Sunday, August 9th

Reflection

Today I had a lot of time to think about the trip in general because I worked all day. I am so glad to be home and to see my family and girlfriend. I think Europe would have been a lot better if they would've been there with me. I was enjoying Europe but after all of the reading I did about the laws I feel like they want to micro manage everyone. I like Europe but it's not somewhere I'd like to live, that's for sure. I enjoyed visiting but that's all I could do. I would love to bring family back and show them around Amsterdam, it was the best place in Europe for sure. I really enjoy being able to speak the language in the States, that really agitated me with the language barrier. It was a nice trip but I'm glad to be back. I learned a lot that's for sure and am a lot more cultured. I think it gave me a good idea about Europe in general, I love telling everyone about the trip.

Overall it was a really fun trip and I actually liked most people on the trip. I know I was worried about not liking everyone. I don't think I'll go on another study abroad trip though, it sure was expensive!

Wednesday, August 5th

We had class today and then went to the Iamsterdam sign to take pictures. Climbing on the sign was fun and we got some good pictures. Some of us decided to go to the market. I was able to get a good deal on an Amsterdam flag and some other goodies. I wasn't feeling well that day so I went back to the apartment to rest until the Public Health demonstration. The heroine clinic was interesting because I had never heard an in depth description of how they handle it. I was a little let down though because they said it helped them a lot but most people never get completely off of the drugs. I came back to the apartment and continued to rest, today was not a good day because I was so tired.

Thursday, August 6th

We went to the Rembrandt house today. It was a nice museum and they displayed all of his work pretty well. I liked watching the employee mixing paint and preparing the paint like she was going to start painting. I was amazed to hear that Rembrandt had over 40 apprentices over his lifetime, that's a lot of artists that owe their style to him. I enjoyed looking at his cross hatching technique, I love that style. We left the Rembrandt house and continued to Saturnino for lunch. Their food is very good but the service is amazingly slow. I'm ready to go home because I just like the way we do things. I ordered the spaghetti carbonara and it was delicious. Lunch took a while and we were finally on our way back to the apartments. I decided to go look for souvenirs and found a lot of good stuff. Made my way back to the apartment and packed up and chilled out the rest of the night. I wanted to make sure I was rested up for the travel Friday.

Tuesday August 4th

Today was the day I've really been looking forward to. We went to the flower auction early this morning. Got on the trams to Leidseplein and then took a bus right to the Flower Auction, FloraHolland. The building is gigantic, its the largest commercial building in the world. It has 243 acres of ground space inside. This is all in one floor! I thought the visit here was the best group thing we did, it topped everything else that we were required to do. It taught me a lot about several automation functions as well as basic ideas to offer the winery. It was crazy looking over the transportation floor, where they move the flowers from one place to another, there were hundreds of small almost segway type transporters that would hook on to a cart of flowers and then go zipping across the building. The tour was really interesting and I didn't feel rushed, I could've watched the auction floor all day. It was amazing to think that this is where all the world's flower prices are determined. The auction room was neat because they just flew through he flowers, stopping for no body. I liked the idea with the headphones wirelessly connected to the tour guide's microphone so we could all hear without having to be near her and her being able to talk quieter and save her voice. All in all I thought it was awesome and future classes should definitely go to this. After the tour was done, we took the 30 minute bus ride back to the apartments and I took a nap. We had to get up at 5:30 for the auction. We had to be ready by mid day and we were going to the hash, hemp, and marijuana museum as well as Our Lord in the Attic. I liked Our Lord in the Attic, especially with being Catholic. I thought everything was very well restored but I was surprised at how small it was. I thought it was going to be a much more grand museum. The hash, hemp, and marijuana museum was a little bit of a let down because it was pretty small and most of the info recordings weren't interesting. I did like the video they showed, strangely enough it was made by the USDA in the 1940s. Today went by a lot faster than I was expecting, we all thought it was going to be super busy and take forever. Around 6 several of us headed to an Ajax (EYE-Axe) soccer game. Ajax is Amsterdam's team and there sure were a lot of people there. The stadium holds 50,000 and it was definitely at that mark. I have never been to a pro soccer game before, even though I played soccer for 12 years. It was a lot of fun but Ajax lost. The defense was playing on their heels. It was very hype when Ajax scored, the whole stadium went wild. Today was a good day! Did a lot of things but I definitely am ready to get back. I'm not looking forward to the flight back. And I miss my girlfriend.

