7 days.

yep. a mere 174 hours and some odd minutes until i board my flight across the pond.

i currently have 13 pairs of shoes down on my list of "things to pack." excessive? i think not, although my mother seems to disagree with me.

I just may need every second of those 174 hours . . .

the customs and border control office . . .

Have you ever been to a Customs & Border Control Office? hmmm. yes, I hadn't either. The one at Wichita's airport is a little hole in the wall, kind of disappointing. I suppose whenever I think of Customs and Border Control at airports I think of people put in a holding area because they are suspected of being invovled in an international crime organization or someone being cavity searched because they've carried drugs into america illegally.

Heh, perhaps i should lay off the action/adventure flicks for a while.

Anyway, the trip to Wichita was a good break from Salina. All I have left to get in preparation for England are gloves and some sweaters. So yes, there was shopping involved. and yes, my friends, while the date of departure looms closer I'm savoring things that I know I will miss once I'm across the pond, such as: driving, using my cell phone, prices being in dollars rather than pounds, reading for fun, hanging out with family, and just being lazy. what can i say, i'm basically just waiting to embark on my adventures abroad--and oh the adventures i will have . . .

Mail.

Let me just say, I love getting mail. even ads from stores--as long as it is addressed to me, i get a happy feeling inside as I tear open the envelope/catalog/etc . . . But this post is not a subtle hint to have you all send me mail while i'm abroad (that will come once I have my address)-today I recieved a huge pack of mail from Cambridge. Included in this pack was a Freshers' Guide, freshers being what they call newbies to Cambridge. OMG. I will not bore you with all the details of this guide, but let me just say--they surely know how to plan a week of activities for college students. A college lead pub crawl, club night, punting, bar ents nights (whatever THAT is), adventure afternoon. . .

I think Cambridge University and I will get along just fine.

Two Weeks!

That's right. 14 days. I just officially said goodbye to Jewell, had an awesome time with recruitment (as well as a very special room on the zeta wing), and have returned to salina to postpone packing until it absolutely must be dealt with.

It's slowly becoming more and more real that this whole traveling abroad for a year thing is actually happening . . . but it still hasn't completely sunk in, weird.

You should probably know that i'm not very confident in my "blogging" skills--i've never been able to consistently keep a diary (i have about 5 unfinished ones from grade school lying around)--but i'll give it a good go, so check on me if you wish. I plan on having many exciting adventures, even some that I can share on the world wide web!

exciting news of the day: the pound is equal to 1.78 US. dollars. here's hoping it goes down further!