9 days and counting!

It is only 9 days until I leave!!! I'm so excited, it's ridiculous. After hours upon hours spent at the library researching and buying plane tickets, I have finalized my schedule. For the first 2 weeks I will be in London with Amy doing our grant work. How cool is it that I get to go to London and watch concerts with my favorite prof, all on PLU's bill!?! And of course, Amy lived in London back when she went to the Royal Music Academy or something awesome like that, so she knows city pretty well.

After the grant work in London I will fly to Northern Germany right outside of Lubeck. There I will spent time with the Lunds...one of the most amazing families I have ever met!

After my time there I will head to Switzerland to visit my friend Lukas. Lukas was a camper of mine a few years back; as his English was limited, we ended up spending a lot of time together as I helped him find rehearsals and communicate with his teachers. Over the years, he's turned into a great friend, sending Christmas cards and Easter baskets, and while I was in Bavaria his family took a detour on their travels and came to see one of my concerts, bringing Swiss chocolate and a Swiss army knife. While in Switzerland we are going to visit Zurich and many of the small surrounding towns, and then do a lot of connecting with nature.

From Zurich I head to Berlin to visit some more old friends, Robert and Josi. I'm not sure what we're planning here, but it's Berlin, so I doubt I'll be bored! From Berlin I head to Vienna, a city I've been dreaming about ever since I knew who Mozart was. After previous failed attempts, I will succeed! I'm a little nervous about staying at a hostel for the first time, but I know I'll be fine. Then from Vienna I'm going to Paris, which, knowing me, will probably be spent inside art museums. If anyone has a friend in Paris or Vienna who would like to hang out with a dorky American, let me know!!! From Paris I take that crazy underwater train back to London, where I meet my host family and then begin my four months of internship and classes.

Now I'm just doing the normal pre-travel stuff...pretending to pack while not packing, still celebrating that I actually got my Visa with no problems, wondering when the heck the program's going to let me know about my internship placement results and my host family.

Also, I've been talking to Amy almost every other day, finalizing last minute details. One of those in my mind was figuring out how to get to the airport, as I won't have a car or a cell phone at that point. Amy suggested riding the bus, I suggested our dear friend Bob. Amy said that I could ride with Bob and she would take the bus. In an attempt to convince her that this was a stupid idea and she should just ride with us, I sent her the following list of reasons:

• Your house is actually on the way to the airport from PLU; not a big detour at all
• You won't have to take the bus (no point, waste of money and time)
• Less scary homeless people in Bob's car than in the bus
• How cool would it be to see Bob right before we leave?
• He's excited to drive us and would be disappointed if you said you were taking the bus, and, really, what's worse than a disappointed Bob?
• I probably will no longer have an American cell phone at that point, and it will be way easier than trying to find you in SeaTac without phones
• Think of all the amazing photo opportunities (You and Me, Bob and You, Bob and Me, all three of us, individual shots; really, the options are limitless!)

Now it's just a waiting game. I'm finishing up my volunteer work at Seattle opera, teaching my final piano lessons, having a tearful goodbye with my church, etc. Saying goodbye to my church will be the hardest, as I actually had to resign and will not be working there on my return. So to go out with a bang, my church is having all sorts of special music to showcase me, including singing. Now I'm primarily a pianist, but I'm not a terrible singer. I have a nice middle voice. But Candice, dear Candice, really really really wants to sing "The Prayer" with me. The Prayer is not written for a man with a nice middle voice; it's written for a man with a great lower register and a healthy falsetto. I have a nice middle voice, gosh-darn-it, but the lower register is either none existent or akin to a pubescent boy and my falsetto sounds like Mickey Mouse on kemo. But I love my church, so here goes nothing.

Otherwise, 9 FREAKIN DAYS!!!