And So It Begins...

As I am now approaching my 10 hour countdown to my departure on my European Adventure, I can’t help but compare all the preparations I have made the past couple days for this trip to the preparations I made about a year ago when I was about to depart for college.  I vividly remember the pile of everything I was taking to Manhattan lying on my living room floor including a giant (by dorm room standards) 12’ by 12’ shag purple rug, a fridge, bedding, and trash-bags full of clothes I was planning on taking.  This year, the scene in the living room is a rather different.  I am no longer worried about how we are going to fit my things into the car for a two hour drive to Manhattan but instead wondering how I managed to fit everything I need for a whole year into a suitcase, duffle bag, and backpack.

I find myself waffling back-and-forth between relief that I have finally gotten this trip off the ground and anxiety about what comes next.  I already feel extremely well taken care of by the University of Wroclaw (as near as I can tell, you pronounce the first W with a V sound and the last W with a F sound so this is pronounced “vrawklauf”) with the email updates they have been sending me and the Polish “buddy” I will be meeting shortly who will pick me up from the airport and show me around the city.

I depart from KCI at 10:30 tomorrow morning for a stop in Chicago, then on to an eight hour flight to Europe with a five hour layover in Frankfurt, followed by a short two hour flight to Wroclaw.  If all goes according to plan (and of course, it will), I will be arriving in Poland at 12:40 PM Polish time (for all of my Central Time Zone friends, Poland is seven hours ahead of you so 12:40 PM is 5:40 AM here).  Updates will come tomorrow about how the flights are going along with more thoughts about this eight-month Euro-trip.  For now, I better hit the hay and get some sleep before my 17 hour marathon itinerary to Europe tomorrow.  I will leave you with a St. Augustine quote that the study abroad office at Kansas State has turned into tagline for its department: ““The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

Goodnight.