Well, the countdown begins.  In twenty days, I will be in Frankfurt, Germany for a three day long orientation, the beginning of a new page in my life. Yikes. I'm simultaneously excited annd terrified. Leaving home this time is definetely going to be a different experience.

After spending three days in Frankfurt, I will be going to Regensburg for my intensive language program. Thank goodness--those seven years of German paid off, so I will be in the advanced program with 18 other Fellows. I look forward to meeting them and getting to know them!

When I am done with the language program, it will be time for me to stay with my host grandparents for a month. I hope they will be great, and that we don't shock each other. But if they are up to it, then so am I!

Before leaving, I am trying to clean my room, which looks like a fruitless task, since I keep stopping to do other things like read my email or I will unearth some old, forgotten magazine, which I reread so I can figure out why it was so important for me to keep. I'm also working a lot, and have a ton of little things to take care of...making appointments, etc. and seeing friends--that is really important. I also need to work on my scrapbook: I'm thinking it might be a good idea to take it with me. I wonder if I can make it down to Wooster once before I go to Germany, so I can buy overpriced, tiny  Wooster mementos to give to my host family and other people who help me out while I am abroad.

I'm also waiting to hear from some of my professors. They better keep in touch with me, particularly the German professors...