Pre-Departure Ramblings

I was trying to come up with a creative name for this thing and I figured I ought to include an homage to the tapir, far and away the greatest animal on the planet, but also that this is all about my trip to Australia...and somehow I came up with wild tapirs down under. Maybe it'll work, I don't know, but if you've read this far you probably know me, and understand (or at least tolerate) my love for tapirs and all other animals, so it's probably all good (right?).

My adventure to Australia began more than a year ago, when I decided I wanted to do some sort of study abroad program. Australia had always struck me as a cool country. As a wildlife conservation major, they have some of the most bizarre, unique, and coolest animals on the planet. As a history major, it's a country that has a fascinating past and is still emerging from its colonial roots. And hey, they speak English so even if I'm completely lost I don't have to worry about translation.

Actually signing up to go to Australia on an exchange program was the hard part. I think I submitted my application for an exchange about last October and waited around till March to hear back on acceptance. After that it was a simple matter of filling out a whole other application to my host university, then trying to figure my way through about 200 different forms from both the University of Washington and the University of Western Australia (especially loved the ones the Australia advisor didn't tell anyone about until a month after they were technically due). Long story short, studying abroad takes a lot of paperwork, a lot of red tape, and a lot of waiting.

But I think (I hope, I wish) I'm through with most of that now. 8 days to go before I take off for the Land Down Under. I'll be heading to Perth, a city about 24 hours flight time away from Seattle, about which I know about this much: it's in Western Australia, it's on a river, it has a zoo - an important criteria and measuring stick for any major city (according to Perth Zoo's website there's a new baby giraffe!), and it's a reeealllyyy long ways from anywhere else. As soon as I arrive after a full day of flying I have a welcome dinner for my residence hall and then I start orientation bright and early the next morning at 8 AM.

Should be a good time. I'll let you know how it goes.