Before I Go...

Well hello everyone! So this is my "blog" I'm going to be using this to let you all in on what I'm doing while down under.(note the somewhat lame title of the webpage...I definitely have kind of stolen the title from Will Christopherson for those of you who know him and have read his site about Australia)

If you're reading this you most likely got my email or you have found a different way to get a hold of it, either way I hope you enjoy!

Well my journey begins to Adelaide, Australia on February 9th, where I leave the Minneapolis airport at about 12:30pm and travel to Chicago, then L.A. and then I land in Melbourne, Australia February 11th, and then take a quick flight into Adelaide. Now some of you may be wondering where February 10th is in this whole mess. Well...truth is, I don't exist on February 10th this year because while I am flying to Australia I will be crossing many time zones and I cross the International date line and thus I lose a day. I don't know quite how it works, but it happens. If any of you are wondering, the time difference between here (the midwest/Minnesota) and Adelaide, Australia is 16 1/2 hours. Well at least I think, that is if I counted correctly. According to information given to me by IES (the study abroad program I am traveling with) if it's 5:30pm on a Saturday in Chicago, then it is 10:00am Sunday in Adelaide...you do the math ( counted on my fingers! )

With the few days left here in Minnesota I'm trying my best to bet things done! (ok well maybe not my best...but I'm trying at least a little) The past few days I have been constantly spending money on things for my trip and visiting with people from school and home. I dropped over $300 on a digital camera plus accessories for it which actually isn't too bad considering some cameras are $1,000 by themselves! Today was luggage buying time! I am hoping to God that I can fit all I need in this suitcase! This is going to be one hard packing job! Tomorrow I begin the packing and finishing of things that need to get done before I go. I must admit that I am very excited but also very nervous about this trip. My greatest fears are missing flights because I get lost in the airport, or delays, or freaking out on the long trip from L.A. to Aussie land, along with travel documents not working, or forgetting important documents and or losing them! Whew! Pretty much all the fears you can come up with, if you have any others I'll let you know if I have them!

Well I'll keep posting for the next few days before I leave and fill you all in on more info that you might want to know. Thanks for reading!

much love,
smuder