Exactly one month from today I will be heading to Sydney, Australia, to study at the University of New South Wales.  I have just finished applying for my visa, this month I hear back regarding where I will be living in Sydney (either by Coogee or Bondi Beach), and also have received information on some of the events which international students can participate in while in Sydney.  Needless to say, the pre-departure period has been quite hectic, even more-so while taking a few Summer classes, and I can not wait to board my plane.

                There are events I am not looking forward to however, namely saying goodbye to my friends and family, missing my last season of Penn State football (though I know they will continue to dominate), and also being able to go horseback riding at my friend’s farm whenever I feel like it.  These experiences are a worthwhile sacrifice though, and I get to spend nearly six months of my life in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, by the beach, and have experience events which I would not have been able to do if I did not study abroad.

                I am hoping to learn to surf while in Sydney (with two of the nicest beaches in the world why wouldn’t I?), experience Oktoberfest on the campus of UNSW (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Uh-Z67e38g), and just experience the culture of a different country and experience all that it has to offer.  Needless to say, I have high expectations for what I wish to accomplish while in Sydney and plan to make the most of this experience of a lifetime.

                I am excited for all which lays ahead of me on this journey and am truly blessed to get to have this experience in my life.  Before this adventure I have been reading the great American novel “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac, so I find it only fitting to end this blog with a passage from the book.   “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go.  But no matter, the road is life.”

Location: University Park, PA