Today is the day!! I can't believe in less than 2 days I'll be in Australia, half way around the world! Of course I've been preparing for it for the last month, but even while I was going through the motions of getting my visa, packing, etc it never really seemed real to me that for four months I would be living in Australia. A semester abroad in Australia wasn't something I've been planning for a long time or even something I knew I was going to be doing last summer. It just sortof fell in my lap as a result of working at the office of International Education. It seemed silly not to do a semester abroad myself after working with so many other students who were in the process of going. Choosing Australia was easy... as an anthropology and biology double major what cooler place could I possibly have chosen? I get excited just thinking about the classes I'm going to be taking. A class on the evolution and morphology of coral reefs that includes field trips to the Great Barrier Reef? Yes!! A class on Australian Vertebrate Fauna, where I will get to learn about the incredibly unique and endemic animals of Australia? Definitely! I can't wait.  I am nervous though. I'm not a stranger to incredibly long flights (I've flown to South Africa twice), but I still have no idea where I'm living or what it's going to be like over there. A few of my classmates left last week and have since posted Facebook statuses talking about how much fun their having, so that is reassuring. But even still! In any case, I don't really have time to be nervous because I have procrastinated packing so much that I still have some things to do, even though I am leaving in an hour. I was actually impressed with how many clothes I could fit into my very own brand new suitcase, a birthday present from my mom, but being the girl that I am, I am still worried that there will be a perfect occasion for the few sweaters or dresses I chose to leave behind, and then I will be in trouble. I'm sure I will be okay though, and all my friends who have been to Australia say it's good to leave room for all the stuff you're going to want to bring back. Anyways, it's about time for me to get serious about finishing packing, so the next time I blog will be over there!