Well, here I go again!  As Bilbo Baggins would say:

“I’m off on an adventure!”

Tomorrow I will embark on my second semester abroad!  This time I’ll be heading to New Zealand with The Education Abroad Network, or TEAN for short.  There I will be studying at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand (on the north island) aka Palmy, as I’ve read it is commonly referred to by the locals.   Overall I will be in NZ for roughly 5 months.  5 MONTHS!!!  That may sound like a long time but after how quickly last semester went by I know that the end of my NZ Adventure will come sooner than I hope.  Better make the most of it I guess!  And I can’t think of a better way to start a semester long program in New Zealand than with a pre-semester trip to Fiji! [Side note: TEAN, you rock for offering this!!]

That’s right, I’ll be spending February 9th – 13th on a Fijian Island in the Pacific Ocean!  Can you say “Hello sunburn!”  Seriously, this will beat staying for the frigid winter of Pennsylvania!  🙂

My flight time tomorrow is less than 24 hours away!  I’ll catch my first flight from Elmira, NY at 12:13 PM and then it’s off to Philly and then ‘hoping off the plane at LAX!’  This will be my first time in California (does only being in the airport count?).  In LAX I’ll get to meet all the other students attending the program…I guess there is about 60 of us (wayyy bigger than the number of students last semester {6}…how will I remember everyone’s name?!)  Then from LAX it’s onward bound for Fiji!

Fun fact: I will not exist on Friday, February 8th, 2013.  It’s true!  I’ll be flying over the International Dateline on February 7th and when the plane crosses it’ll be the 9th!  …Time zones, am I right?

Anyway, I’m SUPER excited to begin this next adventure and I’m glad I’ve decided to document it with this blog.  Hope you enjoy reading it!

Now I’m off to finish packing…. wish me luck and safe travels!

‘Til next time!

-Brad