Pre-Departure Jitters

12 shirts, 4 pairs of jeans, 4 sweatshirts, 18 pairs of socks, etc.. These are the contents of my two suitcases that will serve me well over the next five months in Sweden. Tomorrow I leave Madison, Wisconsin, hop on a tiny plane to Chicago, get on a big Boeing 767 to Dusseldorf, Germany, and then hop on one last plane to end up in Copenhagen, Denmark. I will then spend the day sightseeing in Copenhagen. The following day I will get on a train and go across one of the largest bridges in the world on my journey up to Jönköping, Sweden, where I will spend my semester.

As I finish packing for my first adventure abroad, I feel both excited and sad. Excited for the incredible opportunities that await. The new culture, new food, new people, new language, new everything. With anything that is new, there are always downfalls. I am sad as I have to say "see you later" to all of my friends and family, say "see you later" to the University that I love, and say "see you later" to the place that I call home. I say "see you later" because this isn't goodbye, I will return and be back to my "normal" life. (If there is anything normal about my life.) I can already tell that this adventure is going to teach me a lot and I can already see that it has brought me closer with my family even though I haven't left yet.

I have a small bucket list for the first leg of my adventure:
-Drink a beer in Germany
-See the Mermaid in Copenhagen
-Get my first passport stamp

So here's to the pre-departure jitters! See everyone in the Summer!

-Brian