Countdown: 6 Days, 10 Hours

I guess that starting the first one should (hopefully) be the hardest. where to begin? I guess I'll start with why I chose to study when and where:

I always planned on studying abroad in college, but assumed it'd be the first semester of my junior year. However, the professor who teaches the bulk of the theory and composition classes at UR received a Fullbright Grant to teach in Europe and had a sabbatical coming to him. He decided to take two spring semesters off, meaning that if I went junior year, I wouldn't have my professor for a full year and a half. Quick change of plans, and here I am, sitting at home, waiting to leave!

When I still wanted to be a Latin major, I wanted to study in Italy. Well, seeing as I've changed my major, I'm left with no practical foreign language skills (sure, I could learn something easily, but not quickly enough to satisfy any language requirements). Speaking only English and never having left the country before, I decided to go to a country where I could hopefully reduce the culture shock. Because of my penpal from third grade, Tanya, I have always been interested in Australia, so I decided to give it a shot. (And the crazy coincidence is that Tanya goes to Macquarie, something I didn't know when I chose the program. Weeeird, but awesome!)

Waiting at home has been the hardest part. At first I was enjoying the break from doing anything, but now I'm bored as anything. The huge break has just left me time to overthink the trip and get nervous. Luckily, this weekend my boyfriend Will is coming up to visit. That will keep me distracted, then two days of quick packing, and then off to the land down under!

Just to let people know, I will avoid using last names whenever possible. (My dad and the media have done excellent jobs making me nervous about using real names on the internet.) Also, as an aside: an Australian camp counselor years ago told me about "drop bears," similar to koalas, but with four-inch long claws. They sit in the trees and wait for unsuspecting victims. Unless you make eye contact with the bear, it will drop on your head. While clearly these do not exist, I have nevertheless been obsessed with the idea of drop bears ever since. I won't lie, I'm still hoping that I'll see one while on a hike in the outback...