Monday August 3rd

We had class today and cancelled the Hemp Museum. Everybody was pretty happy with that because they all wanted to go to the beach. I wasn't feeling it so I went out and rode my bike. I went down the the Albert Cuyp Market and bought a few things like a watch and a stroopwaffel. The man at the watch stand was very nice. I continued to ride a around for a while and then came to back to get a snack. Took a small nap and headed back out to buy a few things as gifts, next stop: the flower market. I bought a bunch of US certified bulbs to bring back home and explored the city some more. I'm beginning to feel more like a local now because navigating the roads on a bike isn't scary anymore and I can do it more fluidly than a lot of people. I finally made it back to the apartment and went to get sushi with the guys. The sushi at the first restaurant we went to was awesome but they hardly served us. We got one round of our all you can eat sushi, about 5 bucks a person worth. We paid 26 euro however and that's not including beers. We only had an hour to eat and didn't hear from anyone working there for half an hour so we left and went to another sushi restaurant. 20 euros for all you can eat for 5 rounds and it was delicious. Fast service and good quality. We finally made out way back to the apartments, it's pretty warm outside. The apartments are hot and stuffy and we don't have air conditioning, this will be a fun night. I'm missing home more than ever now. Most people are ready to go back, Amsterdam is fun but its hard to be a tourist for three weeks. You run out of things to do.

Sunday August 2nd

Today I decided to be lazy for half the day. I slept in until 11 and then researched things to do until about 2. I got cabin fever and headed out to rent a bike. Mikes bike shop of course! I got it until Thursday and it was only 36 euro. At first they gave me a bike that brakes when you turn the pedal backwards but I don't like those so I switched it out for another. I ended up riding all the way through Vondelpark. I wanted to ride sound to burn some time so I went all the way down to the business district, over to the football arena and over to Dieman. I was starving so I went to a local café and tried bitter Ballen, they were really good. Had a sort of gravy taste to them. I also had. Spaghetti carbonara and a Heineken.  I finally made my way back to the apartment and watched movies the rest of the night. I was exhausted because I rode my bike for about 3 hours non stop!

Saturday August 1st

Today we woke up late and walked around. The beds were extremely hard, I didn't sleep well. We went to get a late breakfast and then walked to the Cathedral to get our tickets for going inside. The whole tour was only 4 Euro for students which as a nice relief. We first walked around the treasury and saw hundreds of priceless Catholic artifacts and then made our way to the top. There were over 500 steps to the top and most people in front of us had to stop or climb slowly which was pretty annoying for us. There was only enough room for a single file like going up the spiral staircase. The top was really neat because you could see all around Cologne, I was able to get some great pictures. We made our way down quickly because we didn't want to miss our train. We were scheduled for a 7 o'clock departure but everyone wanted to get back for the Gay Pride Festival in Amsterdam. Thankfully we were able to hop on the 2:45 train back. We finally made it back to Amsterdam and got ready to go out for the Festival. It was a lot of fun but there were tons of people so it made getting around very difficult. We all got back late after having a few beers!

Friday July 31st

Today we had class and then we packed for our travel to Cologne Germany. We chose Cologne because of how cheap the train tickets were and we wanted some authentic German food. We made our way to Centraal and got on the German ICE train. They aren't as nice as Thalys and aren't as smooth as a ride. That's probably because Thalys has dedicated lines. It took about 2 and a half hours to get there but we finally made it. It felt like a long ride. My first impression of Germans is they are very cocky and think they're better than others. I see how people think Americans are the same way but at least in the south, we're a lot more friendly. We made it to Cologne finally after several stops and walked through the train station. As soon as we came out the exit we saw the massive Cologne Cathedral. It is the dominant feature in the skyline of Cologne. We couldn't believe how big it was, we noticed people were going up in it and decided we have to at some point but we had to plan well because we were only there for a day. We walked about 15 minutes to our hotel, checked in and then rested a little and went out for dinner. We went to an authentic German restaurant, had several tiny beers (who knew they had small beers in Germany?) and a lot of us got Schnitzel, basically fried pork tenderloins. It was delicious, I was very impressed. We walked around and came back to the hotel to pre game and go out. I'm starting to get anxious about going home. Europe is nice but it's not Kentucky. I miss my family, girlfriend and friends a lot.

