Here...we...go!

So, here I go. I leave today for Ireland. Just to fill everyone in, I am studying at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Galway, Ireland for the three and a half months before I graduate from Western Carolina University. I am not taking any classes necessary for either of my degrees (B.S. in Communication/Public Relations and a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion), but I will be taking classes. Two Irish lit classes and two archaeology classes. Ha, yeah, I know. Not even CLOSE to what I'm studying, but oh well. Gotta get your kicks somehow. I know a few people that will be coming too. In fact, allow me to introduce them, my "cast of characters," if you will.


Stephen: my long-time friend, one of my best friends, from WCU. He's a construction management major and will be attending the same campus and living in the same apartment complex as I am.

Tiffany- another good friend from WCU. She is arriving at Dublin one hour after I am and we will be traveling together today. She will be at a different campus, about 45 minutes away.

Helen O'Reilly- the international student officer at GMIT. She is basically the liason between Ireland and WCU, and will be a huge resource, I'm sure.

Katie- my old roomie from WCU. She is living and working as a nanny in Spain. I think she and I will be meeting up more than once.

Elyse- a close friend from WCU. She is working with Habitat for Humanity in Romania for a few weeks, and then will be traveling Europe, ending in Ireland in November. Read her blog:
http://europeplusme.blogspot.com/


Actually, that may be it for now. Hopefully it will expand.


So anyway, you're reading this blog, hopefully, because you want to share my adventure! For that, I am thankful. Knowing I have a network of friends behind me comforts my heart and somehow motivates me to explore and learn and grow and have as much fun as possible. Again, I say thank you. I'm sure my parents would be thankful too. My little sister Chelsea just left for college a week and a half ago, and I know that my leaving is like removing all traces of intelligent life from the house. (Let's face it, our dog Jack doesn't exactly fit the bill.) And I'm sad to go, to leave Mom and Dad alone, without any kids, for the first time in 23 years. Whew, that's a long time. they'll be fine, and I will be too. Speaking of being fine...



Though I'm not sure Charlotte-Douglas International deserves my tears, that won't make me feel any better about soaking my collar at the checkpoint, not thirty seconds after leaving my mom. I tried to make myself feel better by recalling one of my fave movies, Love Actually; Hugh Grant starts the film with a very beautiful point about the hope that can found at an airport when one realizes the amount of love that departs and arrives with passengers. It's one of the best moments of the movie, in my opinion. And thinking about it this morning didn't help me one bit. As fervently as I tried to suppress them, I couldn't keep the tears from welling up. I will be fine, of that I am sure. But I think the anxiety has finally caught up with me.



For now, I am desperately trying to distract myself. In fact, I'm on sensory overload at this point. I'm obviously typing this post, and I am also chewing a very tasty piece of gum, listening to my mp3 player in one ear and listening to airport traffic with the other. Not to mention the random text messages and the phone calls from Mom and Luann wanting to pray with me. And also my inability to focus on any one thing... I've always enjoyed watching people in airports, and right now I find myself making up stories about these people and where they're going and where they've been, whom they just left and those they'll greet at their destinations. I think it's working. Again, I repeat, I'll be fine.



I apologize for beginning this blog with such a stressful post. Well, it seems stressful to me. One day, we'll all look back on this and laugh. Hopefully that day will be sometime next week. For now, I'll be boarding my fligh to JFK soon, and then it's on to Dublin. Stay tuned!