sweden? check.

I love going out to eat. Unfortunately, in Copenhagen that happens very rarely due to exorbitant prices. BUT WAIT. The Keops family dinner crew decided that we would treat ourselves once a month while we are here to a nice dinner out. So we ventured out in the blizzard on Friday night for our January dinner. It was so nice to be able to go out and have someone else make my food and just be able to simply enjoy each other's company. We played my favorite "question game" to get to know each other a little better with my usual questions that I have taken from other people over the years.."if you could do one thing and not fail, what would it be?" and "if you could walk into a room full of people, what is one thing you could do better than everyone else?" (Thanks, Nico!). It is so fun getting to know a whole new group of people, and the more I find out about everyone, the more I love them! I am so blessed to be surrounded by such an awesome group of people here.


On Saturday, the girls and our new Aussie friend Tom decided to take the plunge and go to another country! We decided to go to Malmo, Sweden, which is actually only a 30 minute train ride from Copenhagen. It was a nice test-drive for future travel endeavors. We didn't really have a clue what we were going to do when we got there, so we basically winged it. Once we got off the train we just walked around and found the city square. I honestly thought Sweden would look really different than Denmark, but it actually didn't. Maybe that is just Malmo, though. We found a great spot for lunch in this tiny little cafe and enjoyed a healthy, hot lunch. After lunch we ventured out to find the spiral tower (not without stopping to make snow angels, of course), a really neat building in Malmo.







After getting on the wrong bus and just riding for a while, who knows why, we got off and found a cute little walkway. We ended up stumbling upon a boot shop, where 4 of us found boots we were looking for!! Mine were actually 70% off, so they were only 179 Swedish Kroner, equivalent to about $27 USD. BARGAIN!!

By this time we were all pretty cold/exhausted so we headed back to CPH to get ready for our kollegium's party. There ended up being TONS of people in our really small common room, but it was tons of fun. It was so nice to not have to wear 10 layers, get all bundled up, pay for coat check, pay for entrance, and then buy super expensive drinks. You really find out what to appreciate over here, haha! It was cool to meet some more people that live in Keops!

Today, I am off to complete yet ANOTHER scavenger hunt. This is my third of the program so far. At least I will know Copenhagen like the back of my hand. Pictures will be up soon :) xoxo kelli

biking in a blizzard.

Picture hundreds of people biking in an insane blizzard. Yes, BIKING. That's Copenhagen for you.

Wednesday morning I woke up to heavy snow falling from the sky. (The snowflakes here are HUGE) I fought my excitement as a South Carolinian who rarely sees snow as I thought about the bus ride and walking tour we were about to take to Ødense, the hometown of the most famous Dane, Hans Christian Andersen. It was to be an adventure, to say the least.

DIS is an awesome program in the sense that they want to keep students engaged in their learning, much like Elon. Therefore, we never have class on Wednesday's and it is a designated time for professors to take their students on "study tours" to various locations that hold meaning to what they are studying in the classroom. So this Wednesday, I went with my Hans Christian Andersen Literature class to see the birthplace of the writer himself.

We finally made it to Ødense after 2 hours on the bus, ideal napping opportunity might I say. First, we went to the Hans Christian Andersen Museum, commemorating the fairy teller's life and stories. It was neat to see the time that he lived in, all the cities that he traveled to, and how many of his tales are translated all over the world. He really made a huge impact during his lifetime. For those of you who may not be ringing a bell, he wrote stories like The Little Mermaid, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Princess and the Pea, The Ugly Duckling...and many many more.


After walking around the museum, we got a chance to walk around Ødense for about an hour, then it was back to the bus! We left at 2 p.m. (remember this time, it will be important later). I was anticipating another 2 hour bus ride, yet little did I know. When I woke up from what seemed like a quick moment of shut-eye, I realized that we were going verrrry slow. The snow that was falling earlier had now turned into an intense blizzard. The thoughts going through my head were, "I am in a DOUBLE decker bus right now, in a blizzard, in the middle of Denmark." I know, right, WHAT IS MY LIFE?! After making many twists and turns to get around accidents, as our busdriver Carsten announced over the loudspeaker, we made it make to DIS at 5:15. Yes, 5:15. Yet this was not the end of the journey! We still had to catch the 6A back to Keops. After waiting about 15 minutes, we saw the beautiful yellow bus in sight. The bus pulled up and it was absolutely PACKED. Supposedly Denmark does not get snow like this often, therefore many of the people who had biked to work this morning were now opting to catch the bus. WHO KNEW? I thought it snowed a lot in Denmark, guess I was wrong! Yet even though many were on the bus, there were still many brave souls biking home. The Danes are dedicated bikers, to say the least. So after feeling intense claustrophobia on the bus home, we were finally graced with the presence of beautiful KEOPS. It felt good to be home.


