay for us, took pictures to bring back to me, and brought back the best news of all -- not only had our team of six alone raised $723, but the Eastern Suburbs Relay as a whole raised over $77,000! It was so awesome to be a part of Relay in an international setting -- an opportunity we may never have again -- and to see people from all over unite under the Relay for Life cause: Hope.
 

This past Wednesday, 13 May, was a very big day on the University of Sydney Campus. It was Election Day for the University of Sydney Union. The Union is an organization for students on campus with the goals of informing students about University life, fostering community, and providing discounts and services. There were six seats up for election, and the campaigns have been going on for weeks. Liz’s friend, David Mann, was running under the slogan “Mann Up!” I don’t know what it is about these students, but they all had names that fit perfectly into college-esque -- and slightly inappropriate -- political slogans: Watt We Want, More Bang for your Buck, Everyone Wants a Good Falk, Put your Ho First, and Be Frownless, Vote Brownless (with the accompaniment of a cute little cartoon character Mr. Brownless, resembling those 1990s Mr. and Little Miss Cartoons of our youth). Liz got me a campaign t-shirt of David’s to wear “on the day”. Even though we are international students, we’re allowed to vote. It’s true that I won’t be around to see the new candidates in action, but I knew it was important to Liz and her friends, so after listing to their arguments from all sides, I voted.

David also wanted everyone who had helped with his campaign to come to the Election Day After Party at Hermann’s Bar on campus, to either celebrate or commiserate. The results would be announced live from the bar as they came in.  Liz came to my apartment to leave for the party and exclaimed “Guess what -- you were on the Australian news tonight!” Apparently the television crews had been filming while I voted, so my face was one of those shown to go along with the story about Election Day at one of Australia’s largest universities. Liz’s twin sister, Alex, was home in Wollongong watching the news when she saw me and called Liz. The girls are currently trying to see if we can somehow get the footage for me to bring back to the States.

Hermann’s was absolutely packed with students, and a PowerPoint presentation on the big screen poked fun at the candidates and their campaigns, not to mention the “Incriminating Facebook Photo” slides. David bought Liz and I a drink for representing him, and we luckily found a seat on one of the couches to watch the results come in -- and David won!

On Thursday, Dan and I went to the final theatre performance outing for Australian Theatre, Film, and Learning. The play was at the Belvoir Street Theatre, which was recently restored with the help of A-list celebrities like Nicole Kidman and Mel Gibson. Entitled Man from Mukinupin, the play was about young love, war, and the conflicts between Black and White Australia. It was a really good performance, aside from a slight mishap -- during one of the scenes, the legs of the old father’s wooden chair collapsed, giving the actor quite a shock and making his fellow cast members have to struggle to remain in character. Another interesting thing about Australian theatre is how close you are to the stage. For the last two performances, I’ve been seated in the front row, level with the actors and with my knees or feet on the edge of the stage.

Tomorrow and Sunday make up the 24-hour Relay for Life here in Sydney! My friends and I are really excited to Relay “down under”. We’ll be taking a break in the evening, though, to go with our group from IES Abroad to see the Sydney Swans in a game of Australian Rules Football, which I hear is a mix of soccer, American football and rugby, with no padding or helmets. It should be an exciting weekend!