It's about that time!

It's about that time to pack up and head home from the ranch again. The lake house is the best place to come relax. There is never a shortage of things to do, but just sitting on the porch looking out on the lake is one of the best. Its currently overcast, but regardless of the weather the view is hard to beat. We spent the morning out on the lake water skiing and wake boarding. I think we're about to head out on one last 4- wheeler ride before we leave. It is the last time I'll get to be here until late August because on Friday I leave for Germany to spend 5 weeks studying abroad. I have been to Europe once before back in 2007. My brother was invited to play soccer in Amsterdam so my parents decided to make it a family vacation. We got to see lots of the sights in Amsterdam and managed to completely avoid the red light district. The majority of our trip was spent riding trams, buses and trains to get everywhere we needed to go. Oh, and walking, lots of walking. I think that is going to be one of the biggest adjustments to staying for 5 weeks in Germany. Here it's a simple get in the car and drive to wherever you want to go, but there you have to actually plan out trips and look up the schedules for all the different forms of public transportation. It will definitly be an adjustment from just getting in the car and driving somewhere. I guess for me it will be a nice change since this summer so far I've visit Dallas twice, Austin twice and been going back and forth from College Station to Cypress multiple times a week it seems. I'm slightly burned out on driving.I wanted to study abroad, one because I really wanted to see more of Europe and really get to learn the culture. I think by fulling immersing myself in another culture I will learn more about the everyday life, traditions, and norms. I also hope to pick up on the language quicker. I know that 5 weeks will not bring me anywhere near fluent but I think I will learn more, faster since I'll be forced to use it. I've also heard that studying abroad is a life changing experience and I really did not want to miss out. I really love Europe and I have the strong desire to see as much of it, in as much detail as I can. My dad frequently travels to many places in Europe and has the whole international travel down to a fine science. Well, and I guess being an Engineer has something to do with that too. He has already mapped out all my trips, given me multiple sample iteneraries for my free weekends, and has looked up train schedules for every place possible to visit. He wants an hour by hour breakdown of my trip before I leave, it's not going to happen. I'm really glad that he's so supportive and excited about my trip. It's now less than a week before I leave and I'm starting to get really excited. I know that this will be the adventure of a lifetime and I'm blessed with the opportunity. I've had my bag pretty much packed since last week, although I've packed and unpacked it multiple times already. I was pleasantly surprised that thus far all my stuff has fit no problem. I still have a couple things left to get but other than that I feel pretty much ready. It's just a weird thought for me to be going somewhere for 5 weeks and only have a backpack full of stuff. Normally I'm the queen of overpacking. I feel prepared for my trip as of now. I think I have everything I need to survive and I think I have enough knowledge about travel to get where I need to go. However, I am still terrified about traveling to a foreign country where I don't speak the language and I have to function for 5 weeks. The thought seems rather daunting. I'm not a super outspoken people person so this will be a big change for me. I think that it will be a really awesome experience that will help give me a more global perspective and teach me a lot more about myself. Overall, I'm more excited than anything. Only 2 days left!!