After we thawed out, we joined together for dinner at our usual 7:30 and met a couple more new residents of Keops, from Germany, Australia and Ireland. How cool is that?

Today has been less eventful. I had three classes this morning and then just came home. I finally decided to brave the laundry room, with the guidance of my friend Maren. I actually think I figured it out!! It will be nice to have clean towels :)

That's all for now. Hej Hej!

peace.

PEACE. No, not like peace out. Not like peace signs at Woodstock. And not like peace tie-die shirts. More like, peace, defined by Webster as the freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, obsession---tranquility, serenity.

I feel so at peace here. It is honestly amazing to me. Maybe I had to come half way across the world to truly find peace in myself and my independence. I am the kind of person that loves to be around people 24/7. I just hate being alone. When I'm at Elon I struggle daily with the fear of being alone, even for a simple grocery run or quick lunch. It just scares me and I can't really figure out why. The first day I was in Copenhagen, I felt more alone than I ever have in my entire life. I stepped off the plane and saw one familiar face, Emily, and thank goodness for that or I might have caught a plane back to the States without even leaving the airport.

When the bus brought us back to our dorm, I walked into a lonely room with a desk and a bed. The bare white walls seemed to be caving in on me as I realized how many miles I was from home. With sadness and confusion, I cried myself to sleep.

Yet honestly, within a few days, I have had a complete turn around. Maybe it is our Keops family dinners at 7:30 every night, or the new friendly faces that I meet in my classes everyday, or the sweet messages that I get on the daily from friends at home. I really do feel at peace. I am okay walking taking the 6A by myself and enjoying a nice quiet ride to school in the morning. I feel empowered going to my room and simply writing in my journal and debriefing from the days activities by myself. I thought having a single room would be my biggest challenge, but it has become one of my biggest blessings. It is teaching me that I am okay by myself. I can be happy without being around people every second of every day. I find my happiness from God and the power that he gives me. I am so glad that I can finally say this.

Yet I think my peace about being physically alone comes from the fact that I know I am not mentally alone. I have an AWESOME group of new friends here in Copenhagen that I am so blessed to have. They astound me every day with their encouragement, support and constant laughter. I also have amazing friends back at Elon and at home that have continued to keep in touch with me and love on me even though I am miles and miles away. I have a great family who supports me through everything I do. And last, but definitely not least, I have a God who watches over me and loves me more than I can ever fathom.


I could not ask for anything more. Peace. What a blessing it is! :)

i feel like someone with no game.

This weekend was full of adventures! Friday night DIS hosted a welcome party for everyone in the program at Discotek "In." There were soo many people there, but it was a lot of fun!

On Saturday, we went on one of the optional DIS trips to Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, which is famous for being the castle in Shakespeare's Hamlet. We got a chance to walk around Elsinore and eat some lunch before we toured the castle. I had my first hamburger and fries since I left the States. It was heavenly.




The Castle was amazing! It is so crazy to realize that you are actually standing somewhere that you have heard so much about! The Castle is also located on the point of Denmark that is closest to Sweden, so we actually see the coast of Sweden!


Last night, some of the girls and I went to the nightclub Rust, in Nørrebro. It is so expensive to go out. We paid 80 kroner for entrance and coat check, so about $16. It was crazy packed! Drinks are extremely expensive here too, like $10 and above. The music is hilarious, either techno or rap jams from like 6 years ago. The dancing is out of this world, NOTHING like in the States. It's so funny because since you don't know what the culture is here, you feel so helpless. The only way I can describe it is I feel like someone in the States who has no game at all, if you know what I mean. You are dancing and you're like "I wonder if when I do this I look like a total dork or I actually look cool?" It's a hilarious concept. Yet its cool in a way, cause it forces you to just be yourself and not do what you know is socially acceptable, because who in the world knows what is socially acceptable in this country! Your guess is as good as mine!

