Reflecting on Goals... Part 1

      When submitting a proposal to OSU to have a work site/ program approved for internship credits a large part of the process included developing professional, personal and cross cultural goals for the time abroad.  As I was answering a series of check in questions for my advisor I couldn’t help but to reflect on a funny experience I encountered with one of my personal/ cross cultural goals.  One of my goals was to learn to use the public transportation systems of Australia to be able to get around and between the cities and actually know where I was going.  It sounds like a simple thing to learn but the extent of my bus riding prior to coming to Australia was taking the school bus my freshman year of high school and the last (and only) train ride I had been on was probably the scenic tour ride of the Gorge.  My first experience on the train was just from Coffs Harbour to Sydney Central and then switching trains at Sydney Central to hop on the one that runs to the airport.  All went well and I figured out what trains went where from what platforms and how to get around the city.  All in all, Sydney Central was not nearly as bustling and crazy of a place as I had thought it would be.  Feeling good about having taken on Sydney, I figured Brisbane and Cairns would be no problem.  This time I even took a few busses to get around and made it there just fine, but it was on the way back that I must have gotten a little too cocky about my new found skills.  I was taking the train in Brisbane from my hostel to the airport to return to Coffs.  It was clearly morning commute time for all the business professionals of Brisbane dressed in their suits, meanwhile I had just hopped off the live aboard dive boat, ran out of any form of clean clothes days before, and just had my back pack with some dive gear and dirty clothes at this point.  The train I wanted to catch was just about to leave as I got up to the platform and even though I knew there was another train going exactly where I needed to go 4 minutes later I thought I’d dash on and give it a try.  I made it on but the doors closed on my backpack I was wearing and thus I was stuck in the door because I could not wiggle out of my back pack.  I flailed around like a turtle on my back for awhile trying to push the giant red “door open” button that was just out of my reach meanwhile everybody just stood and watched until I finally asked someone if they could push the button for me. When they begrudgingly did the door finally opened and I was unstuck from it and flung forward.  Needless to say it was definitely an embarrassing train ride but at least now I know what all of the posters around the train station mean when they say “it is safer to wait for the next train”.