Two Weeks Til Takeoff!



Greetings!



Convocation Ceremony- Carleton University Class of 2011 (The fam)



And so begins the preparation in a state of excitement, chaos and panic. My flight leaves July 6th and 6:45 pm for Australia. Well, that's not entirely correct, 5 hours to LAX, 2 hour lay over, then 15 and a half to Melbourne, but rest assured I will get there, July 8th at 8:20am.

For now, I have two weeks of saying goodbye to old friends and selecting lucky items to pack.

But let's back track a little, because we're missing the beginning of the story. This whole journey actually began months ago. I was visiting my school's international exchange fair with my best friend who had the genius idea that we should move to Australia next year. Naturally I was in agreement. Forgetting that I'm a woman of my word, while I picked up several school calendars and read and researched for the perfect Master's program, I'm pretty sure my BFF went for a beer.



My BFF



Weeks later when I was packing up my many applications to Canadian and one lucky Australian school, my BFF was dutifully by my side to aid in the imminent mental breakdown.

The foreign name of La Trobe naturally caught his attention. Surprised I'm sure, because clearly his off-hand comment of world travel was entirely unintentional, my BFF appeased me anyways with a "good luck, I'm sure you'll get in somewhere"...

And then I got accepted.

Apparently the guest list of our Australian adventure was now down to one, obstructed by tyrannical student debts, the cost of flight being astronomical and then there was the issue of not knowing a soul down under. And thus, here I am, writing the first blog post months later, 2 weeks prior to take off.

The goals for the year- get my Masters (obvs), stay in contact with my friends, post a lot so my mom doesn't panic, adjust to the ridiculous time change, and experience the land of Aus!

Ladies and gentlemen please fasten your seatbelts until the captain has turned off the seatbelt sign...