Today we decided to be tourists and check out the Little Mermaid statue and walk through Nyhavn (pronounced "New-hawn'), which means New Harbor. It is the part of Copenhagen that is always on postcards and tourist pictures. It was absolutely beautiful! Freezing, but beautiful.



Now, time for some reading and then trying to go to sleep early tonight to prepare for the first full week of classes! Love and miss you all, xoxox Kelli.

the list.

What I Have Learned About Living in Copenhagen and the Danes thus far:

1. it is REALLY freaking cold.
2. never talk on the 6A bus. no one does that here.
3. a dane will never come up to you.
4. if you go up to a dane, they will be super nice to you.
5. they think america is HUGE.
6. they think if you're an american, you are from hollywood.
7. they dance really, really weird.
8. anything cheap does not exist in denmark.
9. the whole country is closed on sundays.
10. they don't understand why you would come to denmark.
11. the sun never comes out. maybe 5 minutes a week, if you're lucky.
12. fotex (kind of like their walmart) rocks.
13. hamburgers DO exist here.
14. you can pretty much wear whatever combination of any color/style of clothing and still look fashionable.
15. take a water bottle wherever you go. never pay for drinks.

I'm sure this list will continue to grow more every day.

we did a scavenger hunt and then i hit a wall.

WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday we got the opportunity to explore the city, which was so much fun! DIS set up a scavenger hunt for us with different points throughout the city. It was snowing heavily in the morning, but we made it through! The hunt took us to different locations such as the Royal Garden, the Royal Palace, the Royal Theatre, the Trinity Church and Christiansborg Castle Square (the Danish Parliament). The sights were amazing and it was nice to walk around Copenhagen a little more and get my bearings. Luckily, one of my group members was basically a human GPS, so we only got slightly lost one time. We actually took the wrong ferry in the harbor, so we ended up just going in one giant circle, but hey, it was warm on the boat.


The square in front of my school


While we were at the Royal Palace, my professor casually said, "oh there comes the queen now." I was like WHAT?! And then the queen drove by. NO BIG DEAL. I was so excited!! DIS also provided us with free coffee/hot chocolate at that stop. The hot chocolate was literally the best thing I have ever tasted. It was magnificent.



So many colorful houses!



In the Royal Garden...so beautiful!



The Queen is in the first car!

Once we got done with our Scavenger Hunt (which ended up being about an hour late), my group stopped by this cute sandwich stop on a side street and grabbed a quick bite. I got the best sandwich, with carrots and fresh mozzarella, tomato and arugula. Definitely not something I would ever think to eat in the states, but delicious at that. We then went to our program orientations. I am in the Communications & Mass Media program and there are about 38 of us, one of the smaller programs. It definitely sounds like it will be an informative and out-of-the-box learning experience. Not to mention my program director is a hottie!

The Keops crew did our normal 7:30 dinner in the common kitchen, which has been awesome! It is nice to have one place to come all together since our rooms can get pretty lonely. We have started meeting some of the other international students in our kollegium, coming from Australia, France, Germany, Holland and America. They are literally some of the most friendly people I have ever met. Still no Danes though......



Some of the Keops girls!

Some of the girls from Keops were bartending at this bar downtown called Student House, so they invited us to check it out. About 15 of us went and it was the best time ever! Literally, nothing like it in the States. A bar filled with 200+ students from ALL over the world. Dancing, drinking, and socializing. It was awesome. We met some guys from Spain and talked to them for a while and then danced to the sweet techno jams, haha. We decided to go home around 12:30 since most of us had class at 8:30 the next morning.

THURSDAY
Class begins. Whew. Not only was this a shocker to my system for lack of sleep, but it was also a shock since I haven't been in class since early December. My first class was Current Trends in News Media, my core Comm class. It seems like it will be interesting, definitely not anything like any of my comm classes at Elon. My second class is Virtual Worlds and the Digital Consumer. I think this will be my favorite class. It is all about social networking and how the Internet is a revolution in Generation Y. We watched this awesome video clip. Check it out...it will shock you. My third class on Monday/Thursday is Hans Christian Andersen Literature. My teacher sounds like a legitimate old English story teller and she is precious. We will be learning all about the most famous Dane of all time, HCA, and all about his life and his tales. So glad I decided to wait to go abroad to take my literature.

