Look Boss! The Plane!

Disclaimer: I didn't have internet access in London, so the next few posts were written on the Mac before they were posted. In case you were wondering how I seemed to be able to post from the plane...
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The day has arrived! Complete insanity. I had no idea what to think - I didn't really feel anything until after dinner, when all of a sudden the anxiety set in. Not nervousness, definitely not, just wanting to get the transition over with and be here already.

Sally gave me a gift before I left - a journal. I'm using it right now! It's awesome, now I'll remember what to blog about. Let's go down the list:

1. Sheldon Kane is insane. After staying awake until 7:30am the previous night (with Dan)completely changing his and Dan's travel itinerary, he made sure to arrive at the airport with about 7 seconds to spare before he would have missed the flight. Dan was already exasperated, finished with dealing with all of this...I can only imagine what the next few weeks will be between them.

2. On the plane, I sat behind TWO (2) crying babies. Why do I always get so lucky????? WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T SIT NEXT TO BABIES ON AIRPLANES????

3. I haven't cut my hair since September (besides a few small trims) and when I wear a hat, I have wings. I'm still determined not to cut it until I get back in May.

4. Before he accidentally spilled red wine all over himself in his sleep (we saw it coming), Sheldon struck up a conversation with the girl sitting next to him who, it turns out, is an ADPi at USC studying abroad in London this semester. Her name is Andrea and she is very nice.

And that does it for the plane ride. I slept for maybe 90 min, tops, so of course I was a bit groggy. Time to find the hotel!

Ch-ch-changes

before
Originally uploaded by bregman.

So here's me, in January, before I leave...tomorrow...I'll post an "after" picture in May.

Spent the day packing (and recovering from the insanity that was last night). Mom and I managed to fit everything into one rolling duffel bag, which is fantastic. My mother honestly got into a fight with the bag...they had a staring contest. She was determined to fit everything in, even if it didn't like it. dear bag: never mess with Judie.

Saw Scott, Esme, and Taryn one last time this morning (but couldn't eat much at breakfast...). Taryn and I are planning on meeting at some point and heading to Auschwitz, to add another place to our tandem tour of the Jewish world, and possibly also meeting in Dublin for St Pat's Day. It feels like we're making plans to meet at Starbucks: "oh yeah, I'll just meet you in Munich, we'll grab a latte and go to Poland."

The flight tomorrow is at 10:30pm. I'm excited, but not anxious...yet. We'll see how tomorrow goes. I arrive in London at noon Monday, spend the night, and leave for Prague at about 8am Tuesday morning. Seems easy enough. But I have no clue how to get to my hotel in London.

My host family is picking me up in Prague, and what's terrifying is not so much the idea of meeting them (they seem wonderful), but the idea that I have NO CLUE what happens once i get there! I go home, I assume...but then what? Did I miss something in an email from CIEE? Or do I honestly just chill until I'm contacted? And then there's the whole...I speak very little Czech...thing...

Told you I'd get anxious!