For this winter break, I will be heading back home to Australia for my sister’s beach wedding around Christmas. This time of year is in the middle of Australia’s hottest season: summer. The days range from 30-45 degrees Celsius (85-115 Fahrenheit). I booked my rather expensive plane ticket from Rochester to Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh to Dallas, and then finally Dallas to Sydney earlier this month. It made me think about how excited I am to go and do everything I used to do when I was in high school. I look forward to the beautiful weather and playing beach cricket with my friends while listening to music. I am even more excited to catch up with all of my relatives that I haven’t seen for a long time. Getting to spend time with them playing cricket, tossing the footy around or even sitting out the back of the surf waiting for a wave to come is something I miss dearly.
Booking my ticket home also made me think about what I am going to miss out on here at Naz and in Rochester, NY. The fresh, white, powdery snow that falls almost everyday. The crystals that form walls just as tall as the waves I’ll be surfing back home. I won’t be around to rent a snowboard or skis from Bikes@Naz and go to the nearby slopes for a fun time with my friends here at school. I’ll miss the opportunity to go downtown and enjoy the holiday lights that decorate the city every year. I was also really excited to skate on the ice rink downtown for the first time. The biggest thing that I have longed for almost all my life is to play pond hockey on a frozen lake. These are all just a few of many things I will be ticking off my winter bucket list when I get back to Naz in January. I already have planes to make the short drive (1 hour and 30 minutes!) across the border to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and partake in the biggest Canadian light show of the year, The Winter Festival of Lights, something I’m really looking forward to.
In Rochester, we celebrate the holidays with several inches of snow on the ground, frozen windshields and beanies and gloves on, however, this is not what I am used to. As I mentioned, in the southern hemisphere, “down under,” the seasons are opposite so we enjoy our hottest weather of the year at this time. All the fun things I’ve listed will have to wait until I get back (with a tan) from Australia just as 2018 begins. Overall I have mixed feelings about this upcoming break. On one hand, I am so excited to get home and see everyone and experience my first Aussie summer in 3 years. On the other hand, I am disappointed that I am going to miss so many fun opportunities around Rochester and the greater state of New York. I have never had a white christmas so this time next year I will be soaking in the snowflakes (instead of the sun) and loving my time at Nazareth.