My official departure date is August 27th, 2017. On that day I will be flying from Denver into Munich Germany, then the following day I will be flying to Vienna Austria then finally into Košice Slovakia. As of now I seem to be prepared as much as I can for something so big, I have met and spoke with my family who will be hosting me for half my year, studied my language as much as I could, and have booked my air tickets, but with all this preparation prepared is the farthest thing from what I am feeling.
My main feeling lately has been an equal amount of pure excitement and dread. I am throwing myself into the unknown, you can look at your town, read about the culture, talk to your classmates who you will be joining, but no matter what it is still something you have never experienced before until you are actually there. And that unknown that I am braving is what is igniting these feelings. I am ready to see what my next year of life will look like, and see what I have brought upon myself and some days just the thought of being on that plane into Košice fills my body with amazing amounts of energy. But with all that energy comes with the doubts and fears that I am also left to face in my year abroad. I like to think of it as a year of new, new family, new home, new school... But the excitement of something being new also comes with the speculations and fears of how you'll react to all these new changes. But I will take this excitement and dread and use it to fuel myself for the next 21 days I have left in America. Everyday I am shocked with how quickly the days are going down until my departure, and also somewhat dismayed. It seems like yesterday I was telling my family that I wanted to travel abroad like my older sister sister who traveled to Chile 2014/2015, and now I am waiting on my plane tickets in the mail and starting to say goodbye to friends. It feels like an hourglass running out too fast to even catch and I know as soon as I know it I will be boarding my plane. With these 21 days I hope to accomplish a good amount of stuff that I have so typically put into the last seconds of my hour glass. I want to see all my friends and give my last goodbyes, spend as much time with my family, make as much money as possible, learn as much Slovak words as I can, but again I have 21 days left, which doesn't allow me to get everything done that I would like. But I feel like no matter how much I get done all never feel like my "Before I Leave' checklist will be complete, which is something I'm going to have to accept as a foreign exchange student. I'm looking forward to see what these next 21 days will do to my emotions, what my next year will look like, and how I will learn and grow through this experience. It is definitely something that carries a lot of intimidation and looks down upon on me as I am still a student who hasn't faced the situation that I will in the next year, but also a piece of me and who I am that I am passionate about and so happy that I have the opportunity to take part in.
2 Comments
8/10/2017 10:44:44 am
Great blog post, Sedona. I look forward to following along with your adventure here on your blog. Great picture, too.
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Harley
8/14/2017 09:10:25 am
This is going to be a very exciting journey and I'm am so proud and excited for you! :)
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AuthorRotary Youth Exchange Student traveling to Slovakia from the USA. Archives
December 2017
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