I purposely waited until today to write my last entry since my big MSNBC interview was this afternoon. What a way to wrap up a whirlwind of a semester! The whole thing was quick, only about three minutes, but like a lot of things I've done lately, it was a crazy rush. I was a guest on today's episode of "The Most," a news show hosted by the pleasant and perpetually smiling Alison Stewart. A new program, I admitted to the show's producers that I hadn't heard of Alison or her show but at least I had an excuse! I also told them that they had just earned a dedicated viewer. I was proud to represent Junior Year Abroad on television today and if you missed it, you'll be able to catch my interview with Alison on both the J.Y.A. and MSNBC sites very soon.

I finished this week what was probably the most difficult episode to make, my finale from home. Ryan, J.Y.A.'s humble producer, promised me this would be the easiest of the season but I didn't think it was. It wasn't difficult in the same way as when I had a hard time getting decent footage of myself flying off a surfboard when I filmed at Manly Beach. It was tough because I needed to try and make the most comprehensive and appropriate contribution I could to the finale of J.Y.A.'s first season. Of course, I understand it wasn't my responsibility to cover every last detail or even to speak for all of my castmates but I was determined to go out with a bang.

I wish I knew what to include in here that hasn't already been said. I swear I was exhausted after taping my footage for the last episode only since what you'll see up there is pure gut-wrenching passion and emotion. A lot of people have asked me what I got out of being a cast member on J.Y.A., what I learned. That's a tough question to answer but here goes: I think this experience taught me, or rather reminded me, just how many different personalities there are out there. This might seem obvious but when you really think about it, it's interesting how all those differences basically make up the way we interact with each other at just about every level.

Over the course of my trip I came into contact with a countless number of people who would eventually fall into categories of varying closeness to me. These categories ranged from "never saw them again" to "close friends." What I found most surprising was that closeness was not the greatest indicator of how supportive of the show this person would be. I met people that fell into the former category who were more fascinated and more enthusiastic about the program than some who fell into the latter. I constantly sought out ways to involve as many people as possible in J.Y.A. and I should've realized sooner that interest from someone wasn't dependant on our relationship but on the individual.

Looking back, I don't know why I find this so shocking but there were certainly times where I was disappointed by the reaction from others over the show. I couldn't comprehend the idea that not everyone was as thrilled by this idea as I was. You would think that amongst a group of international students I would need to keep them away from the camera with a stick but that wasn't the case at all. Most of the time, I got better reactions from strangers eager to jump in front of the camera and make a stupid face or give their friend bunny ears. Few bothered to ask what I was doing since they seemed satisfied smiling, waving to the camera, and then walking away.

J.Y.A. affected my trip because it helped me to sift through the multitudes of people I met and to see who my real friends were in Australia. It might sound naive to think that only someone who cared about J.Y.A. could be a real friend but I don't think it's far from the truth. I might not know anything about Africa but if Africa is important to someone who's important to me, and then I take an interest. Who knows, though. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know. It's almost 1:30 in the morning but everything I'm saying at this very moment makes sense to me. The bottom line is that I received both ends of the spectrum in terms of reactions to J.Y.A. and now that the season's coming to a close I see how valuable every reaction I got to the show really was.

That about does it for me, I guess. I'm sure there are things I'll remember tomorrow or next month, things I should've included somewhere in the season. That's probably a good thing though. It should give anyone who hungers for more information an incentive to keep in touch or to check out the profile of one of my hardworking castmates. It's also excellent motivation to go abroad, right? I could blog until I'm blue in the fingertips and I still won't be able to convey every feeling, every nuance of what it's like to step out into the unknown and come back with a head full of new memories and even more questions. That's why I'm going to draw the line here. I'd like to sign off with a quote by Yogi Berra. I don't know why but it just popped into my head and I think it's appropriate. Ok, here it is: "If you come to a fork in the road, take it."

Do with that what you will and, for the last time, thanks for reading!

Jason

Posted by Jason at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

So... I'm back! Writing this in my room feels very strange, let me tell you, since this would be the first entry I've written in North America. I'm also cold right now, which isn't something I had to deal with through too many entries during my travels, either.

It's almost time to say goodbye to JYA for a while. That's something I'm not looking forward to. I suppose, for now, it's best to focus on the topic I sat down to write about and that's the seemingly endless trip I had over the weekend back to the United States. I left Taupo, New Zealand around 9:00 Sunday morning and headed north for about five hours. Upon arrival back into Auckland, I was fortunate enough to have a couple of hours to spend in this small but beautiful city until I had to hop on a bus and drive to the airport. I made it there about an hour later where, after a long wait at check-in and a less-than-pleasant discussion with the airline and then a customs agent about my luggage, I made it... to security.

