My Mind is Ready But my Suitcase is Not

In exactly fourteen hours and twenty-seven minutes, I will be getting on a plane in Dallas, Texas and getting off in Frankfort, Germany! And I still haven't managed to cram four months of my life into a suitcase! Oh well, I can sleep on the plane.

I've been experiencing a lot of thoughts and emotions over the past couple of weeks, and right now they're all kind of going at the same time: nervousness about meeting my host family (they never responded to my email...I'm hoping that's not a terrible sign?); fear of not being able to function well in a completely new culture (I'm mostly afraid of the public transportation and getting lost); apprehension about leaving my friends and family and favorite foods for so long (I said goodbye to some friends today, and I also had the last good old fashioned American hamburger I'll have in a while); and of course, excitement for all the new experiences I'm going to have (Castles! Snow! An actual biomedical device company! Good bread! Paris! Having spring break in Europe!) It's all kind of overwhelming, but I know everyone else is probably going through the same thing, and even if some things aren't exactly what I was expecting, I know it will be worth it.

To help keep my thoughts organized and so that I don't feel like I'm just winging this whole thing, I'm setting some goals for myself. Some of them are specific and some are super vague, but I hope I'm able to look back in May and feel that I accomplished them.

Goal 1: Don't forget the studying part of study abroad. It's going to be a challenge to balance 15 hours with traveling and everything else that's going on, but grades are important.
Goal 2: Be able to hold a (probably really short) conversation in German.
Goal 3: Eat a warm loaf of bread from a bakery at like 5 AM. Or any pastry, really.
Goal 4: Gain some kind of professional experience that will benefit my future career (hopefully this becomes more specific later).
Goal 5: Step foot in at least five different European countries.
Goal 6: Stop procrastinating so much. And finish packing.

I'll probably add more as the semester goes along, but this is a starting point. I'm super excited to begin this journey, and as it is almost one in the morning, I will end here and go back to packing!