Just an Update!

Now that the realization of what I'm about to encounter has finally hit me, my head is full of questions. I find myself awake at night, trying to picture myself next year, and kinda freaking out about all I have to do to prepare. AFS has a rule that you can only bring one carry-on and one 44 lb. suitcase -- I can already see this is going to be a huge problem! I have a lot of clothes, and I love all of them so much, its gonna be hard to decide which to take and which to leave. Last night in bed, I mentally mapped out what I'll bring in my carry-on, and I think I have a pretty good list --

-Laptop w/ charger
-Harmonica
-German/English Dictionary

-iPhone w/ charger

-Camera w/ charger

-Sketchbook/notebook

-Small gifts for my new family (!!!!)

-Book or magazine for the plane

...and that's it. It's amazing to think that when you truly have to boil down your possessions to only what you'll need for a year, you start to realize how much 'stuff' you have, that you don't really need. For instance, right now my room is completely filled from floor to ceiling with random things, but I just proved to myself I only need 5 of these dozens of things to actually live for a year.

I've recently joined a few different Facebook groups pertaining to my year abroad: one for all the AFS kids going all over the world in 2013-2014, one for just the kids going to Germany, and one that's a general AFS group. Meeting all these kids online is amazing so far. It is so awesome to talk to kids who will be experiencing many of the same excitements and challenges as me in the next year! Most of them are really nice, too! 

So, I guess all I can say is that right I'm really excited for my year, but also really nervous!