After class I met up with Emily and Skyler from Keops in a cute lounge upstairs for lunch. We all bring our lunch since Copenhagen is so expensive. I was nervous about doing this every day, but since everyone else does it too, it makes it a lot easier.

Emily and I decided we needed to go get our CPR cards, which grants us healthcare and banking rights under the Danish government. We ventured out to find the "kommune" and got slightly lost, but finally found it. It only took about 15 minutes once we got there, so we decided to indulge in our first experience of the Danish hot dog stand, which is common on street corners in Copenhagen. Delicious.

We traveled back to DIS at 6, for our visiting family meeting. A visiting family is a program that DIS to help students immerse in the Danish culture. They give students not living with host families the opportunity to get to know a Danish family. I am so excited to find out who mine is! They said they would let us know by next week.

THEN CAME THE WALL. No. I did not actually physically run into a wall, even though it may seem likely. I ran into a straight brick wall of exhaustion. I could barely keep my eyes open on the way home on the 6A bus. I'm pretty sure after 5 days of getting up at 7 am and before, waking up every hour at night, and my extensive jet lag had finally caught up with me. I convinced myself to eat dinner, and then I literally CRASHED.

With all of that said, each day is getting better and better. Everyone is SO nice here and we are all in the same boat. I was utterly terrified the first day and all I wanted to do was get back on the plane to the US. But now, I feel the complete opposite. I am loving the people I am meeting, becoming more familiar with Copenhagen every minute, and learning how to survive like the Danes do. I cannot wait to see what the next 4 months have in store!

PS. Sorry for the SUPER long posts. They won't be this long for much longer, promise! (For you, Aunt Fave)

looking up.

Today was a better day, and for that I am very thankful. This morning we attended a session with Anders Larsen, one of the DIS staff, about the Danish culture and everyday living in Copenhagen. It was a very informative session and I really learned a lot about how to adapt to life here. It helped calm my overwhelming fears of cooking every day and meeting the Danes, which is known to be somewhat difficult.

After that session we went to our second Survival Danish course. Man, I thought Spanish and Italian were hard, but they are NOTHING compared to the Danish language. It is beautiful when the Danes speak it, but it honestly just sounds like a lot of weird gagging noises when I try and speak it. I learned how to say my name is Kelli: Jeg hedder Kelli. and I come from: Jeg kommer fra South Carolina. NOTE: It is not pronounced ANYTHING like it looks.

After that class, a group of girls from Keops and I went to the Immerse Yourself Fair, where DIS offers many different extracurriculars, from a Danish Cooking Class to Yoga to a Christian Fellowship Organization. Even though a lot of them sounded really interesting, I am selfishly not signing up for much because this is my semester away from all the extracurriculars. I get so bogged down at Elon that I begin to not enjoy any of them, so I am enjoying having the semester to do what I want to do without so many commitments.

Finally, tonight we decided to be BRAVE and go eat in the common kitchen!! I know it sounds simple, but this was a huge hurdle. The kitchen in a kollegium is the "social spot" and the Danes and students that have been here for a while all know each other and hang out in here. It is definitely intimidating to walk into a situation where everyone else knows one another AND in another country. Yet we did it, and I am so glad we did. We ended up meeting a couple Australians and another American girl and a girl from Holland. They were all very nice and welcoming, so that made me feel a lot better about Keops. One Aussie girl, Lauren, actually lives on my floor so she came by my room and we chatted for a while. It was cool to talk to someone not from DIS!

So tomorrow we have our Scavenger Hunt, so I will be posting pictures with that! I hope you all are doing well. I miss everyone from home A LOT. But know that I am thinking of you often. From København---Hej Hej!

i'm really here.

I am here. I am actually here. Honestly, it is just now hitting me that this is actually happening. The past 3 days have been the craziest, scariest, most exciting days of my life thus far. And that is a pretty bold statement.

I woke up early Saturday morning to make it to the airport in Charlotte around 11:30 to catch my first flight to Newark. My roommate, Victoria, came down from Elon to say bye, so it was really nice to see her again right before I left. When I went through security they had to pat me down and do the wand and all that, I'm guessing because of my insulin pump. It was a smooth flight to Newark and that is where I began to spot other DIS'ers.

