Little Reminders

The pages of my planner have quickly filled up with trip related details. Haircut tonight. DSW tomorrow. You know, priorities. 

In the meantime, every thing I do makes me think about my travels and the excitement is escalating every minute. 

For example, today at work, I answered the phone to a lovely British accent. "Jay" from Neal's Yard Dairy (where we import our fancy Shropshire Blue Cheese) was on the other end. Why hello Jay, I would love nothing more than to talk to you all afternoon about cheese and other epicurean delights. But alas! the conversation ended too quickly. But then! I realized that I can talk to so many men with so many accents about so much food IN BELGIUM IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!

Also at work today, I watched students in backpacks walk to and fro on Market Street. I had forgotten how much I love school and classes in all the hubbabaloo about the whole Europe thing. Realizing that I get to take a whole new set of classes, and casually stroll through the streets of Leuven to class brings a whole new level of ready to the trip. 

In addition the daydreaming about accents, classes, and of course what I'm going to be wearing as I meander between classes and to the internship, I've started actual preparations! Today I spied a great Ryanair deal that I can't wait to take advantage of. Dublin, anyone? 

P.S. The Wood Brothers 

Sleep at a time like this?!

When I wake up two weeks from today, it will be on a plane. I say that with the sincerest hope that I can actually sleep on the plane. I actually have already accepted that that will be a sleepless night. Last night was also a pretty sleepless night, filled with the prospects of an exciting semester ahead of me. 

One of my recent habits, while not sleeping, is mentally packing my bags. So far this has only been a mental activity due to the ridiculous amounts of stress it induces. 

On Saturday night, one of my closest friends from high school, Evi, left for India. I spent Friday night sitting on her bed watching her pack and laughing at the difference between what we were bringing. For example a four month supply of malaria pills. I'm pretty sure the only thing I could compare that to would be bringing four months worth of mascara (which of course is something she didn't even pack). While she was shopping for essentials like sunscreen and tissues, I'll be shopping for gold metallic oxfords (those are totally essential for Fall in Belgique, right?) It's really cool to think about the different experiences we're going to be having over the semester. One of my most fun travel experiences was with Evi. We went to Chicago after Senior year of high school (the day after senior week...) and had a BLAST. We had so much fun exploring the city on our own time. I kind of picture the semester being a lot like that week.

Well the to-do list is growing and the countdown is shrinking. Wish me luck! 

You Might Be Going Abroad If....

• You cry at FaceTime commercials 
• You just tried to convince the PNC lady on the phone to waive all foreign ATM fees 
• You judge clothing by how many different climates you can wear it in
• You twitch a little bit every time someone says "packing" 
• You're studying a guide book like your life depends on it 
• You checked to see if Luke Bryan was going to be doing a European tour 
• Is it considered un-American to go to a country concert outside of the United States? 
• You don't want to start reading your next book so you have something to do on the plane
• You hate everyone who's at school already

The Heartbreaker

Goodbyes

I have a pretty solid crew accompanying me abroad, but I'm also leaving behind a solid crew, and as I sit here in Wilmington watching everyone else head off to school, it's hard not to notice that. It's pretty strange not heading back to ye olde CUA this fall. The abroad experience still seems so surreal that it's hard to be more excited for that than bummed about the very real experience of watching friend after friend go to school. 

 It's made particularly difficult when your best friend of 3 million years who you've never gone to school without leaves for your first semester spent apart since the ripe age of 5. We had a "tentative" goodbye last night, and I'm still recovering. I still haven't figured out how that one's going to work. However, I might get really emotional and end up crying at work when I see an adorable couple split their sandwiches to give each other half... Yeah, that happened today. If that's any indication of how the semester is going to go, wish me luck. 

In any case, tears on the plane seem pretty inevitable...

I'll be missing you guys!

Meet the Cast

Thankfully, I will not be doing this whole "live in another country for a few months" thing solo. Accompanying me on this epic excursion are a few dear friends, fellow Junior Politics Girls: Sarah, Christina, and Kaitlynn. 

I'm expecting a little bit of this...

And a whole lot of this.

With this Blog...

With the creation of this Blog, I hereby accept the fact that I will be Studying Abroad in Leuven, Belgium this Fall. 

excursion: n. a journey taken for pleasure