Party time

Kayla and Veronica are off! They left last Wednesday for the Czech Republic and Hungary, and have now finished their orientations and moved in with their families. Kayla is living in a small suburb outside of Prague, and Veronica in an apartment in the center of Budapest. I have yet to communicate with either of them, understandably, but I look forward to hearing about their adventures.

I bought a nice big L.L.Bean rolling duffel, and this morning I packed it full of stuff. We don't have a scale, but I really hope it's not over 40 lbs. I can hardly pick it up. Later I'll start collecting things for my carry-on.... I have a lot of space, since I'm bringing my Manhattan Portage schoolbag, and I've decided to ship my ukulele packed in bubble wrap. I am a little terrified that I'll forget something critically important, like Claritin, Stitch 'N Bitch, or Kayla's Ambrosia tea.

Today is the big day. 35+ people are coming over to celebrate my "retirement," listen to DanceyPoncey, and smash a pinata. We only realized a few minutes ago how many references to my new music video are included in this party: the pink-and-blue donkey, popcorn, a case o' Moxie, the Happy Retirement sign, and a Thao Nyguen snippet. Plus, there's vegan sushi and croquet in the yard! It'll be fun, for sure.

I'm still not nervous at all; maybe there's something wrong with me! I am just super excited to meet my family and experience all these new things... The only part that I'm nervous about is the orientation, because I am very shy and not very good at "bonding" with other teenagers. I've also been feeling a little insecure about my German abilities. I can make myself understood, but I'm afraid that everyone will have a "why can't we just speak English?" attitude, especially when I'm stumbling for the word for "pen" or whatever.

Today I found out the address of my language school in Karlsruhe, and it's just down the street from two Eiscafes (ice cream parlors), a Deutsche Bank, a brick oven pizza place, and a bunch of cafes! Karlsruhe looks so much like Cambridge. A little college town. I will be going to the Sprachschule for five hours a day, for a month, so I can learn German a little better before starting at the normal Gymnasium.