Can't Sleep!

It's a little after 1:00 a.m., Eastern Standard Time and I am laying in my bed watching the clock. In less than 24 hours, I'll be boarding the plane headed for my first international trip. I think this is the first flight I've actually been excited about, rather than anxious about. I just got finished "Googling" an image of a Lufthansa Airbus, which is the plane I'll be getting on tomorrow.

I packed my clothes a week ago, but I finalized all my packing tonight. I actually just got back from a midnight trip to Wal*Mart - I decided it was easier to buy clean socks than to do laundry! I made sure that I have packed all of my 'fun items' for the plane - I have two books (Wuthering Heights and The Bell Jar), my PlayStation Portable with two UMD movies (Starship Troopers and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), a bag of Pizzeria Combos, and some fiber bars. (English 111 Extra Credit Question: What term describes the sentence structure of the list I just wrote in which all of the parts of speech must be the same? E-mail your answer to gr8npowerfuloz@gmail.com) For those of you reading my blog who are not my students, I promised them I would embed some extra credit questions in my entries. If they're reading and keeing up with my trip, they have the opportunity to earn some extra points on their assignments.

I also have my journal and my mala beads in my purse so I can have those whenever the spirit hits me. Of course I have my passport ready, and I also have plenty of Dramamine!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, but I think today was busier - getting all the paperwork ready for the trip and situating my money was stressful. Today, I got traveler's cheques for the first time in my life and thought they were pretty cool-looking. Even though I am one of the trip advisors, I am learning a lot myself. For my first international trip, I have had to learn how to convert money (U.S. dollar to British pounds), understand how to differentiate between Celsius and Farenheit (to plan my dress accordingly) and learn how to write English addresses - they look VERY different than American ones! I have also had to do lots of research for the trip so that I would be familiar with the area where we are staying.

While I am very excited, I am also feeling very at peace. I enjoy traveling and it always gives me an opportunity to just be myself. I am going to miss my daughter so much, but I do enjoy the moments where I just get to be me. While being a teacher and being a mom is a big part of who I am, it is only one part of who I am - and traveling lets the other parts of me out. I hope that the writer in me gets to surface on this trip. I write a lot - but I rarely get to experience new things and write about them. I think every good writer has to travel at some point in his or her life. Most of our famous novelists and essayists are well-traveled. They have seen the world and can therefore write about it. I hope to come home with a journal full of pages that I have fervently covered with thoughts, ideas, and reflections (English 113 Extra Credit Question/English 243 and 233 Extra Credit Question: Name one writer we are studying whose travel abroad influenced his or her work. Where did he or she go?).

I know where I need to go: to bed! It's 1:30 and I have to get up early tomorrow. I hope I'll get a chance to blog again from the airport. If not, I'll be blogging from another continent!