people like me

ok, so i went to australia for a study abroad program in 2008, and there are a lot of different complexions of human beings down under, but no one whom i was able to identify with necessarily. i guess i should make it known that i'm african american. ok, there. so, anyway, while i was down under with the aussies and the kangaroos, i got pretty annoyed with people staring at me as if i was a massive alien with three bugged out eyes wearing mc hammer pants. maybe i'm exaggerating, but when people stare and uncaring-ly- it gets extremely annoying. other than the hands full of ignorant and annoying individuals, i met some really cool people. i met people from all over the world- Germany, India, Thailand, China, Japan, Nigeria, England, Scotland, Sweden, Finland, Canada, Austria, Norway, France, Mexico, South Africa, Ireland, Netherlands, Holand, Indonesia........they're all amazing people of different lifestyles. i learned how to say "i love you" in german and swedish, and my japanese roommate taught me some stuff. but of all the people i met, no one else was african american, so of course i stood out. although, at times i felt out of my element, i adjusted and made no big deal of not having my homegirls around or brothas hissin and kissin at me while i walked down the street in melbourne. although, i'd take a hiss or a kiss anyday before being called a "black-bitch" while walking down the street in sydney. the crazy part about that is i wasn't deeply affected by the dude that said it. i was actually expecting it, so i guess the preparation denied the chance for me to become disconcerted. and, because there weren't too many witnesses, i wasn't embarrassed. oh, and i have to tell you about this girl from london that asked to touch my hair. yeah, i let her. but after, she was so shocked that it was sooo soft...lol. she expected the brillo naps. and there was this other dummy that assumed people of color couldn't get sunburn-what an idiot. skin is skin and all skin can get burnt. other than that, i had an amazing time in australia. i toured around melbourne, sydney (saw the opera house and the harbour bridge and went to bondi beach), byron-bay, went to brisbane-queensland, saw the 12 apostles, got in a helicopter for the first time, met an australian aborigine (russell dawson), saw some koalas, kangaroos, a dingo, and some wombats, i also ate some kangaroo (yeah, i know...the lil joey- but it was good), vegemite, tim tams, meat pie, and i drank lemon-lime and bitters, i also had a snake-bite (beer with cranberry juice and champagne), unfortunately didn't get to the great barrier reef, but def next time. i became friends with some amazing aussies and i plan on going back pretty soon. although i enjoyed my time there, i was estatic once i landed back in l.a and then nyc because i started seeing people who kinda looked like me, acted like me, talked like me, walked like me, and dressed like me and it was refreshing because i was finally back HOME. it's great to visit other places and meet different people, but there's no place like home and there are no people like your own!