Well, I leave for Prague on Sunday.
An imminent departure for foreign parts makes for great conversational fodder, particularly with the parents of friends, non-immediate relatives, etc. In the past few weeks I’ve been asked quite a few times, “Are you excited about going?” And its sister question, always asked somewhat condescendingly, “Are you nervous?”
Am I?
I think at this point I’m pretty solidly “nervous.” Its sort of a surface nervousness -it’s not that I’m worried about the experience as a whole, but that I can feel that the first few weeks are going to be tough, a bracing wave of the totally new and the impossible to predict.
Aside from the transition from the extended break-at-home mentality – wherein my friends and I list all the episodes of our favorite TV show from best to worst and then watch them all in order, and where getting up at 11 to make muffins is a productive morning – to an actual, functional existence, and the usual difficulty of meeting lots and lots of new people all at once, there is the added issue of culture shock. Yesterday I was thinking about it and realized that the different countries I’ve been in have all had different light switches. Light switches! How can I know what Czech light switches will be like? I just can’t! There will be so much to adjust to, and so much I just cannot prepare myself for. Yes, first-cousin-once-removed, I am nervous.
But, yknow, I think I could be described as “excited,” as well. Despite all the TV I get to watch, more than a few weeks of break just makes me feel useless, like I’m slowly melting into a stew of Internet and sweatpants. I am getting more and more ready to do something, go somewhere, experience the new and the ever-changing road under my feet. As of yet, the excitement bubbles remains buried under the wracked nerves, but I’m hopeful. I am doing this on purpose, after all…
We’ll have to see.
2 Comments to "Pre-Departure Thoughts"
hehehe hi shira! j’agree, i keep having to remind myself that, light switches (and toilet flushers, have you noticed that?) aside, i did get myself into this with full knowledge and intent… i promise to give you fair warning (several hours?) before i show up in prague.
hey shira! welcome to the blog! i know how you feel– don’t worry, i totally felt a mix of emotions as well before i got to poitiers. i’m not even sure which emotion was dominant – excitement or nervousness lol. whatever the case, no matter how u feel, once u’ll get to prague, u’ll find out where u fit in, how everything works (uhh…well, for the most part. i’m still working on that one haha) and u’ll be fine! 🙂