AHOY! the time has come.

la la la...

my time is almost finished in my beloved wisconsin town, i am off to florence and london in 5 days.

mixed feelings, you see. i don't like racine, but i like my family. i don't like racine, but i love chicago (i.e. friends, skyline, hustle and bustle, being blatantly rude to tourists, hot dogs). alas, i will once again, like my previous semester in paris, be the visitor.

this next semester i will be with some o' my dearest friends. clarissa thiessen (pronounced tee-sin) shall be at my side for both london and florence, and michael anne, childhood friend and fellow alum of The Prairie School, Inc. will also be "studying" in firenzo avec moi.

im a little scared of the travel plans, our original flight got canceled so NOW clarissa and i are forced to leave a day early (jan 2) and then catch a train to florence from rome. i am a little nervous for this, i am in a bit of a different situation compared to paris.
1. i speak/read/write french
2. i dont speak/read/write a lick of italian

therefore, i am relatively helpless, prone to mistakes and wrong turns, and will most likely look like a stupid tourist.

therefore, clarissa and i have given ourselves ample time to traipse from plane to train to hotel/hostel thing in case of catastrophe. both clarissa and i are SuperNerds, so, if need be, we could probably solve any problem by reflecting on our knowledge of harry potter and LOTR. those people were in a LOT more trouble than we would probably ever be in. a simple source of inspiration.

I just know this is going to be better than paris. you know why? because my authentic marine dress uniform jacket i bought off ebay just arrived and it's fucking AWESOME.