Prepare yourself, one and all, Gals and Galahads alike, for I, Lily Hislop, will soon be traveling abroad! I feel like “abroad” should be caps-locked and yelled from mountaintops with much distinctive echoing.

 Yes, that is right, in one week I will get on a plane, a plane, and then another plane and fly to New Zealand, a land of adventure, beauty, and apparently very few mammals. I will be participating in a study abroad for “Adventure Tourism”. I suspect the program was invented when a student jokingly asked, “Can I go swim with dolphins for class credit?” and no one found any issue with this. The stuff I’ll be doing all seems really neat. Glacier climbing. Farm tours. Kayaking. I will be learning about how tourism effects cultural and environmental sustainability, and about the Maori culture, and deer farming, and I am so excited to see a deer farm!

                                               

But before I leave I’ve been taking classes to prepare. The classes are informative, though very early on a Saturday morning. I’m supposed to write a paper and make a presentation about the fauna of Christchurch and Kaikoura, two New Zealand Towns. I was told to make it exciting. However, I feel like it would be inappropriate to write my powerpoint in all caps with dozens of exclamation points, which is what I would really like to do.  "Look at that frackin' albatross! It has a wing span of 10 ft! That's absurd!!! Albatrosses are amazing!" I just hope I finish my presentation is a mildly formal and appropriate manner. 

So I'll leave in a week, I just hope I survive final exams first. Wish me luck. 

 

So, here where I sign off. Have a good day everyone.

-Lily

P.s. My posts will be posted over at AUIP, through which I am taking this trip. Check out all the blogs here.