Travel Notifications!

So last Friday I finally recieved my travel notifications. Very exciting stuff, let me tell you.

So I am officially leaving for New York the 18th of August and spending the night then the next day, the 19th leave for Sweden!

Here's the details:

On Tuesday August 17th after Mommy and Christian get off work, and my brothers coming too, we'll leave for the Cities and will probably go to one of my favorite restraunts for my "last supper", and spend the night down there. Then the next morning wake up nice and early- around 4 AM to be at the airport by 5. My flight from Minneapolis leaves at the lovely hour of 6:45 AM and goes to Philadelphia, PA at 11 something where I'll have an hour to get lost and find the other plane I'm switching to, I just found out they have a chick-fil-a in the airport, you can guess what I'm having for lunch most likely! The board that plane and arrive at La Guardia airport in NY at 12:21. After that I'll find my lugage and find an AFS person who will take me to the hotel by JFK airport where I'll spend the night and have my gateway orientation. The next day, the 19th, we continue orientation and leave for Sweden from Newark airport in New Jersey, a half an hour drive from the hotel, at 5:20 PM. Then almost 8 happy hours later we arrive in Stockholm at 7:15 their time (12:15 AM here). So most likely I'll be skipping sleep for a night. After that we have a two day orientation in Stockholm going over some more stuff and Swedish and what not. On the 22nd, my host family will come pick me up, and then I start school on the 23rd!

It's crazy stuff! I'm a tad bit stressed but not all that much (suprisingly)! It's just amazing it's happening so fast. I'm extremely excited to fly! I haven't flown in over 5 years now. Umm I can't think of anything else for now!

6 weeks and counting.

In the last couple of weeks I have seen myself stressing out over things I can't control. My mom keeps saying that there's no reason to stress, if it's not going to change anything. I find myself constantly thinking "what if" and trying to come up with every possible outcome. There is so much left to do before I leave. I still haven't gotten travel notifications of when I am supposed to be in New York, and it's driving me absolutely crazy. I'm leaving in a little less than 6 weeks now, and I don't even know the exact date I'm leaving and that kind of scares me. On top of that my PDO (pre-departure orientation) is supposed to be July 14 but considering I'll be 6 hours away on that date, I'm not exactly going to make it. Instead, I might be able to do one in Des Moines, but if that doesn't work out I will have to do one over the phone on the 20th.
On a positive note, I am very lucky to have a wonderful host family and to have been placed in April. I have also gotten an email from my Liason, Mia, who is very friendly, and kind. She was an exchange student in North Branch, down by the Cities, and has even been to Duluth! Her daughter Emelie was just an exchange student in Tennessee and just got back to Sweden. I have also been in contact with a boy from Spain that will be going to Sweden who's been placed in Uppsala, which is 45 minutes I think from Stockholm.
Now that I'm getting into the final stretch to go I am getting more nervous everyday. Like I said, I still have tonnsss to do. Over the weekend I learned a family recipe that I think I'll try to make for my host family. I'm pretty excited about that because I'm only the 3rd person besides my aunt and Grandpa that know how to make it.
Another thing is I really don't know if I'd be able to do this with out my mommy and other family, and friends. I have gotten so much support, it's amazing. My mom, even though I'm sure I've been pushing every single one of her buttons, and she's pushing back, has just been awesome about all this lately, she's being so supportive, and has been helping me with tons of stuff, I think I might actually miss her. :) & most of my family has been really supportive also, it's really nice to be surrounded by positive attitudes. & my friend Jason, has just made my realize how awesome it's all going to be, and to make the best of everything, and to do something random everyday. He really inspires me because he stays so true to his self, and lives his life for him.
I realize I worry a lot and I stress a lot. I know the end result will make this all worth it. I am just so excited that I get to have this experience and I'm really extremely thankful. Well, I feel like I've been typing for a long time so I think I might give it a rest.