The first girl I met (Jill) in the security line and we ended up clicking immediately. As soon as we got to our gate we saw tons of other students going to DIS, so that was comforting. When we got on the plane there was a seat next to Jill, so I just sat there hoping that the person who was actually supposed to sit there would trade with me, and luckily, they did!

The flight was....kind of miserable. I couldn't get comfortable. I couldn't sleep a wink. I had so many thoughts and emotions running through my mind that I just wanted it to all be over. Thank goodness I had Jill to laugh with, or I might have had a break down. The big disappointment came when we landed and I came to find out that my luggage was still back in the States....bummer. Unfortunately, about 20 of us didn't get our luggage from Newark, leaving me with nothing but my pack of Spearmint Extra Gum and some books about Denmark. Both worthy of sacrifice for a toothbrush or contact solution. Yet unfortunately, it is what it is. Luckily, I have awesome people in my dorm who let me borrow a few of the necessities.

The DIS staff bussed us all to a short orientation at a building downtown where we got money for our transportation passes, our class schedule and a Danish cell phone. After we finished with that, they bussed us to our various housing locations. My kollegium, or dorm, is called Keops and it is in the borough of Nørrebro. We got settled in to our rooms and then gathered with everyone from the dorm for a pizza dinner in the common room. After dinner, Chance (a student at University of Copenhagen that helps students at Keops), took us around town to show us the grocery store and various places we may need to go. Then, it was pass out time.

My body definitely has not adjusted yet though, so I woke up every hour, sometimes laying awake for more than an hour. It was not a good night to say the least.

Yet today has been better. We went to DIS downtown this morning for our opening ceremony and Survival Danish course. We got a chance to walk around downtown a little more and I really like it! It is definitely much more lively than Nørrebro. The best thing was MY LUGGAGE ARRIVED!!! Definitely took a lot of stress and worry off of my mind. Some of my awesome dorm-mates helped bring my luggage back to Keops by the 6A (the bus I take to school). We decided it was about time to get some food for our dorms, so we headed to the local Netto and got some of the essentials. What an experience that was...They have no carts, only carry baskets. Nothing was in English. And we had to buy plastic bags to put the food in. Cooking is going to be a challenge, to say the least.

After cooking dinner with Emily, my friends Lindsey and Izzy and I decided to walk around town a little more and see what our new home has to offer. We found this hole-in-the-wall bar and walked in to find a Danish woman, Neena, running up to all 3 of us, hugging and kissing us and telling us how much she loves us. Welcome to Denmark! Her "mate" Neils started speaking to us in English since Neena couldn't. They were awesome and very very nice to us. They decided to take us to their other favorite bar down the street so we headed there with them for a while. We had a great discussion with Neils about America and different views he had on things. They were a great taste of culture, to say the least.

That is basically my summary of what has gone on thus far. I'm honestly still in that adjustment stage of "what in the HECK am I doing here." I'm not going to lie and say that is amazing, because it will definitely take adjustment, but I am safe and I know I have a lot to look forward to, so that is what I am going to set my mind on. But I must go to bed before I fall asleep typing...Hej Hej!

where and what.

I realized that I haven't given much insight into where I am going and what I am doing while I'm there. This will serve as my informational post for those who don't already know :)

I will be attending the Danish Institute for Study Abroad and I will be participating in the Communications and Mass Media program (CMM). DIS has already proven to be an amazing program, culturally and academically. Not only do you learn about the Danish culture, but you also gain a valuable global perspective on your area of study, mine being communications. I was immediately attracted to the program by its unmatched organizational skills, engaged learning, awesome study tours, high quality of academics and hope that all students may have a unique cultural experience. DIS has also been extremely helpful to me with all of my Diabetes questions (I am Type 1 Diabetic) and anything else that has concerned me. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to attend such a great school abroad!

I am enrolled in 5 different classes (15 hours/3 credits per course). The 15 hours will actually transfer back to my home institution, Elon University, as 20 hours because we have 4 hour credit courses. I will be taking Copenhagen History and Contemporary Issues, International Advertising in a European Context, Virtual Worlds and the Digital Consumer, Hans Christian Anderson and the Danish Golden Age (Literature), and Current Trends in News Media, which is my core CMM class. I am really pumped about these awesome classes! What an opportunity it is to study international communications in a different country!

