As promised, here is my follow-up list of everything I adore about Melbourne (and really, all of Oz) that it will kill me to leave behind:

-The Brighton Beach bathing boxes
-Taking the tram downtown, and taking the train...anywhere
-The squawking rainbow lorikeets that hang out every night in the tree next to my balcony
-How everything smells after it rains: lemon myrtle, parched soil, eucalyptus
-My friends (having tea in Laura's room, playing the guitar and reading with Cari and Kate in Cari's room, going on daily excursions for frozen yogurt or groceries or coffee or picnics, spending the night at Mish's house in Ferntree Gully, watching Anne of Green Gables with Belinda).
-Australian television - specifically the commercials and news stations. Fascinating and hilarious.
-Accents! I don't want to return to the Land of the Laccent (lack of accent). Every time Mish says "no" in response to something I've said (or for any other reason), I am totally the obnoxious two-year-old that mimics her accents. She usually shoves me (oftentimes into a nearby telephone pole) and tells me jokingly to "f*** off" which I just think is so Australian and I love it. Really I'm just fascinated by how much effort it takes to say one syllable the way she says it. It has to be exhausting.
-Being a foreigner. While this is oftentimes more frustrating that it is rewarding, I love being able to weigh in with my opinions in class when my tutors ask how something is done in the U.S. Actually, they would say "America." No one here calls the States "the U.S."
-Writing group. Not much writing is done there, but I have several notebook pages full of stunning quotes that illustrate just how excited five people can get over tropical fruit juice and homemade sushi rolls.
-Being able to walk two minutes outside of my apartment and hop on a tram and know the city so well that I don't have to wait for the driver to announce the next stop before I have already pulled the cord.
-Cooking for myself. This gets tedious, and Mama, I have no idea how you do it every night for four people...but it's really fun. Especially making dinner with friends, when we pump up the Disney and sing along as we sit on the kitchen floor and eat slightly charred omelets with potatoes and spinach and tomatoes and cheese.
-Aussie lingo. It's priceless. My favorite phrases include "keen as mustard" and "how ya going?"

I should go finish editing my Australia Now paper on sexual assault in aboriginal communities. It's a real upper, let me tell you. Oh. One more thing I'll miss: joking with my friends in Australia Now about procrastinating, and how it's "Australia not now! Australia later!"