Thursday July 30th

Today we went to the Rijksmuseum. I really enjoyed it and I thought it was much better than the Van Gogh Museum. We didn't get to do a full tour but it was still nice getting to see the Nightwatch and the Van Gogh portrait. I know there were several more but I can't remember what they were called. After we left the Rijksmuseum, Sarah, Emily, Frank, and I went to eat and headed to the market. I had never been to the Albert Cuyp Market so it was pretty nice being there. I had my first fresh stroopwaffel, it was amazing. Much better than the packaged ones. We continued walking down the street and I have been looking for a new suitcase so I decided to buy one. It's bright blue and is supposed to be pretty strong. Got back to the apartment and took a nap. Graham, Brad, Drew, Andrew, Frank and I went to go to NEMO, we walked inside but there were way too many kids. We decided to have beer on top the city, I got a nice raspberry beer that was delicious. We finished up there and walked to the Zoo. The zoo was really nice, it had  a lot of animals and the cages were very close so you could see a lot better than most zoos. We spent a good two hours there and headed to "Dollar Fifty Heineken Place" to eat dinner. The nachos were great, I got back and fell asleep and rested most of the time.

Monday July 27^th

Today we had class and went to lunch at an Argentinian restaurant. I know the Argentinians are known for their steaks so I decided to get the mixed grill which had fries, steak, and chicken. Everything was delicious, I really enjoyed the place. Of course I got a beer. I’ve probably had more beer here on this trip than I have in my whole life. We wanted to go to the market but It was raining so hard we figured there wouldn’t be any stalls open. We decided to go back to the apartment and I essentially slept the rest of the day. I looked up several places to visit, did a little bit of study about Cologne Germany and then talked to my girlfriend on Face Time. The distance between us sucks, I wish I could see her everyday. Paris tired me out so I decided to go to bed early.

Tuesday July 28^th

Today we got up early and got on the train to go to Brussels. The ride felt like it took a long time, the train wasn’t a high speed one. We finally got to Brussels at Brussels Nord and went to our hotel. Fortunately our hotel was 5 minutes from the train station. We dropped of our bags in a room because our rooms weren’t ready yet. We had an hour to get lunch so we went to a good sit down restaurant. They had great food, everyone was impressed. I got the spaghetti and it came in a huge portion. It was delicious and probably one of the best meals I’ve had in Europe. We came back and started our navigation to the European commission. The metro here is worse than Paris. It stinks and is old and rickety. It was also pretty crowded too. We finally got to the European Commission, went through security and started our lecture. Our speaker was from Croatia and she could speak English very well. I was impressed. We learned a lot of interesting facts about how the government here works, it lasted about an hour and a half. I enjoyed our visit there because it’s a place that makes huge decisions. We jumped back on the metro and went near our hotel to jump on an open top bus tour of Brussels. It was pretty cold and windy and most of us didn’t bring jackets. I didn’t think the tour was very good , most of the audio recordings cut out before you could listen to the whole thing. I wasn’t enjoying Brussels, there wasn’t much to see and I think they don’t take care of everything very well. We FINALLY got back to our hotel and checked in and settled down for a while. We changed and went out shopping for chocolate. I didn’t buy any because they were selling bon bons for 2 euro each which is way too much to me. The samples were good but not that good! We went to dinner as a group and I got paella, I’ve never had it before and it was really good! I got my Mussels in Brussels! After dinner we walked around and then went to this local three story bar called Delirium. It was really cool , they had over 2000 beers there. I’m really missing everybody back home, especiialy my girlfriend and family. I tried several and decided I didn’t like porters, that’s for sure. I got back late and fell asleep.

July 29^th

Today we got up late and got dressed and ate breakfast. That was probably the best breakfast we’ve had since we were here even though it was pretty simple. We got on the train to go to Bruges. That train took FOREVER! Bruges was really pretty but there was definitely some stinky spots there. I think it’s a nice place to see for a day but besides that I didn’t like it that much. I haven’t been very impressed with Belgium, that’s for sure. That’s why the journal for today is so short. We’re finally back on the train back to Amsterdam, it feels like home compared to the rest of Europe. USA is #1 and the Netherlands #2.

Journey Up until July 27th

July 1^st

Today I have two weeks left until I leave for Amsterdam. I am extremely excited but I will also miss my girlfriend, family and friends a lot. My girlfriend and family continually have told me it will be a wonderful experience for me even though I’ll be gone almost 4 weeks. I want these next two weeks to go by slowly so I can take it all in.

I’ve never been to Europe but I have read and learned a lot about the continent as a whole over the years. I’ve been studying some Dutch but it’s not sticking. I continue to have only English and French terms in my head for things. I plan to study the basics a lot on the plane ride there as well as every few days. I’m excited to use my French in Belgium and then Paris; I’ve never had to opportunity to use it in public. I’ve been reading a lot of travel guides about the Netherlands, there doesn’t seem to be much that surprises me. I think the open container laws will be interesting. I’ve been reading a lot on the Internet to prepare myself.

I know a lot of people (at least 50%) speak English so I am not scared about the language barrier. I’m good at explaining what I need by motions. I’m not excited about packing. The transportation network will be interesting for me because I’ve never been on a subway. I have common sense and I’ve been told that’s all you need to navigate the public transportation network.

July 8th

I’m getting more and more excited about the trip everyday. I know I’ll miss my family and girlfriend the whole time but I know it’ll be a great trip. I’ve been thinking about what I need to pack and I’m hoping I won’t forget anything

I think it is interesting that you can barter in the markets and stores, unlike the US. Where I come from, everything you buy is kept in a store or online. It’s not sold not the street, in a market and so on. I can’t wait for that aspect. I know it’s a different world. I will like the lower amount of commercial companies in Amsterdam. It seems like going down every road in the States, all you see is signs and billboards.

July 12th

Only three more days till I leave to study abroad. As time passes I become more excited the closer I come to leaving. Today I picked up a few last minute items and necessities for my trip, one being a rain jacket. I look forward to experiencing a new culture.

July 13th

I began packing today; I haven't been looking forward to it. It's been pretty frustrating because I don't want to forget anything. The United Airlines website isn't very helpful for figuring out what type of bags I can bring. The excitement of the trip has been getting to me; I can't wait to get there. It's going to be a lot of fun. I showed my parents and family the schedule of what we're going to be doing and my dad especially was very jealous. He loves all of the art museums as well as the history ones. I'll be going over my list a lot so I don't forget to bring something. I've got to book my hotel for Paris!

July 14^th

The next five days are going to be crazy. I can already tell I’m going to be super tired the first few because of the time change. I know it’ll be strange using euros and an ATM machine. I’ve never used an ATM machine; I usually use my card to keep up with money.  I’m super excited for the trip. I can’t wait to get to Europe. Missing my family and girlfriend is going to be a big thing for me. 3 week is a long time to be gone for me, especially with the time difference.

July 15^th

Today I got up at 6:30 am to shower, did the rest of my packing and got on the road to Nashville. My parents and sister drove me down so I wouldn’t have to leave my car. Thankfully I got there on time that would be my worst nightmare to miss it or be late. We checked in and went through security without a problem. The anticipation to get on the plane to D.C. is killing me; we have to wait 2 hours. Just booked mine and Andrew’s hotel in Paris. We’re finally ready to get on the plane and it’s tied for the smallest commercial plane I’ve been on. It flies a lot more steady that I thought it would. It took less time to get to DC than it was supposed to thankfully, we still had to run to our next plane but we made it with 10 minutes to spare. The plane to Amsterdam is pretty big, two seats on each side and 3 in the center. The economy seating definitely wasn’t made for people who are 6 foot tall. It was very uncomfortable for me. I bought Wi-Fi, watched Monsters Inc. and some travel channel shows and tried to get some sleep. I was never able to get to sleep on the whole 7-hour flight. We got to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport at Midnight CDT. We’re now 7 hours ahead of Bowling Green time.

July 16^th.

 We got off the plane around 7 am Amsterdam time. I feel like a zombie, I need sleep. Everything is sore because of the cramped spaces in the plane. The airport is huge and is very nice and clean. It’s easy to get around. I can’t wait to get to our apartments. Taking the train from the airport to Centraal was cool; it was a very nice and smooth ride. We got to see a lot. Centraal was almost overwhelming, so many people and so many ways to go. Fortunately Dr. Myers knew exactly where to go. We took the subway to Weesperplein and walked from there to our apartments. Each apartment has two comfortable beds, a small bathroom with shower and a small kitchen area. I feel like I’m in the projects to an extent. Definitely could never make this apartment my home. There are several aspects about the room that just scream, “why would you build it that way” like the shower design, the toilet, and the plug locations. We went out shopping for the essentials, it seemed like that took forever. Dinner was good; we all got back by 9 and fell asleep until at least 9 the next morning. We stayed up for at least 30 hours.

July 17^th

Today we got up and bought went to more stores for the essentials. The going as a whole group thing is annoying because three fourths of us didn’t need anything and it’s a slow process with moving people around. I guess you just have to do it though, especially when we haven’t learned the city. The bike tour of Amsterdam was pretty cool and a little scary. The roads are very busy bike wise and there aren’t many places in the US where people ride them this much. A lot of people in our haven’t road bikes in years. Thankfully my girlfriend and I ride them pretty often so I’m used to it. They took us to the what we call the “Windmill Bar.” I know we’ll be going there in the future. Today has been a tiring today so I went to sleep early.

July 18^th

We got up late today and then went on the Canal tour. It was really relaxing; I’d definitely do it again. We saw Amsterdam in a different way today. It was really interesting, I’m excited for another ride. We walked around the city a lot today and contemplated getting bikes but it was too late. Several people went the Ajax game, I really wanted to go but I didn’t get a chance to get tickets.

July 19^th

Today we went to Vondelpark. It was very nice. We just hung out by the water and talked and relaxed. That’s one thing about Amsterdam, it’s very relaxing. I feel so much better in a sense of low stress levels but I always feel tired. Probably because we sit and relax so much. Vondelpark is huge, we walked around in it for at least an hour and didn’t walk over the same park. We found a great bar and restaurant 5 minutes from our apartment that has cheap beer and good food. We’ve just been hanging out at night talking. It’s been fun but I’m already  missing home.

July 20^th

We had our first day of class today, it wasn’t bad. Learned a good amount of things about the Netherlands. We walked around A LOT today. My feet are hurting quite a bit but it was worth it. We went to the windmill bar. They have 9% beer that is pretty good, it’s called Columbus. We rented our bikes earlier in the day, its nice having them because it’s faster than the trams. It’s the best way to get around Amsterdam. I couldn’t find anyone to hangout with so I decided to take a bike ride. I went to parts of Amsterdam I’ve never been to. It was a good ride. I stayed in tonight and got to sleep a lot. Still not feeling 100%. I think it’s the lack of water and caffeine. I also woke up early this morning to talk to my girlfriend that made the day much better. I miss her a lot.

July 21^st

Today we got up early to go to the Anne Frank Museum. It was really interesting and I learned a lot. It really gave me a good idea of how bad it would be to be cooped up in a house for two years. I couldn’t imagine the stress from it. I didn’t know Anne died 1 month before liberation. It’s been a real eye opener being in Europe and imagining Nazi troops walking the streets. It’s hard to imagine them in the USA, but when walking through a country that was occupied it really gives you a deep feeling.

Later in the day we went to the Prostitution Information Center and listened to Mariska talk. She answered a lot of questions including “Can you turn away a customer if you don’t like them?” The answer is yes, you basically can choose whoever you want.  They told us of a lot of rules and general things to do to be polite. It was an eye opening experience.  We ate dinner at some fast food restaurant, I tried two new foods but I don’t remember what they’re called. The food was pretty good. I made my way back to the apartments around 9 and stayed in!

July 22

Today we had class and went to Zaandam later in the day. It was a really neat ride, we got to see a lot of Amsterdam we aren’t familiar with. When we got off the train, we walked down to street to start our travel to Zaane Schans, or the windmill place. We came upon a chocolate factory that filled the air with the smell of dark chocolate. It was amazing how strong it was. We crossed a drawbridge and continued to the touristy area of Zaane Schans where the windmills were. There were a bunch of little shop and things to buy. I bought some real Dutch apple pie which was tasty very tasty. We went through the shops and got to try a lot of cheese, my favorite was the smoked goat cheese. Took pictures of windmills and petted the goats and we were on our way back to Amsterdam. I loved Zaane Schans, it really gave me a feel of home because it was out in the countryside. I can only take living in the city for a few days, I have to have my space. I might go back another day if we get time. We came back and go dinner at the Café down the street. We walked around and rode bikes and finally got back to the apartment. I stayed in.

July 23

Today we went to the Van Gogh museum. I was pretty excited about it because I know several of his paintings but Starry Nights wasn’t there and I didn’t get to see his self portraits! I was very disappointed with the museum, too many people and it had a weird layout. I fortunately bought a postcard to send back but I was not impressed by the museum. I went back and took a nap and then went to the Dutch Resistance museum. I like to learn about World War 2 so I thought this was pretty interesting. I learned a lot of about it and especially the War in the Netherlands itself. I had never heard of several factions or problems in the country at the time. The museum was nice and our tour guide was great. I enjoyed it. We then took our bikes back to the bike shop to turn them in for the weekend because we were going to Paris the next day. We walked around Leidseplein a lot, had a few beers and came back to work on our exchange rate homework. We had to go out to several restaurants and stores to get prices. I hung out with everyone and stayed up late so I could sleep on the train. Tomorrow we head to Paris!

