For the last few days, I've been finishing things up. As far as paperwork and flights and classes go, everything is set. Now I'm working on the more tangible things like buying travel items and getting everything together. Every new thing I buy makes me feel a little closer to finally going.
It still hasn't totally hit me yet, and I don't know if it will until I'm on the plane. The only time I really feel like I'm leaving is when I have to say goodbye to people that I know I won't see again for the next few months. I really hate saying bye to people, even if I'm not really even that close to. The people that I know provide me with a sense of familiarity that I know that I won't have when I'm on the other side of the world (at least for the first few weeks). I know that it is only a temporary goodbye, but I still hate doing it.
I promise that you can all expect more frequent updates as soon as I leave and my life gets a little more interesting. I can't wait to tell everyone about my trip.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Update Much?
Alright, alright, I'll update. Without school, I seem to have forgotten how to make a deadline. It's been a while, so I've made a lot of progress. I am now booked for two flights on February 7th, one from Dayton to Dallas to San Francisco, and the second from San Francisco to Melbourne. I'll be in the air for a total of about 26 hours. I invested in an MP3 player and I am in the process of beefing up my music collection for the flight. Since I am going west I'll kind of be moving forward in time, so I'll get there on the 9th. The strangest will be the flight back, when I leave Melbourne at around noon, and get to Honolulu earlier than I left.
As for housing, I decided that I am going to stay at Carlton Central Accommodation. I couldn't really find anything else online, so it's better that I get a room now than be stuck without one when I get there. I have to stay for at least 4 weeks, but I can leave after that if I find something better. There are shared amenities, so it's cheap. The bottom floor of the building is a hotel for people visiting for a short period of time, and the top floor is strictly for student housing. When you get the room, you get a key card that allows you to use the elevator and open the door to the stairwell. I've been researching the area around the hotel, and it seems to be right in the city center. It is also right on the water. The beach isn't more than a 3 minute walk away, and there is a park on the nearby coast as well. I'll have to take a 15 minute bus ride to school everyday, so I'll probably be hanging out on campus a lot. There is also a hockey rink about 5 minutes away.
I am 15 days away from leaving, and it honestly hasn't hit me yet. I'm not nervous, but I am a little scared. The only thing I really think about is the fact that I'll have to buy and cook my own food. Other than that, living by myself doesn't scare me much yet. I'm more worried about not knowing what to do at the airport or losing something important while travelling. I know that about 2 days before I leave I'll start to get really jittery and nervous.
Sorry about the slow update, and I promise I'll keep up with it more, especially when I start my travels. I will also update my profile, because I see that I have quite a few views. Also, expect to see some pictures, now that I've bought a memory card for my new camera.
As for housing, I decided that I am going to stay at Carlton Central Accommodation. I couldn't really find anything else online, so it's better that I get a room now than be stuck without one when I get there. I have to stay for at least 4 weeks, but I can leave after that if I find something better. There are shared amenities, so it's cheap. The bottom floor of the building is a hotel for people visiting for a short period of time, and the top floor is strictly for student housing. When you get the room, you get a key card that allows you to use the elevator and open the door to the stairwell. I've been researching the area around the hotel, and it seems to be right in the city center. It is also right on the water. The beach isn't more than a 3 minute walk away, and there is a park on the nearby coast as well. I'll have to take a 15 minute bus ride to school everyday, so I'll probably be hanging out on campus a lot. There is also a hockey rink about 5 minutes away.
I am 15 days away from leaving, and it honestly hasn't hit me yet. I'm not nervous, but I am a little scared. The only thing I really think about is the fact that I'll have to buy and cook my own food. Other than that, living by myself doesn't scare me much yet. I'm more worried about not knowing what to do at the airport or losing something important while travelling. I know that about 2 days before I leave I'll start to get really jittery and nervous.
Sorry about the slow update, and I promise I'll keep up with it more, especially when I start my travels. I will also update my profile, because I see that I have quite a few views. Also, expect to see some pictures, now that I've bought a memory card for my new camera.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Winging It
I haven't written anything in here for a while, so I figured I'd give everyone an update. I am still working on both the plane ticket and housing, and I am also now working on the courses I'll take while I'm there.
Deakin is finally back in session and have contacted me. I have to choose which courses I'll want to take while I'm there. The thing is, I am a more complicated case than most of the people that go abroad. Although I am registered as a student at Wright State now, I'm not taking any classes there while I wait to leave (which is actually really nice). After I come home from Australia in July, I won't even have time to unpack before I leave for the University of Toledo to finish up my Civil Engineering degree (or start it really, so far it seems like I'm going for Bachelor of Gen Eds). So I have to talk to not only Deakin and Wright State, but possibly most importantly, the University of Toledo. Studying out of the country is already complex enough, but dealing with 3 different schools with different courses makes it ten times worse.
