And so it begins...

And so it begins, as I sit in the Denver airport, from where I will fly to LA, run to get through baggage claim, re-check my luggage and get through security, and find my gate to board a plane which will probably come to feel like a home by the time I arrive in Australia after a 15 hour flight.  From there I will go on to Auckland, on the North Island of New Zealand, where I will spend a few days seeing the sights of the city and hopefully combating my jet lag by laying on a beach somewhere...sounds OK to me, I guess :)

I'm not really even sure how this whole journey started, except that I went to the information session on semester abroad programs on a whim and instantly fell in love with the description of New Zealand and the University of Otago and its programs.  It was not my intention to ever go abroad for and entire semester when I first arrived at St. Olaf, but after living in Ecuador for a month I fell in love with traveling and decided that I need to see as much of the world as possible, starting with the opposite side!

Though I can't pretend like I'm not at least a little (fine, a lot!) nervous about going on my own to a new country and starting afresh, the excitement completely outweighs any fears that I may have, especially after I look at pictures or my Lonely Planet Guidebook (aka my best friend for this trip) and add to the already long list of things that I want to do or see in the next 4 1/2 months.  Things like bungee jumping at the site of the first ever official jump, sliding down sand dunes on a boogy board, and seeing where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, just to name a few!

It's about time to board now, but I look forward to having many more exciting posts in the future, and thanks for taking the time to read about my adventures!

Lots of love,
Anna