And So It Begins...

Hey! Hi! Hello!

I figured I’d introduce my self first since most of you have probably never met me. My name is Libby Deasy and I am from a little town called Bronxville, right outside New York City. I am currently a junior communications major at Furman University in South Carolina. As much as I love South Carolina, I cannot wait to move back up North and continue my journey in the big NYC. Aside from blogging, I have an extreme passion for traveling, adventures, animals, and food. So far I’ve been to 14 countries and can’t wait to visit more. I’ll be spending 5 months in Sydney, Australia so get ready for some exciting new posts!

As I get closer and closer to the arrival date, my to do list keeps getting longer and longer. I have a friend that just got back from studying abroad in Sydney, Australia who has helped me immensely so hopefully this blog will help all you future study abroaders!
 

Before I head to Sydney, I will be traveling all around Vietnam and Cambodia for 2 weeks with my mom. Because of this, I had to start packing and figuring all of the small details out before other students do. Since I’ll be taking small sea planes all around Vietnam, I wasn’t able to bring all of my suitcases with me. I found a website called freeluggage.com that will actually pick up my suitcase from Bronxville, NY and deliver it right to my apartment in Sydney (if any of you encounter this problem.)

Another thing that I would recommend to start working on early is your class schedule. Since my home university isn't affiliated with IES Abroad, I had to submit a leave of absence and figure the rest out through IES Abroad. My home university takes about 2-3 weeks to process transfer credit requests so I would definitely recommend submitting those early. The UNSW handbook is also different from Furman’s so it took me a few days to figure out how to pick and submit classes. Sometimes this can be pretty confusing but IES Abroad has been extremely helpful through it all.

As for other preparations, I didn’t think about getting a phone plan or bank account until last minute. Right now, I am bringing an old iPhone with me and getting an Australian sim card and phone plan once I’m over there. As for a bank account, I’m also going to set one up right when I get over there so I don’t have to worry about finding an American bank. Since I’m not there yet, I’ll get back to you on the best options for both of those! Hope this helps!

Cheers!

Libby