DEC 31 (1 more day!)

So far I’m extremely excited, as I’m sure many of my fellow Aussie interns are. I actually just got back from Colorado Springs, so things have been a little hectic. I made sure to pack a duffel bag before I left just in case I had to take a plane back to Glenview in the instance there was a winter storm and we couldn’t drive home. Nevertheless I’m in a frenzy of trying to get my list of things done before I leave. This list includes: buying books for the plane, repairing and downloading music to my ipod, determining how many pairs of running shoes I will need, going sledding, and distributing the rest of my Christmas presents. So far I have found everything to go relatively smoothly, though some things have not gone the way I planned, but I was prepared for that. I’ve found I just need to be open minded for whatever comes so as to avoid too much stress.
I know right now there will be something I forget, I always do. I will make SURE that the necessities for the plane are all together in one pocket/folder. My goal is to travel rather minimalist, but I find that really hard because there is just so much stuff to consider. Do I take 3 shirts, or four? What about that long sleeve. This is where things fall apart and I end up packing too much and then I need to go through and repack several times until the point I think I’ve packed too little and then I start all over by adding stuff! I’ve never gone somewhere for so long. My longest trip away from home before this was Arusha, Tanzania and that was for 3 weeks and I still think I packed far more than I am for Australia. So ultimately there are a lot of conflicting packing thoughts going through my head.
I took some time over break to read about both Sydney and New Zealand, for which I have already purchased tickets for spring break. I can hardly tell you how excited I am. Everything seems to be coming together. As of yesterday I shadowed an Aortic valve replacement surgery, I get to intern for a fantastic company in Sydney and my summer looks very promising internship wise as well.

Though I will need to do the applications while I’m there, which I’m not looking forward to.