Departure Day, January 18, 2006

Salzburg, Austria. Saying these two words didn't mean much to me last fall. I knew as I signed up to study abroad that it would indicate a huge leap of faith for me. At times, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. The days leading up to my departure, I refused to talk in depth to people about what was about to happen. I was scared, anxious and excited all at the same time. How was I supposed to leave Illinois and everything I was familiar with for the past 21 years (then)? I was afraid to leave friends and family behind. I was nervous about what I was going to see, experience and who I was going to meet. I was unable to answer my own questions of what might happen if I got into a dilemma, possibly a language situation. On January 18, 2006, I boarded a 10-hour flight to Brussels, Belgium. I recall looking out my plane window and looking at Europe with no lights on. Did Europeans only live by candlelight? How much acclimating would I go through? Would I like it? All these thoughts ran through my head. I had two flights and on my second flight over I met, Liz, the girl I eventually ended up rooming with in Austria. Meeting her that day made it that much easier to feel at ease. Once we landed, Liz and I spent time getting to know each other better. We found that we had several things in common (movie lovers, popcorn, extra salt!) and some things we didn't (she is a Green Bay Packer fan! boo!). Yet, all of these similarities and differences brought us together in a world that was so unfamiliar, so scary to us. This began my passion for Germany.