Tomorrow....

So I leave tomorrow--I figure now's as good a time as any to start this whole writing about stuff thing. :)

I'm all packed (whew-an adventure in itself!), and now am just working on getting lots of documents into the correct carry-on so they're ready when and where I need them. Passport, Pounds Sterling, immigration letters, copies of important cards, etc......and I still don't know which bag to put under the seat and which to put on top. :)

Other than that, my two suitcases (one massive and one small) are ready to be checked and sent through the system with a wish and a prayer that they'll actually show up on the other side. Last time I flew overseas the airline was very courteous (and generous!) about missing/damaged luggage....but I'd rather just not deal with that at all, eh? Just in case, I've got normal and work clothes spread between the two checked bags and my carry-on, so no matter what I'll still have a couple of outfits. Personal revelation No. 1: I'm a compulsive planner, especially about those "What if?" scenarios. :)


As far as this blog and what you can expect:

• At the very least, a diary of daily happenings. No telling how interesting this will be, but I'll work on it. Comments are always appreciated. :)
• Hopefully, several subsequent personal revelations (as per the above) to help you and I both learn a bit more about the girl who's actually embarking on this live/study/work abroad adventure. This may or may not take the place of my personal journal for awhile, so it should be intriguing in at least some respects. :) Personal revelation No. 2: I insert too many smiley faces into all my e-text. Sorry--my bad for attempting to convey the emotion of the moment (which this ":)" usually does!)
• Not much, um, "academic" writing. I do plenty of that anyway, and as long as this is fun for you to read (perhaps?) it'll be fun for me to write. Also, eliminating substantial "editing" means you get more substantial material than I would normally write after thinking about it too much. :)
• Sarcasm. If you know me, read these entries as I would say them and it'll make more sense. This blog is a story--my story--and as such clever(-ish) remarks are part of the package. Thanks.
• Quotes. Often, I find that other people say things much more eloquently than my words can express, so I'll include those in here. I think this will be especially useful since people will be speaking a "different" language and I'll probably find their remarks entertaining. For example, I still remember a McDonald's trash can sign from the last time I was in London telling customers to

  "Please put your rubbish in a bin."

  How polite.

To end, I'll invoke the last bullet point and quote a line from one of my favorite books that pretty much sums up how I feel right now, leaving tomorrow to finally start something that's been just a dream and a plan for so long. It's real now, and honestly a little scary. But words are my sanctuary when things get scary; their tangibility on the page is comforting and I don't really know why...in any case, my Bible + my journal is where I go to work things out. Independent of those essentials, this is one of the most comforting quotes I know and I find it especially relevant right now, when the adventure isn't always rational and my overly-rational analysis of it would only yeild irrational fear. Here it is, emphasis my own:

"...It wasn't rational to think of driving cattle over eighty waterless miles, but he had learned in his years of tracking Indians that things which seemed impossible often weren't. They only became so if one thought about them too much so that fear took over. The thing to do was go."
~ Captain W.F. Call, Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry)

Happy reading. JW, signing off from the USA.