Time to Go!

It's Sunday!  And I am leaving for the airport in half an hour!  I spent most of yesterday packing what I thought would be way too much stuff.  All the handbooks and study abroad guides say the same thing: be SURE to pack all the toiletries and prescriptions you will need for the whole time, bring an external hard drive and an ethernet cord, don't forget a swimsuit, be sure to have summer clothes, winter clothes, workout clothes, sleeping clothes, casual clothes, fancy clothes, professional clothes, lots of shoes (since they will be too small in asia), and emergency supplies for the worst case of all scenarios, but most importantly: PACK LIGHTLY.  Make of this what you will.  I am by nature an overpacker but I did try to be as abstemious as possible. For example, when they said to bring a swimsuit, I am actually only bringing one swimsuit!  This is a first.  And after reviewing the Taipei weather report I have finally convinced myself that I really won't need a winter coat and 10 sweatshirts, really really.  After my hours of labor, here's what I have to show for it:

Two checked bags with some definite room for growth and my trustworthy backpack as a carry on.  And I don't think I forgot anything vital, but of course, if I thought of it then it wouldn't be forgotten in the first place.

Now that most preparations have been taken care of (I say "most" because I actually still haven't figured out issues with my phone, bank account, and course schedule... whoops), I find my nerves somewhat eased and I am more excited than anxious.  I'm sure this will change and I will be in tears by the time I hit airport security, but it's nice to feel the calm following my packing frenzy.

My flight to Seattle departs at 6, and I then have a layover from 8:30 pm until 1:00 am when my direct flight to Taipei takes off.  It's a 13 hour flight with a 16 hour time difference (from Pacific time), so we won't land until 6:30 am the next day.  I will be missing an entire day!  And an important day, at that.  As anyone who watches Parks and Recreation surely knows, Leslie Knope has declared February 13th, the day before Valentine's day, to be Galentine's day, a day to celebrate friendships with the gals.  And I won't have one!  So I will take this opportunity to wish all my gals a very happy galentine's day!  Similarly, in the spirit of the holiday season, here is something I found while walking/listening to my Chinese tapes in the Austin greenbelt:

This one goes out to all the Valentines and Galentines

Also, in case any of you readers don't know anything about Taiwan, this helpful video (created by my talented friend Sarah Spinella and her two talented brothers) provides a very useful introduction.  And if any of you has the urge to send me packages or mail at my school, here is the procedure:

And maybe by the time I return I will be able to tell you what it says!

And now we're off to the airport!  Goodbye internet and goodbye USA!