In about 1 week's time, I will be heading towards Orlando to get ready for my flight that departs at 2:30pm on Tuesday. It's hard to describe with words what's going through my head right now. On one side of the spectrum, I am ecstatic about leaving and heading to a new country to meet new people, and perform very interesting research. The excitement is hard to contain sometimes. On the other side of the spectrum, there is that unknown I'm always thinking about. An unknown about what things will be different, or if I will have any troubles, and other similar worries.
I still have yet to pack anything for the trip, or go exchange dollars into Euro's so I have some cash before my stipend gets paid out, but I have some time now and will probably start getting everything together around Wednesday or Thursday. Something that will make packing interesting is a 15 pound bowling ball that I will have to bring to Germany with me. I know it sounds foolish that I'm wasting 15 lbs of luggage to bring a bowling ball with me, but I really need to bring it and try to get a little bowling practice in during my free weekends. You would be surprised how much muscle memory you can lose in 2 months without bowling. To all my friends who have seen my right thumb compared to my left, you have seen how it's much larger. If I don't bowl over the summer, my right thumb will start looking like my left thumb and none of my bowling balls will fit which means big trouble when I get back to the States and start preparing for bowling team qualifiers. Besides, Coach said I can leave my bowling ball over there to have more room for souvenirs! Having 15 less pounds of luggage to bring shouldn't be too much of a struggle to pack as I don't need much, and if I need to I can buy some clothes over in Germany.
I have all my pre-departure paper work completed and am all set to go besides the packing. In other things, maybe I should make a packing list so I don't forget important things like my passport!
Until next update,
Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer!!
-Wright
