I leave tomorrow

It is past midnight on Monday, which means that I can officially say I leave for Australia tomorrow!!! 48 hours from now I will be about to land in Los Angeles, once I land in LA I will attempt to find my gate for Australia along with the other 20 interns flying over with me. We will then prepare ourselves for the 14 hour plane ride, most likely by walking around as much as possible and buying every magazine and water bottle in the newsstands. I'm not exactly sure how you entertain yourself for 14 hours on a plane. I know that I will be sleeping during some of it, but lets be honest, I only sleep for about 8 hours in my own comfy bed at home, how am I supposed to sleep for 8 hours on the plane. Even if I did manage to sleep for 8 hours, what i am supposed to do with myself for the other 6 hours. I have a hard enough time not wanting to go crazy on the 5 hour plane ride to LA. I guess once I make through this crazy long plane ride, I will be able to make it through any plane ride, any car ride, any bus ride. Nothing will compare, although I think the plane ride coming back will be the worst. Hopefully some of the other girls will be going home the same time and that way we can stay up the whole night before so hopefully I can sleep on the plane ride home then. I probably shouldn't be worried so much about the plane ride until I worry more about re-packing my suitcase. I have one suitcase right now that weighs over 50 pounds and one suitcase that I have to sit on in order to shut. What is a girl supposed to do? My goal, discover a solution, the possibility of this goal happening....slim. I will let you know if I succeed.

10 weeks in 1 bag

How on earth I am supposed to pack for 10 weeks in 1 bag? I know that I have laundry and I can mix and match outfits, but let's be honest I don't want to wear only 5 outfits for the whole time I am there! I just attempted to make a packing list and pull out some things I want to wear while I am there. There is NO WAY that it will all fit in one bag that weighs under 50 pounds. Then what do I do when I want to bring stuff home? How am I supposed to manage this? I have no idea! There has to be a way to survive this crazy inability to pack my summer into a single suitcase. I should be sleeping right now, but I feel like I am being pressured to get everything done and everything figured out. The clock is ticking and getting closer and closer. I need more time and some kind of miracle!

Orientation

When I first get to Australia I will be traveling to Cairns to participate in a two day orientation with all of the other summer interns, even those not staying in Sydney. We will arrive and travel to our hotel (The Bohemia Resort-picture above) together. We will then experience a typical Aussie Sausage Sizzle....what is that you may ask, well your guess is as good as mine. I will make sure to let you know when I find out. My only guess is that it has to do with food and that is sure a good way to start the trip! We then have some information sessions and get our phones so I can make short calls back home. For dinner we are going to Blue Sky Brewery (the legal drinking age is 18....can't fight that). We are free for the rest of the night to experience the town and hotel with all the interns. The next morning after breakfast we are spending the day snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. I am unbelievably excited about this! The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and I get to experience it for the whole afternoon! After snorkeling we have more information sessions, but the evening off to explore the town. No breakfast for me the next morning because my plane leaves for Sydney at 5:45am. There is 7 or 8 girls living with me in Sydney and I assume we will all be traveling together. We have the weekend to get settled into our new temporary home and explore the city before we all start work on Monday.

Photos!

I just made a new site to share all of my photos from this summer. I figured I would add some here in case this is all you get the chance to check, but I wanted some place where I could add everything. Check regularly because I'm sure I will take a lot. Go to www.kelseysmithdownunder.shutterfly.com to check it out. You can even join to get weekly updates. I can't wait to get started and have the experience of a lifetime!

I have a home!

I have finally received an e-mail with my final destination and home for 10 weeks. I will be staying in an apartment just outside of downtown. I will be staying in a single room with my own bathroom and a common living area and kitchen. As of right now I know of 7 other girls living in the same apartment complex. I am assuming I will share a kitchen and living room with some of them. I have everything I need, a big bed, a tv, a fridge, a dvd player, all in my room. There is even a outdoor area with bbq for us all to share. It's a little bit of a trip to work every morning. It will take some walking and two different buses to get me there in about 40 minutes. It really isn't too bad, lets just hope I don't get lost with the whole switching bus thing. This is starting to make the whole experience more real. I feel like I am just planning and planning for this amazing adventure that isn't ever really going to happen. We got it approved for Mackenzie to stay in my room with me, apparently I will have an extra bed, which is nice. I can't wait to finally get there and get settled in and started in my adventure of a lifetime.