Pre-departure Pandemonium

10 days. Only 10 days until I leave for England. We were discussing the novel The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman today in class and my professor mentioned us visiting a museum or something in a few weeks. Okay, it may not seem so impressive that she said we'd be checking out some sweet artifacts in England in only a matter of, like, 14 days but to me that just pulled me back to reality. It seemed so far off before. Sitting in the comfort of my home, going about the day as per usual, my routine seemingly uninterrupted, I felt like the flight over was eons away. Yes, well it is not so.
I must admit there have been some minor changes to my daily life. I've been watching an obscene amount of Rick Steves' Europe episodes on the different places I hope to visit over the next few months and my wandering thoughts have been occupied by stressful schedule planning, hotel, flight and other transportation options and, of course, my own fantasies of what new experiences, adventures and maybe even romances that could occur along the way. Most of this lucid dreaming happens at night when I'm in bed and everything is still. Although it doesn't seem still when your mind is racing on images and schemes and numbers and alternatives and people and EVERYTHING. It reminds me of this comic:

 

(photo taken from pinterest.com)

 

Every night. That has been me every night. And then, because my classes start in the afternoon, I sleep until 11:45 a.m., roll out of bed and make it to class looking like some mangy, unearthly creature saying, "I'm gonna stick you." Sort of like this....

"I'm gonna stick you..."

 

(photo taken from Google images) 

 

Now don't think that I'm all caught up on impressing my classmates. I'm more inclined to leave my good impressions on the British boys, preferrably an attendee of Oxford University who has a knack for Polo, acoustic guitar and can talk with a Keats-like charm. But I do take pride in how I present myself and well, I've been failing epically in that department for the past couple of weeks.

Obviously, I've been a little stressed, and let's be honest, who wouldn't be? I mean sure, I'm incredibly excited but with my friends constant procrastination on buying our tickets to different countries and me constantly second guessing myself I'm a little overwhelmed. Hopefully all goes well and smoothly. I can only pray that that is how my future will pan out: with ease. But only God knows if that is really the case. For now, this pre-departure pandemonium is tearing me apart and I am incredibly bushwhacked. The only thing keeping my feet on the ground is remembering that it is all worth while; it is all for the adventure of a lifetime.

 

 “There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you, and there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.”
―Lemony Snicket, Horshradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid