I figured I would write a post today, before I leave tomorrow. I need to learn how to blog and use this website, so there might be technical problems on this post (hopefully not!). Also, another warning, there might be spelling errors in my blog posts, but I will try to find all grammar and spelling errors hahaha.
I can’t believe I am leaving tomorrow for Florence, Italy!!! I have been waiting to go on this adventure for about 6 months now and I am so excited! I can’t wait to make memories with friends and people that I meet abroad. I am also going to miss a lot of my friends, family and of course my doggie back home. It is going to be hard at first, but I am ready to be emerged in the Italian culture. I have already been to Spain and Japan in high school and I can’t wait to mark Italy off of my list of places that I have been to. Also, while abroad I want to go to England, Paris, Greece, Spain, Ireland and travel around the whole country of Italy (these are all places I would like to visit, but I might not have time to visit all of them). Also, through SAI (study abroad program) we get to go in excursions throughout Italy, they should be fun!
I am a little nervous to be traveling over to Europe and living there for a couple of months, but I will have the bestest friends coming with me, Brittany and Alexis. We will have each other if there are any problems on this trip. We all go to St. Norbert and have known each other since freshmen year and we have gotten closer this past year. Brittany, Alexis, and I (plus another girl) are going to be rooming together in our very own apartment. We will have a kitchen (which will be nice to make some good Italian food), living room, bedrooms ect. I googled earth our apartment and it looks beautiful and I can’t wait to see it (of course everything I saw through google earth in Florence looks gorgeous).
My flight is leaving tomorrow at 5:10pm out of Chicago and our first stop is Paris. Then from Paris, we go to our final destination…FLORENCE, ITALY!!! I am going to be arriving there on August 31st and Florence is 7 hours ahead of Wisconsin time (so keep that in mind when you are trying to contact me). My biggest fear is that I lose my luggage. I know if my luggage does get lost the plane service will mail it to my apartment, but I want all of my suitcases to get to Italy with me. I also hope I get to sit next to a good person on the flight. Alexis, Brittany and I did not know that we could pick our seats out online through Air France (we bought out tickets through a student discount/study abroad website), so we are all sitting next to random people. Hopefully I sleep through most of the flight because my plan is to fight the jetlag when I arrive in Florence.
Next topic….PACKING! Ohhh boy, I still need to finish packing. I am having a hard time packing shoes. I have 5 pairs of shoes laid out and I cannot come to a conclusion of what pairs to pack. I know I am going to bring my tennis shoes, but do I need my TOMS too? I also want to pack a pair of flats and a pair of sandals. Then I also want to buy shoes in Europe… I also have to keep in mid everything that I want to buy in Europe. I keep telling myself, I can’t over pack, I can’t over pack.
CLASSES
I am taking:
Food, Culture and Society (this sounds fun!)
Mediterranean Diet (I think we cook in this class because I have to pay around 110 bucks)
Symbols and Symbolism in Western Art (I get to go on field trips!! )
Italian Language 1 (hopefully this will help me get around Florence with the language barrier)
Environmental Conservation (ehhh I hope this is interesting, I have to take it for my major)
Last but not least, I want to thank my friends and family for everything. I will miss them a lot and I know they are always there for me! Dad, Mom, Justin, Amanda and Coco, I will miss you guys the most and you guys better have lots of time to skype (Justin and Dad, you will have to show Mom how to skype). If anyone who reads this wants to contact me, you can contact me through skype, facebook, twitter, yahoo email, zimbra, snail mail or call my international cell phone (incoming calls are free for me). Saying goodbye is going to be hard (since my parents are not coming to the airport with me, they are moving my sister into college that same day that I leave), but I know I this is an adventure of a lifetime. Goodbye family, friends, my doggie, aunts, uncles, cousins, peanut butter, SNC, Green Bay Packers, De Pere, New Berlin, Wisconsin (I’m only saying goodbye for 3.5 months, I come home on December 17th). Hello Florence, Italy!
P.S. The next post that I will write, I will be in ITALY!
