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Welcome to the last edition of my newsletter. I am now safe back at home and have been for the last two weeks. But before I get to writing about life back at home I still have to finish the January issue.
My last two weeks in Brasil were generally a sad occasion. Other than seeing people for the last time and packing, I didn’t do much else. Saying farewells to other exchange students and especially all of the friends that I had made in Brasil was a lot harder than I ever thought it would be.

My host parents had a New Year’s resolution to lose 5kg each over the month of January, so going walking every evening after work became a ritual that I was included in. It was great to get outside even though it was really hot and humid (probably equal to the “heat-wave” that is currently in Sydney). I started giving away my clothing with Australia written all over it to my host families and close friends since that I wouldn’t need them in Australia. I only kept the ones that I either liked or were worth something to me.

I went out a few times with the other exchange students for the farewells of the guy from New Zealand as well as my own farewell for me and the other girl from Australia. The timing was a bit tight because most of the other exchange students from my district were leaving to go on the Northeast Trip (there are 4 trips, 3 in January and 1 in November).

 Luckily my Rotary Club had one more meeting before I left so that I could do my presentation on my time in Brasil. I actually had to fight back tears while I was going through all of the major memories from my time in Brasil. At the end of my presentation I received a standing ovation from all of the Rotarians and hugs from all of them. I even managed to get most of them to sign my banner that I received from the Rotary Club when I arrived in Maringa. I have now solidified many relationships with the Rotarians in my club as now I have multitudes of offers for places to stay for when I return to Brasil (including places on the beach).

Well my last day in Brasil was a fairly short one for me in my city. I woke up at 4am to go to the airport where I went through security at 5am. I was surprised at the number of people in the airport at that time considering it was a Sunday. It was a very emotional experience for me but neither the other girl from Australia or I cried so we were both proud of ourselves for that. However, I can’t speak for my host parents who both cried during our last hugs. My Rotary Club President also came out to the airport to say goodbye to me. After finally making it through security with my blazer full of pins and several bags of hand luggage, we made it onto our 6am flight. (Photo: Me and my 3rd host parents)

We flew from Maringa to Curitiba in 50 minutes and then had a 2 hour stopover before continuing to Sao Paulo. The flight to Sao Paulo was only an hour long. So we arrived in Sao Paulo at 10am and we had the joy of waiting around until 9pm for our flight. We passed the time in the international terminal by watching movies or sleeping on the banks of chairs. Finally we found more Australian exchangers waiting for the same flight and the 30 (or so) of us were all back together at about 7pm. While sitting around and sharing stories we lost track of time and only 1 hour before our flight we went through customs/security. The queue was huge but thanks to being a foreigner we get the shorter line. Even so, most of us had to run for the plane as the flight was already on “Final Call”. Luckily no one got left behind.



The next 3 hours were spent flying from Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires where I was sitting in the emergency exit row in the window seat. Along the way we had to divert a little bit due to a gigantic electric storm that was going on in northern Argentina. However I could see the huge bolts of lightning cracking down from the clouds to the ground. I tried taking photos but it was too far away to pick up anything. (Photo: Leaving Brasil)

The following two hours were spent in the airport of Buenos Aires waiting for our connecting flight to Auckland, but fortunately the single café in the whole terminal was open so we could at least buy something. This was a great opportunity to use up our Brasilian Reias (currency) especially when it’s about $7 for a can of soft drink. Anyway we made it onto the flight which would be our home for the next 14 hours. Interestingly I only experienced 4 hours of the 17th of January thanks to the International Date Line. The flight only took 14 hours but we travelled 30 hours in the process.

We arrived in Auckland at 8am and we had a two hour stopover. It was a little scary to see all the signs in the airport written only in English and also to hear all the airport staff speaking English. So considering I was so close to home I thought it would be fitting to have a beer and a pie for breakfast. I don’t know how I managed to survive the whole year with eating a pie.

Once back in Sydney I stopped off in Duty Free as you might as well use your 2.25L alcohol limit especially on drinks without taxes. It did take a while for me to get through customs. I got checked out by two separate people as they rummaged through my bags to find anything that I might have been bringing in without declaring it. Luckily nothing was taken off me, including my Amazonian blow gun, so I continued on down to the ramps to freedom.

When I saw my family standing there with a sign saying “Bemvindo a Casa” (or Welcome Home) I nearly started crying. I had to just concentrate and look straight ahead just to make sure. It was fantastic to finally give both my parents and my sister a giant hug even though I had been talking to them weekly or fortnightly. Driving back from the airport was a strange experience seeing the huge difference between Brasil and Australia. Now being home I can see the difference and how much better life is here in general.

Well I have now been home for a bit over 2 weeks. In that time period I’ve caught up with my best mates and their families and sharing my year with them. Considering that I probably only spoke to each of them maybe a couple of times throughout the year, there was much to catch up on. In the first week I got my green P plates and my PWC boat license. Getting back up to the house up at Wyee Point was a big highlight as I was finally able to go jetskiing and go donoughting.

I have now also enrolled in university. I will be doing Engineering and Business at UTS for the next 5 years so that will be fun. I’ll be majoring in ICT Engineering (Software) and Accounting.

There is nothing that compares to home and I don’t think that anything will ever be better than being at home with family and friends. After coming home from a year away I now know the true meaning of “Home Sweet Home”. Thank you for reading my blog over this last year. I have certainly enjoyed writing them and I’ve already received praise from people that I didn’t even know were on the email list.

I will be making my presentation to Ryde Rotary on 15 March and look forward to seeing many of you then.

Tchau,
James Dodd