I received an email from an international advisor at Deakin, and she told me that I won't be able to get any on-campus housing. I will probably get an apartment, maybe find a roommate to split the cost with. She gave me the link http://www.carltoncentral.com/. I haven't looked at it too much yet, but it seems like any other college dorm, but it's just off campus. It's a single room and I would share a bathroom, lounge, and kitchen with other students. It is also cheaper than living in on-campus accomodation. I've never done anything like that before, so I guess it would be a new experience. I don't plan on staying there much anyways, just to sleep and study (not that I won't be studying). I am also considering the possibility of a host family. I would automatically know people that could show me around, and I'd really learn a lot about Aussie culture while I stayed with them. It would probably feel like home, too.
I realize now that I really have nothing to worry about as far as getting everything done goes. One of my friends asked me today if I was almost all ready to go. I have a lot of work to do and I know I'll get all the paperwork and packing done, but I don't think I'll ever really be ready for it. I don't know if anyone is ever completely ready for huge changes like this, but I think what we learn and how we deal makes us who we are. I'm just winging it, really.
Deakin is finally back in session and have contacted me. I have to choose which courses I'll want to take while I'm there. The thing is, I am a more complicated case than most of the people that go abroad. Although I am registered as a student at Wright State now, I'm not taking any classes there while I wait to leave (which is actually really nice). After I come home from Australia in July, I won't even have time to unpack before I leave for the University of Toledo to finish up my Civil Engineering degree (or start it really, so far it seems like I'm going for Bachelor of Gen Eds). So I have to talk to not only Deakin and Wright State, but possibly most importantly, the University of Toledo. Studying out of the country is already complex enough, but dealing with 3 different schools with different courses makes it ten times worse.
I received an email from an international advisor at Deakin, and she told me that I won't be able to get any on-campus housing. I will probably get an apartment, maybe find a roommate to split the cost with. She gave me the link http://www.carltoncentral.com/. I haven't looked at it too much yet, but it seems like any other college dorm, but it's just off campus. It's a single room and I would share a bathroom, lounge, and kitchen with other students. It is also cheaper than living in on-campus accomodation. I've never done anything like that before, so I guess it would be a new experience. I don't plan on staying there much anyways, just to sleep and study (not that I won't be studying). I am also considering the possibility of a host family. I would automatically know people that could show me around, and I'd really learn a lot about Aussie culture while I stayed with them. It would probably feel like home, too.
I realize now that I really have nothing to worry about as far as getting everything done goes. One of my friends asked me today if I was almost all ready to go. I have a lot of work to do and I know I'll get all the paperwork and packing done, but I don't think I'll ever really be ready for it. I don't know if anyone is ever completely ready for huge changes like this, but I think what we learn and how we deal makes us who we are. I'm just winging it, really.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Time to Freak Out Again
My two main concerns right now for Australia are housing and a plane ticket. News that I've learned in the past hour has sent me back into a dizzying panic.
One of the other students that I'm going to Australia with told me that she tried to get a plane ticket, and the travel agency, VSR Travel, is sold out on the dates of February 7th and 8th. This means I may not be able to get a flight from them, or a flight at all. Hopefully they still have them for the 4th-6th, or maybe even the 9th.
I thought I had finished everything that I could possibly do for housing, but I found that I missed the most important step. I needed to fill out a second online housing form that nobody told me about. This one asked for a reference and required a payment. I'm planning to have my manager at work fill it out, but it also has to be mailed to Deakin by January 11th. I asked someone at USAC if I could fax or email it in, so I could get it in on time.
After a few somewhat worry-free days, I find that I should have been worrying all along. That just makes me worry even more. I am going to need a nice long 5 month vacation at the beach after all this stuff has been figured out.
One of the other students that I'm going to Australia with told me that she tried to get a plane ticket, and the travel agency, VSR Travel, is sold out on the dates of February 7th and 8th. This means I may not be able to get a flight from them, or a flight at all. Hopefully they still have them for the 4th-6th, or maybe even the 9th.
I thought I had finished everything that I could possibly do for housing, but I found that I missed the most important step. I needed to fill out a second online housing form that nobody told me about. This one asked for a reference and required a payment. I'm planning to have my manager at work fill it out, but it also has to be mailed to Deakin by January 11th. I asked someone at USAC if I could fax or email it in, so I could get it in on time.
After a few somewhat worry-free days, I find that I should have been worrying all along. That just makes me worry even more. I am going to need a nice long 5 month vacation at the beach after all this stuff has been figured out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