No matter how many times I fly, I'm astounded by the fact that air travel will never be an exact science. Regardless of how many years of experience airlines might have moving people around the planet or how much money you might have paid for a ticket, a sense of humor is important if you are ever going to make it out the other end of your journey with your sanity intact. I hadn't realized just how much tighter security on flights to the US had gotten while I was away until I stepped on line at security in the Auckland airport. Thinking I'd just breeze right through (this was New Zealand, after all) my jaw literally dropped at the sheer chaos of what I was seeing. Not only did I have to pass through general security, but also passengers on flights to the US had to wait on a second line after that. You can imagine what people were muttering about there.

I don't know why but I can almost never pass through airport security without someone stopping me for something. I think it's because of my large hands. This time around, I was busted for trying to smuggle a (get this) bottle of water on to the airplane. Unaware of the new "liquid limit" on airplanes, I was irritated by the store's willingness to sell me a bottle of water it had to have known I couldn't take with me but decided it wasn't worth battling the crowd and probably an irate store manager for a measly three dollars. I stubbornly refused to throw it away and chugged the whole thing in front of her. She thanked me for not having an aneurism over a bottle of water and I wished her a good evening.

Again, I should know to be prepared for almost anything when I fly and yet something always happens that manages to get under my skin. I got to the gate to find 900-or-so people the airline planned on packing inside this plane hanging around as if they were waiting for a movie to start. There were kids running around and people spread out across the floor on top of books and newspapers when all I could think about how long of a trip home I had in front of me. I also managed to whip out my laptop and show the people sitting next to me my skydive DVD. I figured I had time to kill and I was just that proud of myself.

After a day of traveling just to the gate and then a delay of about an hour, I left New Zealand. I couldn't help but replay certain moments of the skydive in my mind as the plane lifted off and I wondered just how an aircraft carrying more than 300 people and their luggage could stay in the air long enough to make it over an ocean. I also convinced myself that this was not Taupo and I didn't have to leave the plane until we touched down in LA. The flight was very long, 13 hours long. Thanks to a few sleeping pills and a glass of red wine, I don't remember much of it but the trip back was good. Since I crossed the International Date Line, I got my July 24th back and landed in LA (and don't think too hard about this) before I left Auckland. After going through customs at LAX and rechecking my bags, I was on a (delayed!) flight to Newark a few hours later.

One highlight of the trip was seeing family, once for about half an hour in LA and then again at home. I noticed strange things almost immediately: it was cold outside, steering wheels were on the other side again, my brother's hair was different, and it was still Sunday. I craved something to eat other than airplane food but I think, more than anything else, I just wanted to get home and hug my dog. Oh, and a shower was up there on my list too... Even before I stepped in the house, I was glad to be home.

Posted by Jason at 02:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I mentioned in another entry about staying in River Valley the other night but there were a few important things I left out of it. First of all, I gained a greater appreciation for how ridiculous I looked flapping my arms and legs at 10,000 feet when a bunch of us watched my skydive DVD on the lodge's big screen. Second, I have to add how incredible it was to relax in a hot tub at the foot of some of the North Island's most lush greenery.

Ok, that's obviously not what I wanted the point of this writing to be but I'm just not sure how to convey what it was like whitewater rafting about 12 km down the Rangitikei, one of New Zealand's most intense rivers. I set out with a few other brave souls from the lodge early yesterday in the morning for the river's Grade 5 rapids, the most intense level of rapids rafters will take novices (or tourists) out on. I feel like I've exhausted all of the original vocabulary I could possibly use to describe my adventures so I'm afraid I have to drift on over to clichéd territory. It was fun. I had a great time. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Seriously, the trip was awesome. It took a little over two hours, since we stopped every so often to practice safety drills and take quick dips in the water. I was determined to finish my swing around the North Island with a bang and I'm confident I succeeded.

Most of us on the tour bus went our separate ways this morning in Wellington. I unfortunately didn't have much time to enjoy New Zealand's capital city but if I ever come back here, I would undoubtedly start in Wellington and head down across the South Island. It's back up to Auckland for me in the morning and then to the airport in the afternoon. I'm not going to get emotional, since I've definitely done enough of that, but it's strange to think that my next entries and episode will be done 10,000 miles away. The trip home will be long but that's ok... it will have been completely worth it. I'm going to try to get some photos uploaded tomorrow but, if not then, definitely at some point during the week.

I've got eight minutes left on my machine here so, as usual, I'm going to try and stall. I could say more about this hostel! Nah, that's OK, anyone with an interest in backpacking or student traveling knows what they are like and would probably agree with me that they are the best way to go while abroad. I'm wondering now if we have facilities like these in the US. Obviously, I wouldn't have any reason to know about that but I'm sure we do. It's sad for me to think about the fact now that, for the past five months, I've been enjoying this crazy and international lifestyle. I wish the US were a little bit more like Europe or maybe like here with currency exchanges everywhere and this atmosphere that screams, "Welcome to our country!" I suppose I'll have to get to work on that, won't I?

P.S. If you're interested, please remind me to post what it was like visiting a small town called Bulls. More on that later!

Posted by Jason at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)