The Dreaded 24-Hour Countdown

It's finally here. I started my application for study abroad back in February, when this day seemed to be a dream in the distant future. April was the acceptance letter, May and June were weighed down with the stress of getting a visa, and July and August were a whirlwind of 40-hour work weeks to have some travelling money. My job ended last week, and reality hit me like a ton of bricks. I was leaving for EUROPE in ONE WEEK. After a haircut, pedicure, endless hours of packing, a final dinner out with the family, and the dreaded goodbyes to family and friends, the last 24 hours before my departure is here. And so, in my nervous excitement, I am putting up my first post. I have decided that this final 24 hours is the worst possible kind of torture - I've repacked my bags three different times and I keep wandering around the house reorganizing things and checking my endless lists. I've been anticipating this trip for so long that I don't think the enormous reality that I am living in Europe for almost 4 months has sunk in yet. Honestly, I'm anticipating having a delayed anxiety attack somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.
Fortunately, I'm flying in a day before my program starts to give myself a little time to relax and adjust to the time difference. My flight from Seattle leaves at 7:30 am on September 1, includes a short 2-hourish layover in Dulles, and I land in Brussels exactly 24 hours later at 7:30 am on September 2 (assuming everything sticks to the schedule). Since I have to stay awake until a respectable evening hour after I get there to combat the jetlag, I expect I will have to start walking far away from the bed in the hotel room...I'm thinking a pastry and espresso from a local cafe might be in order. Hopefully, the hotel will have a wireless connection and I can update from there. If not, you all will just have to wait until I get to my host family's house after a few days! Unfortunately, I can't guarantee consistent posting due to the extensive travelling that I plan on doing and my own general forgetfulness. However, the purpose of this blog was to minimize the amount of places that I would have to remember to update while reaching the maximum amount of people. With that said, this will be my main form of regular and consistent communication, but I will still be checking my email and Facebook if you prefer to use either of those instead. I don't really have a phone over here, but if any of you have Skype (an online phone/video service), I can certainly use that! Well, I think this was a sufficient introduction and positive way for me to burn nervous energy, so I will wrap it up. The next few posts will include more explanations, but please comment if you have questions, suggestions, etc. I'd love to hear them! And now, I will leave you with a few pictures of Belgium...until next time, salut!

The Belgian National Palace

Grand Place, Brussels