3 more days...
I'm almost out of here! I can't believe it's so close now. I've done most of my preparations, bought the things I need, played my last hockey game for 5 months (I even scored a goal with 2 seconds left) and said good-bye to my friends. SP gave me a fabulous Bon Voyage party last night at a restaurant near our house. It was wonderful to see everyone and to hear how excited they are for me. It really helped turn my nervousness into excitement, and some of the dread/fear has been replaced with a good/calm anticipation of an exciting 5 months. Thank goodness for that because I have been a wreck over the last week.
I am not a great flyer. I know planes are safer than cars but I still get so nervous flying in the sky. I am flying on British Airways this time (thanks to my wonderful and generous father, who took care of my flight for me). I have heard nothing but good things about BA, and I know we're going to have a self-assured, calm, relaxed, competent British pilot (complete with accent) named Roger who got all his A-levels, graduated from Oxford, and flew missions in the Faukland Islands for the RAF. Turbulence, terrorists, engine failure ... nothing will phase him. God, I hope so anyway. And of course all of the mechanics will have graduated first in their class from mechanics' school as well.
Things are shaping up well for my arrival too. I have a place to stay when I get there. I will have a mountain of luggage -- even though I haven't started packing yet I already know this. 5 months is just long enough to be away that the weather will turn from freezing to hot while I'm there (see here for the current weather in Augsburg), which means I'll need various clothes and shoes. Plus I am going to STUDY so I have my big German dictionary and various other books. It will not be fun to take all that stuff on the train but it's not like I haven't done it before.
Speaking of before, I have lived in Germany one other time in my life. I was there as a Fulbright teaching assistant in 1995, and I lived in Stadthagen, which is near Hannover. A lot of people are impressed when they hear that I had a Fulbright scholarship (SP likes to tell people about it -- I don't really bring it up on my own too often). I guess they are somewhat prestiguous, but I care less about the status of it than the actually opportunity it provided.
All in all it was a pretty good time -- I spoke a lot of German, taught kids some English, and drank a lot of beer and messed with the Germans who hung out at the Hannen-Fass bar in Hannover.
(Speaking of the Hannen-Fass, I just read in the Hannover newspaper online that it closed last year and they're putting in a high-class "Gastronomie" there -- what a bummer because that was a really fun bar.)
So my next German adventure is coming up, and it's time to go. I've had an awful long time to think about it.
I am not a great flyer. I know planes are safer than cars but I still get so nervous flying in the sky. I am flying on British Airways this time (thanks to my wonderful and generous father, who took care of my flight for me). I have heard nothing but good things about BA, and I know we're going to have a self-assured, calm, relaxed, competent British pilot (complete with accent) named Roger who got all his A-levels, graduated from Oxford, and flew missions in the Faukland Islands for the RAF. Turbulence, terrorists, engine failure ... nothing will phase him. God, I hope so anyway. And of course all of the mechanics will have graduated first in their class from mechanics' school as well.
Things are shaping up well for my arrival too. I have a place to stay when I get there. I will have a mountain of luggage -- even though I haven't started packing yet I already know this. 5 months is just long enough to be away that the weather will turn from freezing to hot while I'm there (see here for the current weather in Augsburg), which means I'll need various clothes and shoes. Plus I am going to STUDY so I have my big German dictionary and various other books. It will not be fun to take all that stuff on the train but it's not like I haven't done it before.
Speaking of before, I have lived in Germany one other time in my life. I was there as a Fulbright teaching assistant in 1995, and I lived in Stadthagen, which is near Hannover. A lot of people are impressed when they hear that I had a Fulbright scholarship (SP likes to tell people about it -- I don't really bring it up on my own too often). I guess they are somewhat prestiguous, but I care less about the status of it than the actually opportunity it provided.
All in all it was a pretty good time -- I spoke a lot of German, taught kids some English, and drank a lot of beer and messed with the Germans who hung out at the Hannen-Fass bar in Hannover.
(Speaking of the Hannen-Fass, I just read in the Hannover newspaper online that it closed last year and they're putting in a high-class "Gastronomie" there -- what a bummer because that was a really fun bar.)
So my next German adventure is coming up, and it's time to go. I've had an awful long time to think about it.
posted by Jennifer at 08:09
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