So the obsessive googling of my last entry was, as I knew in my Logic Brain, entirely unnecessary. Logic Brain is pretty used to being ignored, so it’s all right. I’ll travel without a phone and be just fine.
Less than 24 hours til I’m leavin’ on a jet plane and 1. my clothes and toiletries are all packed, 2. my documents are printed, organized, and paperclipped (!) neatly (!!) in a folder (!!!), and 3. all that’s left is cleanup and packing the Machines (iPod, laptop, and Kindle) which I will do when they are all charged and ready. [Note: the !!!!s were the insertions of Logic Brain, so surprised is she at being listened to. There there, little buddy.]
The past few days have been a little less than enthusiastic about the trip, I confess. When I came home to Connecticut to spend the summer I focused on appreciating the time I had here with family and as it turns out I did an excellent job of that. After the departure date was shifted for the fourth time I realized that leaving was going to be a lot harder than I’d planned.
So I made a list detailing why I was/am/shall be excited for this trip:
- The Other Side of the World is magic and I get to go to there! It’s a splendid thing.
- International perspective. I get to be in a whole, brand new place and that is an excellent opportunity to learn a lot of new things, not just about the new culture, but about myself. What the rest of the world, apart from my American bubble, is really like.
- MON-AY. Praise God for a salary.
- Experience. If I am ever going to work with non-profits I had better get some experience cross-culturally and in the classroom.
- I have a rule (guideline?) that if I am scared of taking a step in life I have to take it. This so far has applied to grad school, missions trips, and this job. I don’t know what to expect and I’ll probably have multiple panic attacks but it will all work out, it will be okay, and I am trusting Jesus that good things will come out of it.
- Korean food! I love weird food.
- Have you ever been here when Summer changes to Fall? I haven’t gotten to see this in six years and I am swamped with reminders of how incredible it is.
- 16-month-old nephew who needs to see me daily so he can remember that I am his favorite aunt.
- The older I get and the more time I spend away from them the more I realize what an abnormally wonderful family I have.
But the Excitement (having been on an ebb the past three-ish days) is coming back in, and tomorrow I’ll take off for a new adventure in a new place. I might be able to post from the plane (I’ll be in the air for a total of 17 hours) and, hopefully, set up a little bit of what future posts will cover. So that this doesn’t turn into one of those travel blogs (in the words of my friend/fellow adventurer Leslie): the ones that “post 25 pages about how they’re not in their ‘comfort zone’ that no one wants to read.”
Deep breaths, people. Here we go.