Hey everyone! Welcome to my GeoBlog! My name is Jen and I’m from New Jersey, and I’m in the middle of my junior year at Penn State (where it is currently snowing, gross!). I’m a nutrition major and psychology minor, and some pretty exciting things are about to happen in my life.

Next semester (Spring 2011), I will be leaving behind the frigid temperatures of central PA and will be studying abroad in Sydney, Australia. You may ask “why Australia?” Well, while most of my friends were deciding on going to Europe, I decided that I wanted to go to a place that I figured I would never EVER get to see in my life. So, to my parent’s dismay, I decided to study as far away as I could possibly get on the globe and happened to settle on Sydney. I’m pretty nervous, because I’ve never even flown across an ocean before. This is the furthest away from home I’ll ever be for the longest period of time and I’ll be in a completely new surrounding. I’m not too unsettled though because I’m pretty sure that everyone feels this way before going abroad. However, there are a TON of things that I am looking forward to, like experiencing different people in a different culture and seeing all of the beautiful places that make Australia famous and give it its allure. I also am really looking forward to petting a kangaroo, but that is besides the point. 

Anyway, as of today I still have a while before I leave (about 2 months and 4 days), so I have plenty of time to plan and get ready. I just really hope the time goes fast, because I’m already so excited to leave! Every morning before I put on my winter jacket, I’ll look up the temperature in Sydney, see it’s usually in the balmy high 70’s/low 80’s, and get a little smile on my face. I can’t wait to share my experiences through this blog with everyone back home in America. Woo! 

Location: State College, PA