July 24^th

Today we travelled to Paris. The train ride was cool. We got going up to 175 mph for a long time. The French countryside is beautiful. I noticed any tree line is completely straight and mowed around instead of being grown up. The guy next to me stunk but he was nice. Coming into Paris, the track runs through low income areas that aren't kept up well at all. I was surprised by how dirty it was. Coming into Paris Nord was interesting because everything was in French. Thankfully an info guide helped us out. Unfortunately they didn't give us the best directions to get to our hotel so we had to walk 45 minutes when the correct stop would be a 7 minute walk. The metro is dirtier than Amsterdam’s, that's for sure. It was difficult to learn and it was very packed, I think they need more trains running. I was exhausted most of the day and wanted to go to bed early but we stayed out late. The Arc de Triumphe is gorgeous, meticulously built, and very detailed. It's huge, I didn't expect it to be that big. The roundabout surrounding it is enormous and chaotic. It's beautiful during the day and night. We had a few beers then came back to the hotel.

July 25^th

We decided to sleep in because we knew we'd have a long day. We started off with going to the Eiffel Tower. It's gorgeous, probably the prettiest monument I've ever seen. We decided to wait until Sunday morning to go up in the tower. We walked around and learned to Barter with the salesmen. There was a huge amount of people there, absolutely crowded. We decided to get a bus tour on Foxity, 20 euro for a tour of the city and an easy way to get around. We did that for several hours and got off to see notre dame, the bridge with the locks on it, and saw several palaces and the orchestra. The tour was great because you saw everything and it was cheap. We ended the day walking around the mall at the Louvre and having dinner at a good restaurant. We were going to go see the Eiffel Tower in the dark but it was too late to use the metro and had to pay a taxi to get home

July 26^th

Got up early and rode the subway to the Eiffel Tower. Got there before a bit crowd got there, about a 40-minute wait. Not bad considering it would've taken 4 hours during the middle of the day on Saturday. It was awesome going up the elevators. The view was beautiful and the only thing that could've been better was if it was sunny. It was mostly overcast for the day. I thoroughly enjoyed the tower. I tried to Face Time my family and girlfriend but it would never connect however they could tell I was calling. We left to checkout of our hotel, which was simpler than I was expecting. We just handed over the key and could leave. We walked up and down Le Champs Elysées several times watching the leaders of le Tour de France. That was a really cool thing to do; there was a lot of energy in the air. We walked around a lot after that and bought a Tour de France flag. We finally made our way to Paris Nord for the train. The subways were packed and uncomfortable, I've never seen it that busy. When we got to the train station we looked for our train and were stopped by soldiers with AR's. There was a bomb threat with a suspicious package so everyone had to slowly clear out. They finally destroyed the package with a bomb squad robot. It sounded like a large caliber bullet being shot.

The train finally arrived and I wrote my journal for the weekend. Got home, unpacked and passed out.

July 27th

We had class today and I just wanted to have a sleepy day. We went to lunch at an Argentinian Restaurant and then tried to go to the market but it rained us out so we went back. I really want to get a hard suitcase to take home with me. I'm going to split the cost of bringing it back with me to the US with another classmate. Came back and ate some snacks and then I fell asleep and watched a few episodes of tv. I really didn't do much today but I feel a lot better than I have on this trip.

July 13th

I began packing today, I haven't been looking forward to it. It's been pretty frustrating because I don't want to forget anything. The United Airlines website isn't very helpful for figuring out what type of bags I can bring. The excitement of the trip has been getting to me, I can't wait to get there. It's going to be a lot of fun. I showed my parents and family the schedule of what we're going to be doing and my dad especially was very jealous. He loves all of the art museums as well as the history ones. I'll be going over my list a lot so I don't forget to bring something. I've got to book my hotel for Paris!

Only three more days till I leave to study abroad. As time passes I become more excited the closer I come to leaving. Today I picked up a few last minute items and necessities for my trip, one being a rain jacket. I look forward to experiencing a new culture.

July 12th

Much excite. So anxious. Wow