Lau au pays des kangourous: Thank you, Oz.

So this is it - my Aussie adventure is over!

You're probably wondering what I got up to after all my travelling...

I came back to Sydney and immediately got in touch with the recruitment agencies I had been working with, and registered with two others: IPA and Mosaic Recruitment.

I worked for the War Memorial Hospital (near Bondi Junction) as a receptionist for one month, which was completely out of my comfort zone since I hate hospitals... It's a rehabilitation hospital for over 65 year olds, so it was pretty heartbreaking at times - definitely one of the most challenging work experiences I've had so far. I learnt a lot during my time there. It was interesting discovering the environment in which my grandfather (psychiatrist), grandmother (nurse), and sisters (GP and physiotherapist) have evolved in. I also met a lovely old French man suffering from Parkinsons' disease, Alain, and am still in touch with him now. He moved to Australia in 1968, arrived by boat in Melbourne, came to Sydney to find a job and asked his girlfriend to come and join him when he was settled down. He has an incredible story, I'm so glad I met him.

The HPCA also asked me to come back to work for a week and a half, it was lovely to see my old colleagues again! I then worked for the Community Relations Commission as a data entry operator for one month.

I lived in The George Hotel (on George Street) in a 6-bed dorm from September to December. I had originally planned to stay there for one or two weeks, but ended up meeting so many great people that it became like a home for me. I honestly can’t describe how much fun I had these past few months. A real human experience.

I've been back in Paris for 2 weeks now - I do miss Sydney a lot, but I'm not sad to be back in Europe. Sydney is a very "cosmopolitan" city but it's not "international" enough for me. I like feeling like I'm in the middle of everything, and I must admit that being in Australia kind of made me feel disconnected from the rest of the world at times. It also becomes tiring to have to renew your circle of friends every few weeks/months: everybody's travelling so nobody really stays in the same place for long...

The next chapter is London, I now feel ready to settle down somewhere. This year has made me realize so many things. I know that I'm going to appreciate my job so much more, as well as little European things I never used to before. I'm happy with where I'm at, knowing that so many of my dreams have come true this year. Here's a little article which describes exactly how I feel today: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-kepnes/travel-is-awesome_b_4344632.html

And now I have a special reminder that I can make anything happen if I truly want to.