course approvals

good news --
yesterday i finallyyyy received my course approvals. i had submitted my forms in early october and they were just in my mailbox yesterday. i am very lucky, in that the course i am already registered for was approved. i'm sure it would have been a mess if i'd had to change classes. so, i will be able to take 'nutrition around the world' and complete my unh general education requirements. this means that all my classes senior year will be major/minor related, yay!

i have a LOT of work to do, as far as my trips go. i get so caught up in the details! i wish i could do everything. my big booklet should be here today, so i can really dive in and decide what i'm doing.

friday is the mandatory unh abroad 'orientation' for students who are going to non-english speaking countries. should be interesting. 3 hours of lectures, most likely.

all of the little things i signed up for this semester are piling up quickly, so i should head out and tackle things now, while i have a few hours.

61 days, 7 hours. oh my.

FDP's, IFP's, Indy's, etc.

fdp's -- faculty directed practicas. field trips designed and organized by professors according to their interests and the goals of their classes. we are required to take approximately 2-3 FDP's per class, and to journal about them.

ifp's -- international field programs. these are the trips organized by SAS from beginning to end. there are day trips, tours, and long excursions as well. these can range from $20-1600, and include meals, airfare, admissions, 5-star hotels, etc. i will be doing a few of these, but my budget is not made for those high-end trips.

indy's -- these are independant trips planned by students, for students. there are several indys in the works on the facebook group, including a roundtrip to the taj majal and a sleepover on the great wall of china. i will be traveling independantly, so i look forward to meeting all these people who i have been exchanging messages with online.


all of the fieldtrips for this spring have been posted.
that means, i have a lot of decisions to make.

i'm hesitant to start deciding what to do because the idea of endless opportunities is much more exciting.

i am starting to put together rough ideas of what i would like to do in each country so that i can begin deciding which SAS trips to do, versus independant group trips, etc.

i know already that i will be heading to rome when we dock in italy to meet up with my wonderful friend amanda who is going to be studying in florence next semester. when i start to think about the two of us in rome, i get so excited! i can't wait. and i know that a familiar face from home will be exactly what i need after my first few weeks on the ship.

i'm off to google, about.com, and research things to do!
then classes, i suppose. :)

---63 days to go---