If You Can Make Me Laugh, I'll Be Happy

Before I left for this journey, I told myself to let all restraints go. I wasn't going to be restricted by my fears; I was going to live out my dreams fearlessly. And within that fearless nature, there are spectrums. Climbing 450 feet up into the air is on one end; navigating new cities may be towards the other end.

Brisbane, Queensland is about an hour and a half bus and train ride away from Gold Coast. Its nick name is Brisvegas because of the nature of the city, and the nightlife of the area. Through my program, TEAN, we were offered a free comedy sit-down night in the town and so a handful of us decided to make a weekend out of it. I prepared for the weekend by booking the hostel, figuring out public transportation to and fro and trying to allocate enough money in my debit account to deem as responsible spending; the rest was up in the air. Had any of us been there before? No. Did any of us have a map to navigate? No. Was it one of the best weekend thus far? Yes.

We left around 10am Friday morning and embarked on our journey. The train was quick and the scenery along the way made for a reflective ride. We arrived mid afternoon and after a couple turn-arounds arrived at our hostel. We locked our bags in a locker because our beds weren't ready yet and set sail into the new city. One of the hostel employees drove us into the city and after about a five minute drive, dropped us off and gave an all-too-familiar direction of "take a right up there and then walk about five minutes and you'll find a bunch of things." So, we listened and did the turn and the walking. I was sent into a nostalgic state. The people, buildings, and crowded streets reminded me of home. You had to walk fast or you were going to get run over. I liked it there already.

We didn't have a plan, or a map, or any sense of direction. We wanted to get wonderfully lost in the city and make it our own adventure. That's the best kind, isn't it? It felt good to do that. The planner in me took to the back burner and allowed for mystery. Who would've known? We encountered art pieces, statues, and old buildings. And through a hidden pathway of trees, shrubs and nature, we even found Thailand!

After taking this picture, a city worker came up to us and very nicely said, "hurry with the pictures, there's a sign over there that says 'No climbing on artwork.'" Oops!

This was built for the World Expo of 1988. We didn't really find Thailand...

Over the course of our walk we found: street artists who used spray paint to create magnificent artwork; a riot through the streets by (we think) Aboriginals wanting their land back (side note: that was scary for a second because we thought it was going to be an anti-American riot!); a balloon-character-making man; a street fair with so many cool arts and crafts; and WWII memorial that had an eternal flame. After about six hours of walking around, we settled down at an outside restaurant and recapped our day before heading back to the hostel. Our beds were ready and I got to experience my first hostel stay! Ten bunk beds shoved into one large room with never-ending creaking of metal. It helped that seven of us were staying in the room so my friends and I definitely dominated the space. One of my favorite things about it though, besides the Barbie-made chandeliers, was that people were from all over. We met a French girl who will be living there for a month before she moves on. I don't think my high school French teacher would've been proud of my communication with her but at least she understood me! Another bunker was from Italy and was backpacking all throughout. We also met a fellow American after she heard our accents! So cool. Since we had a long day, we didn't want to go out clubbing. We settled for a chill bar that we found in a place called The Valley and were more than satisfied with the choice of music: Grease, YMCA, Call Me Maybe. It was hard not to go back inside and dance but I knew that my boots had done enough walkin' for the day. My friends Erica, Natalie and I called it an early night and settled into bed. I, per usual, didn't sleep much but I think it was mostly because I was too excited for the next day: STEVE IRWIN ZOO!

Since we figured we made the most of Brisbane on Friday, Saturday was wide open. The Australia (Steve Irwin) Zoo is three and a half hours away from my campus, but only an hour and a half from Brisbane. So, five of us decided we were going to go there for the day and make it back in time for our comedy event. An early start to the day came quickly and before I knew it, I was back on the train sitting for an extended period of time. Due to rail maintenance, we had to do some bus transfers which lengthened our travel time but we finally made it to the Zoo around 11am. Our intentions were clear: hold a koala, take pictures with the kangaroos, see the elephants. It just so happened that it was the day the Irwin family was going to be there so we sat in the Crocoseum and waited for Steve Irwin's daughter, Bindi, to take the stage (thinking she would be showing us animals). We were quickly mistaken when she came out with "jungle girls" and a microphone--she has apparently turned into a teen-pop singer. 

We gave her a song and politely removed ourselves from our seats. We made our way to Roo Heaven to check off one of the items: take selfies with the kangaroos. (For my older audience, "selfies" refers a picture of yourself  (potentially with another person/thing) that you took yourself.) The kangaroos were just lounging all over the place. And I have no shame in saying that I have enough selfies with them to make it around the world hmm...twice. This is the best one I got though, and it almost cost me my arm when the little booger raised its arm just as I was going to take the picture. He proceeded to stay lounging so we just hung out with him for a long time!

The next endeavor can't be put into words other than saying my life is now complete. I may or may not have shed some tears after this one...

Holding a koala has been a dream even before Australia was a dream. They have been my favorite little buddies since I can remember and I'll never get tired of seeing and/or holding their little, cuddly bodies!

After completing my life, we traveled throughout the rest of the zoo, even running into another Roo Heaven and continuing the selfies. I'll have to create a slideshow of all of them. We also saw the elephants, tigers, giraffes, zebras, crocodiles and a rhino. Did you know the oldest grandma elephant is the boss? A little fun fact for ya, Grandma! We met up with some of our other friends who were there for the day but by 3pm, the 85 degree heat had gotten to us and we were ready to head back.

We got back to Brisbane about 5:30pm and had just enough time to splash some water on our faces and try to get rid of the zoo smell before heading to the comedy event. Another bus ride later, we were reunited with even more of our friends. It was a casual, sit down place but the atmosphere was so great. It was in a basement with a bunch of tables and live energy. We saw two amateur acts and one female comedian who was a step above amateur. We had to miss the headliner to make the last train ride home but nonetheless, I laughed my butt off. I really wish I had the gift of comedy. And as my Grandma always says, "If you can make me laugh, I'll be happy." I really was happy.

I'm glad that I was able to go away for the weekend because although I love my campus and everything about it, I don't like to be in one place for too long. And of course I want to get to see as much of Australia as I possibly can in this short time. The days feel like minutes here and the weeks feel like only a day. Always thinking about you all; thanks for reading my ramblings!