The anticipation for Australia that is... I am SOOOO excited! I cannot believe I will be in Australia in less than 2 months. I never in a millions years envisioned myself stepping out on faith to do something so out of character. I cannot say enough about how grateful I am to have such a supportive community here at Judson.

I have been having trouble receiving e-mails from Australia, so there is a lot of information that I did not know I was not receiving. One very important e-mail I did not receive was a code for my visa application. They said it could take up to 3 months to receive a visa, but I did not get my code until about a week ago because the director of the program was unaware I hadn't received the email confirmation. Luckily, my visa was approved in less than 12 hours! WOW! So much worrying for nothing!

This afternoon, I got an e-mail about the family I will be staying with in Australia. I will be in a suburb of Sydney called Petersham. It is a suburb that is very close to the Italian district of Sydney. (I wonder if Australian Italian is the same as American Italian. I'll let you know as soon as I find out!) 2 other female ASC students and I will be staying in Petersham with a woman and her son. I am so excited to meet my new family and to be immersed in the Australian culture!

Here are a few things that will be a challenge for me:

•1.      Only bringing one suitcase of luggage for 4 months. As Americans, we like to bring all our stuff with us, but in order to fit in, we must consolidate.

•2.      Make sure we are up-to-date on current issues in Australia and around the world. This will be different from the life I live inside the "Judson bubble". It is so easy to get caught up in school work and campus activities that watching television and reading newspapers to keep up with world events is not as important. This is a positive challenge that I will try to implement in my daily life from now on. There is no excuse for me not to be aware of the world around me! I have plenty of access to not know what is going on.

•3.      Taking a 20-30 minute bus or train ride to school or the city. One of my favorite aspects of Judson is that it is small enough to walk across campus in less than 3 minutes. In Australia, I will not have this convenience. Everything will not be in walking distance. I will have to factor in time to and from school and anywhere else I go. (I have a feeling this will probably be a hard adjustment for me, but I am prepared to conform to it!)

I cannot explain the excitement I have for what is to come! Every small nugget of information I get makes it all the more real to me. Yay Australia! (forgive me, I cannot stop saying the word Australia)

Full of excitement!