Introduction

August 2000
September 2000
October 2000
November 2000
December 2000
January 2001
February 2001
March 2001
April 2001
May 2001
June 2001
July 2001
August 2001

August 2000

16 August 2000

28 August 2000

16 August 2000
Wednesday

There are a mere thirteen days (minus a few hours) until I depart for the Vaterland [1]. Thanks to my year in France, I have some idea of what to expect, from myself if not from my new home. I'm not sure whether or not the culture shock will be as bad; of course the culture will be an adjustment [2], but maybe having gone through it before will help me to react better.

One surety is that I will have (relatively) little trouble with the language. My German, though out of practice, is now much better than my French was before I went there, and I became fluent by November. Classes don't start at the University until the end of October, so by that time I'll be on the ball.

Until yesterday this whole trip didn't seem real; I was in summer-mode, when nothing but summer-job and summer-place exists. I've been in Dallas for over three months, which is long enough to forget almost anything. I didn't exactly forget about Germany, but it felt more theoretical than actual.

Yesterday I went by Council Travel to get an International Student ID Card. My mom went with me, and while I was dealing with paperwork she looked at the luggage on display near her chair. I ended up buying a really spiffy suitcase, which then got me thinking about packing and drove it home to me that yes, time is passing, and yes, I actually am leaving for Germany in less than two weeks!

There's so much planning to do, packing, shopping, organizing, spazzing...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

28 August 2000
Monday

The countdown is at hours rather than days. This time tomorrow afternoon, I will be frantically preparing to leave. Of course, I'm already prepared enough that I could fly out tonight if I had to, but I'll be frantic anyway. It's one of those things that one does. Chalk it up to narrativium. [3] I think packing follows the same sort of rules, because no matter how carefully I plan, I always end up packing several essentials I need to use before departure. It's also really hard to pack just the right amount of stuff, neither too much nor too little. First I try to pare down the amount I pack, and there's a lot of space left so I put in more, then there's not enough space so I take some stuff out, and it oscillates back over the line. I'm currently on "too little stuff" but I think I'll leave it there. Less stuff to carry. But no matter how much I take, I know I've forgotten something Important, because I always do. I hope it's something relatively benign, like perhaps my brain. It won't be much use to me for a while anyway.

Among other miscellaneous preparations, I have been changing my website every few days for the past few weeks. [5] It started at the beginning of August as a plain text page without even a background image and gradually worked its way into its present incarnation. My friends helped me so much that I feel I should have a page of acknowledgements! Kevin, Leanne, Thorin, Sockii, Jonathan, you know who you are, and I thank you for making your eyes sore so that others don't have to. :-)

Today I took care of last-minute errands. Mom and I went shopping and bought dyeable shoes for my brother's wedding next June, in which I will be a "groomsmaid." I thought dyeable shoes would be easy enough to find, and at one point I actually thought I had the problem solved, but no... Anyway, it's done now, yay!

Tomorrow morning I shall wake up bright and early, write last-minute emails, pack up my computer, and go horseback riding for the last time! I'm probably crazy to do this, but it'll be fun, and the physical exertion will also help me sleep on the plane. When I get to Hamburg late the next morning, I'll be met at the airport by people from the program, given my room key, and directed to my dorm. The first event will be a dinner on the 31st at the director's apartment, and the orientation will officially start Friday, the first of September.

I will try to write a journal entry on Wednesday or Thursday, soon after my arrival, because those will be my first impressions of Hamburg. I warn you, however, that whatever I write will probably not be very coherent or intelligent. Fatigue and disorientation do that to me.

See you in Germany! *wave*

September 2000

[1] Not my Vaterland, but the Vaterland nonetheless.
[2] All the harder to make since it's impossible to anticipate what will cause the shock. It's always the little things, like the number of holes in notebook paper or the placement of silverware.
[3] Read The Science of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, and Jack Cohen if you don't know what I'm talking about. [4]
[4] Yes, another evil plot. I'm full of them.
[5] I've been writing HTML so much that I've started automatically inserting tags and  's in my typing, even when I'm doing something like email. Scary!

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