entfernen - to take off

Well today's the day! I am about 5 hours away from officially starting my job as an Au Pair in Germany and to commence my year in Europe. I will be living with Sandra and Christof, and taking care of their almost 2 month old son, Mathis. So far I know he enjoys soft things, colorful lights, and stuffed giraffes, which means we have a lot in common. I have never been to Europe, never been in a country where everyone doesn't speak English, and never lived 4457 miles away from my family, but I'm optimistic. 


My flight plan is a little ascu, and consists of me leaving from Greenville, SC then on to Dallas, TX which will take me across the pond to London, UK who will shove me over to Frankfurt. Good-bye to the days of excitement and wonderment when it came to flying! I'm leaving SC at 2:30pm and getting to Germany at 7:30am the next day our time, which happens to be 1:30pm German time. I'm a little uneasy about going at full fast-forward force towards Germany and losing all those valuable hours of time I could spend worrying blindly about things I forgot to do or that are still to come. Or maybe it's a good thing? If all goes well I will make it through customs - do they check for parking tickets? - and meet Christof, the baby daddy and my employer, on the other side and he will drive us two and a half hours to Rheda-Wiedenbruck. That seems to me like along time for two strangers with a language barrier to be side by side, but I'm optimistic. 


Packing for a year was more difficult than I thought it would be, but thanks to suitcase circa 1968 from Helping Hands and my dad's disturbingly meticulous yet extremely useful packing skills, I am officially ready to go with: two huge checked bags, one carry on suitcase, and one new backpack. I told Christof the colors of bags I have in hopes he can use it to recognize me. I am very excited and nervous and happy and worried, but I am optimistic. 


Oh, and this is my first blog.


On to Germany!