Before Germany Post

So I'm posting this on January 7th which I'm sure you can see, and in 4 days I will be on a plane headed to an unknown land.  When the fall semester was still happening the trip seemed kind of imaginary, like yeah sure we were going to the meetings and being assigned our host families and what not, but it never felt super real.  Then about a week ago I hit an oh s*** moment and realized that I would be leaving the country for the first time ever for 5 months.  I thought to myself "I can't do this" and  "James what have you gotten yourself into now?".  But now as the day draws nearer I can't help but become beyond excited when I think about what lies ahead.  Amazing food, culture, drinks, friends, memories, music, experiences and so much more.  Right after the semester ended and family members started calling and asked how the semester went and seeing family members during the break, the study abroad became a hot topic.  Everyone would ask me the same questions from "Where will you be in Germany?" to "How long will you be there?".  Towards the begging of January I had an entire elevator spiel ready to answer all of the questions I'm sure they would have.  However, one of my uncles that studied abroad in Spain when he was in college asked me what I would miss the most, and this question really got me thinking.  So me being me I quickly replied, "Whataburger!!!".  However, this was not my actual answer.  I began thinking about what my "real" answer was.  At first I thought about things at A&M, would I miss the sporting events?  The late nights with some of my best friends in BMEN coding?  The bipolar weather of Texas?  Sure I would miss all of these and of course Whataburger, but then I broadened my scope.  I thought about the birthdays, having the ability to go see my parents when I wanted, being able to drive wherever I wanted whenever I wanted, and so many more things.  I started to think only about the negatives and lost sight of the positives.  I almost got to the point where I didn't want to go anymore.  Then a few days later the same uncle called me back and asked how I was doing and whatnot, then he asked me about my study abroad again and asked what I was most excited about.  I started thinking and didn't answer as fast.  I eventually said that I was most excited for traveling around Europe and becoming extremely close with the people I was going with.  I couldn't wait to experience the world and do it with some of the best people on the planet.  Of course as I said earlier I'm super excited about the food and culture and people and everything else, but the relationships that are formed on an adventure like this are ones that can't be imported or bought.  I apologize for this being all over the place I wrote it at like 3 in the morning not being able to sleep! Lol