One Month to Departure

First and foremost, thanks to all who chimed in on which blog server thing to use...blogger won by a landslide, and so, here I am. The premise of this blog is to document my trials and tribulations while abroad in Wellington, NZ for a semester. Perhaps I'll also pick up a few good sheep jokes while I'm there (hopefully the sheep are cool with that...not looking to get on their bad side seeing as they outnumber the people).

Now to inform you all (and myself) about the country to which I will be traveling, let's take a look at some interesting facts:

1) Less than 5% of the total population of New Zealand is human (Way outnumbered...maybe I should keep the sheep jokes to myself...)
 2) The first group of all female pallbearers at a funeral was in NZ (That guy had bad luck with all daughters)
3) The first commercial bungee jump took place in Queenstown in 1988 (It now is called the Adventure Capital of the World)
4) The most popular sports are rugby, golf, netball, soccer, and cricket (So...I've got 1 out of 5. Unless you count playing cricket in the front yard in MD when people walking or driving by would give us strange looks)
5) Wellington is the southernmost capital city in the world
6) NZ granted universal suffrage to all in 1893, way before most countries

and of course...
7) The popular movie sequence The Lord of the Rings was filmed in NZ. Yes, I know. Yes, I know you think it's awesome. No, I'm not planning on taking the tour, I have not read the books, and I watched the second movie before the first, leading to extreme confusion. But, for all you fans out there, I have purchased the trilogy for my Kindle and I plan on viewing the movies (in order this time) before departing in February. Please understand that I do not yet share your extreme enthusiasm for the subject...I'm working on it!

While I'm there, I'll be studying at Victoria University of Wellington, and will hopefully be taking this class among the other (less interesting) ones:

RELI 106 - Prayer, Meditation, Trance and Ectasy: A Study of the Techniques of Spiritual Transformation

This course explores the ways in which spiritual practices alter consciousness. We study contemporary world cultures and see the influence of rituals, bodily postures, drugs and music. Our focus is on the spiritual understandings that come not through doctrines, but rather through ways of living.

Hopefully it's as cool as it sounds and not taught by some lame professor who just made up a cool name in order to get people like me to sign up for the class...I guess we'll find out.

I leave for NZ exactly one month from today, and I will fly out to Los Angeles with my dad on Mon. 2/7. As he puts it, "It's kind of like walking your kid to the bus stop...except a little farther." Just a little bit.

Things to do before leaving:
1) Unpack and then repack...the unpacking process after returning home from UMBC has been a bit slow. Perhaps I can return Alex's box that he let me borrow after I said "Oh yeah, I'll definitely get it back to you tomorrow."

2) Get my passport back? I had to mail it to the program I'm traveling with so they could get my visa taken care of....please, can I have it back now??

3) Make a blog Continue to write on the blog so it's not like those lame ones that have three entries the first three days and then nothing until about three months later.

4) Find out where I'll be living...come on, Victoria University of Wellington Accommodation Service...you know you want to tell me!!

5) Work like a crazy person in preparation for not being able to work for five months (slight panic attack...spending money while not replenishing it is a major problem for me, which is usually a good thing. However, NZ does not allow students to work on their visas).

I had also planned on recording some pieces for the National Flute Convention in August, writing a proposal to get my health policy research funded for next year, and taking the GRE. So far all I've done to advance these goals is signing up for the GRE. The practice book is buried somewhere in my room....therefore, the necessity of step 1 in order to continue with that endeavor.

So, I feel that this first post has been scatterbrained and random enough to show you all what you'll be dealing with if you attempt to follow it for the next six months...good luck!