Hello!
My name is Amanda Byrnes, and soon I will be embarking on a semester-long adventure to Australia to study, learn, and most of all, travel! I am very excited to spend some time Down Under, but I will admit I am a little nervous about going so far away for such a long period of time. Australia is about 10,000 miles away from my hometown, Boston, and it is a little unnerving going that far all by myself. Luckily I am excited to have all sorts of adventures and make new friends on the way!
The journey from the US to Australia is going to be a long one. First I will take a six hour plane ride from Boston to Los Angeles, and then I will have a six hour layover in LA until I board a red-eye flight from LAX to Sydney. This flight will be about fifteen hours long, and then after a two hour layover in Sydney, I will finally board my final plane up to Cairns, a vacation spot up in northeastern Australia that is a prime spot to see the Great Barrier Reef. This is where a week-long orientation will be held by TEAN (or The Education Abroad Network, who Rollins partners with to ensure that all study abroad students traveling to Australia and New Zealand will have a great time there!). Though it will be a long journey (over thirty hours), I know that it will be worth it!
Saying goodbye to family and friends before a long trip can be tough, especially when one has such great family and friends as I do. However, before I leave, my parents held a going away party for me so I could say goodbye to everyone. It was a great way to see all of my friends and family before I leave for four months!!!!
So far, I don’t know what to expect when I get to Australia. From what I have heard, Australians are extremely friendly people, and they love to have a good time. Luckily there will be no language barrier in my study abroad destination, so I will be able to understand the locals and will hopefully pick up their slang easily. I am so excited to meet some Australian people and to learn more about their culture and history! More to come about my adventures in Australia.