So here I am, sitting on a plane from Minneapolis to the Keflavik airport in Reykjavik, Iceland. It’s 10:26 PM Minnesota time, and according to the map on the screen in front of me, I’m hovering somewhere just off the coast of Canada. There’s a nice Icelandic woman seated next to my mom and me, and her two daughters who are seated in front of us keep peeking over the seats to join in our conversation. In addition to this, I’ve already watched the No Strings Attached, along with an episode of Glee and Modern Family (great show!). Although I should be sleeping since the final leg of our flights to Frankfurt lands around noon in Germany, I’m enjoying myself. We’re in the emergency exit row (i.e. we have lots of leg room), flight attendants keep spitting out words over the intercom in islenska (which sounds very much like gibberish…it’s very amusing!), and the nice man at the opposite side of our aisle has left his window open for the majority of the flight, so we’ve been able to see an incredible sunset. Think orange, red, and blue. It’s gorgeous. And believe it or not, I haven’t taken a picture! I did, however, take a photo of my luggage before we left home this morning:
Yep, that’s everything I’m bringing for four months abroad. I managed to fit all my clothes and shoes into my suitcase without overflowing into my carry-on, so my backpack only has my laptop and books for school (wait, I have class over here!?). I honestly pack this much (if not more) when I go on vacation for a week, so I’m pretty proud of myself at the moment. Especially since it came in weighing less than 50 pounds (thanks for loaning us the fish scale, Todd). Here’s the funny thing, though. Iceland Air weighs your luggage and your carry-on’s, so my mom and I had a great time unpacking and rearranging our carry-on’s at the ticketing counter (for those of you planning to fly Iceland Air in the future, you cannot exceed 6 kilos, so if at all possible, avoid bringing textbooks and laptops to steer away from your own over-weight debacle!).
For posterity’s sake, I think I should include a recap of today:
1:30 AM: Quit packing for the night to get some sleep
7:00 AM: Mom wakes me up
7:45 AM: Finally get out of bed (oops…)
8:00 AM: Packing, packing, packing…
8:30 AM: Todd makes a good-bye breakfast
8:45 AM: Packing, packing, packing…
10:30 AM: The time we planned on leaving. What actually happened? Packing, packing, packing…
11:30 AM: Get ready for the big day!
12:00 PM: So long, Hayward!
3:00 PM: Pit stop at Rosedale, meet Jared, and head to my Aunt and Uncle’s to drop off the car
5:00 PM: Jared drives us to the airport (what a sweetie!), carry-on debacle, security
5:45 PM: Fill out a scholarship form
6:20 PM: Run back outside the terminal to drop of said form, sprint back through security
6:40 PM: Board the plane!
7:20 PM: Takeoff! Movies, TV, and blogging
11:26 PM: Typing this post on the Boeing 757, and its getting lengthier than I planned.
I can’t believe I’m actually on the plane to start off this adventure. It doesn’t seem possible that it was already six months ago that I was accepted to this program, and it really doesn’t seem possible that in 6 hours I’ll be in Europe!!! I’m so excited to begin the 11-day mom/daughter vacation through Germany, Austria, and Italy, along with the semester in Rome and Athens! I couldn’t be more grateful to everyone that made this trip possible for me!! It is truly the opportunity of a lifetime, and I feel so incredibly lucky for the adventure that lies before me.
Now, this goes to you, Europe: bring on your twists and your turns, your ups and your downs. Everything you have to offer is a learning experience that I cannot wait to take in! I’m ecstatic to find out what you have in store for me, and you better believe I’m going to explore everything I possibly can. See you in a few hours! Ciao!
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