There are only three weeks left in my semester at JMU until I leave for Australia for Semester 1 at Flinders Uni in February. Since their semester schedule is different then ours, I will have half of December off for the regular Christmas break and all of January off. With all the time off I’ll be working, visiting JMU, and hopefully taking a few trips to snowshoe.

I finally bought my plane ticket today and got approval for my visa. The plane ticket cost about as much as I made over the summer working three jobs, but I bout a round trip instead of my original plan to buy two one-way tickets, and saved about $16,000. I’ve never traveled by flight alone, so 4 connecting flights and 27 hours of travel time should be interesting.
Applying for my Visa was frustrating at first trying to figure out how to apply online correctly, but I got my approval within 24 hours.

I’ve been subleasing an apartment at JMU for the semester and I’ll have to move out in three weeks. I unknowingly missed the housing deadline for Flinder’s on Halloween, and won’t be able to live on campus like most internationals, but after talking to a few Aussies I met here who go to Flinders, I am actually happy I’ll be living off campus. I’ve been looking for flats for let online and trying to find a good place to live that’s close to the “Uni” and public transport, somewhere close to the beach, furnished, and maybe only $200 cheaper than the nicest apartments here. I’ve found a lot of potential places, but since I won’t need the room until mid February, I’ll still be looking for a while. A tip from a Flinders student, she said to look for a place on South Avenue.

Still a lot to do in preparation, but now that I have the my visa and plane ticket taken care off, I can rest a little easier.