My program also has two different study tours. One week we will go to London for our long study tour then later in the semester we travel to a different part of Denmark for our short study tour. I am also participating in two "Adventure Trips" that DIS sets up: the Bornholm Bike Trip and Sweden Canoe & Hiking. I'm sure those will be adventures to never forget.

I will be living in a Kollegium (the Denmark version of a US dorm). The name of my Kollegium is Keops and it is in the town of Nørrebro. Luckily, one of my friends Emily was also placed in Keops in the room right next to mine, so it will be nice to have a familiar face around!

That is just a brief overview of what I will be doing this semester. Only 2 more days until I leave! I laid out all my things tonight so I can start putting everything into my suitcases tomorrow! Hej hej!

"live it up"

As I sit in the library at my school, I look around and wonder what I will miss out on during the next semester. Spring formal, recruitment, long nights in Belk, bowling intramurals, late nights at Little Gray, random Cook-out runs and hiking adventures. I, unfortunately, have the common fear of missing out on things. I hate not being right where the action is and I always want to be included in what is going on. Maybe this is why I am going into a field surrounded by breaking news and constant communication?

Yet even though I will miss out on things at Elon, I know that I will experience SO much more than I could ever imagine possible. Instead of all the little things that go on here at school, I will be experiencing new friends, interesting classes, late nights in Keops (my dorm) with Emily, train rides to Amsterdam, learning how to cook, traveling around Europe, hiking trips to Sweden and biking trips to Bornholm and so, so much more. I have much to look forward to and I am getting very excited for this great adventure!

The past two days at Elon have been perfect. I've gotten to spend one-on-one time with some great friends that I will miss dearly. Yet every single one of them has encouraged me to "have a wonderful time and live it up!" I hope I can do just that.

4 more days and I am ready to "live it up." Time to say goodbye to Elon for a while.

bracelets.

Bracelets are kind of like memories you can carry on your arm. Now I am not talking about fancy gold chains or Tiffany heart bracelets, I am talking about the little braided ones, sometimes hemp, sometimes string. Bracelets that carry meaning, even if they are a little piece of string, or a twisted part of a handkerchief. For the past year, my best friend Katelyn and I have worn matching "friendship" bracelets on our left arm. Even though it may seem cliche, this friendship bracelet holds powerful meaning to me.

We found this bracelet at a kids carnival. I know you're thinking, "really? A kids carnival?" Well one Saturday during last Spring semester my Business Communications professor at Elon told us we could come help out at her kids' school carnival for extra credit. This was the only free weekend Katelyn could come visit me, so I asked my professor if she could come help out too. So being the amazing friend she is, Katelyn came to the carnival with me and was a great sport the whole time. So at the end of the carnival we rummaged through the prize bucket and came across these multicolored bracelets and immediately looked at each other and said "dude, lets wear these for a long time!"

Needless to say, I am still wearing it today and have yet to take it off once. Regardless of its monetary and physical insignificance, this bracelet means a lot to me. Wherever I am, I can look at it and think of the wonderful friendship I have with Katelyn and all of the great memories we have shared.

So what do these bracelets have to do with studying abroad at all?? Well, I heard once that a girl who studied abroad tried to collect a bracelet from every country she visited, so by the time she was coming home, she had a ton of bracelets on her arm, signifying her travels. So this is definitely going to be one of my goals in the next four months! Katelyn got me started out right with my first bracelet with a peace sign on it so any time I feel uneasy, I can look at it and be reminded of all the great things in my life!

Here is a picture of my starting point. I can't wait to add more bracelets to my arm and more memories to carry with me :)

13 days....is this reality?

13 days. Equally meaning 312 hours, or 18,720 minutes, until I am officially stepping onto a plane to Copenhagen, Denmark. Although the first few days may feel like a normal vacation, this trip is a little different. Rather than just a 2 week vacation, I will be living and learning in this new world for 4 months. I feel like I have been talking about this for months now and it is starting to become reality. All of my fellow classmates at Elon are heading back to school tomorrow to begin winter term, and here I am counting the days until my world becomes something completely different than I have ever known.

At first thought, I wish I was back in Elon, NC, with my great friends at a school that I love so dearly. Yet the more I think about what is to come, I know that I am taking the opportunity to do something that I will never have another chance to do. So bring on the shopping and packing and whatever else I need to get done before my once-in-a-lifetime trip finally begins!!