ok i decided to keep this journal because i’m going to be moving to the other side of the planet and i want to document this experience so i can better understand myself and mainly so i can share my experiences with the people in my life, many of whom I will be leaving in the United States to go study in New Zealand for at least three years. I feel kind of sad saying that but I know it’s the best thing for me. anyway, i haven’t ever done the whole journal thing before so i though i would give it a shot; it’s just one more thing im changing in my life. first a few ground rules: i’m not going to concern myself with grammar, sentence structure, organised thoughts, or any crap like that. i’ll try to keep the subject matter and wording appropiate for all audiences - just in case my little cousins ever read this - but i apologise if i slip up sometimes. i’ll try to write an entry about once a week. i would do once a day but i know i’ll never keep up with that. i was accepted to the University of Auckland (which is the biggest university in the biggest city in New Zealand [which is off the south east coast of Australia for the geographically challenged]) on 5 september 2003 (which is how dates are written for the international standards challenged.) i applied to the university in the spring of this year and realising that i can actually succeed in college and realising that my life in cincinnati is way to comfortable and that i wasn’t really getting everything i couldve gotten out of the college/youth experience. and since im a person of extremes, i decide to go from living with my parents and going to school at my hometown college to living 16 time zones away in a totally foreign environment. my friend sean commented that that idea was a little extreme when i first braoched him with this plan, and he suggested that i should live in a dorm at UC before leaving, but i said %#$@ that idea and let’s just go with it and see what happens. so that’s how things are going to be. not just about the living arrangements, but this whole endeavor is like one huge risk. it will be a really good thing or a really bad thing. im almost positive it will be the former, but if for some reason things to explode in my face i know i’ll learn a lot about myself and what i want to do in life. so today im just starting to really get my act together about what i need to do before leaving. ive pretty much gutted my room by getting rid of a bunch of crap and taking down all of the creepy hooks from my ceiling. i wanted to focus on this first so i’ll have a constant visual reminder that a big change is coming and that i cant afford to be lazy. my immediate goal is to get a second job in addition to the one i have now calling UC alumni (which i really like because its helping my with my sales skills and helping me deal with stuttering.) i know i need this other job mainly because i do need the money, but also because i cant really discuss any of the important issues with my parents that need to be discussed until i have one. this is because ive been lazy about getting jobs in the past and they’ve kind of been on my back about it (rightfully so.) I don’t want to talk to them and have the issue of not being fully employed cloud the discussion. i’m hoping to get a job at kinko’s because i think it would be a cool place to work and ive applied many times in the past unsuccessfully and i want to prove to myself that im able to work there. i know i am but i need to get them to agree;) so once i get my job and start making some dough i’ll feel really good about my life and where im going. i’m also kind of sort of dating someone too right now that i i have a cool feeling about and thats a definite good thing. i’m trying not to get too excited about that though because if there’s one thing ive learned is that life and people are unpredictable so im waiting until its actually something before calling it something. i have so many thoughts in my head that i’d like to share but this would be about 10 times longer. i should hold back a little and save myself for later when i can babble some more. i really hope i keep this journal thing up.