Live from New York: It's Thursday Afternoon!

Hello, everyone!

I am writing to you from the food court of JFK International Airport in New York, USA (fancy, right?). I have divided the post below into subsections to allow for easier reading and skimming. I am, as you all know, a huge fan of efficiency and readability. That being said, this is my first try at a realio-trulio blog post. I am experimenting with a few different styles of writing, so bear with me. Let know what you think.

The First Leg: Charlotte to New York

I awoke this morning at 4:20 to my screaming cell phone alarm. That's all I will say about that.

Barely awake, I stumbled into the shower; out of the shower; into my clothes; into the kitchen; out of the door; into the car; out of the car; and into the airport (is that Twitter-y enough for you Twitter people?). I said good bye to Mom and Austin, and dutifully sorted my carry-on items into different bins to be scanned.

* * *

For the first time in my life, my flight was on time out of the gate and early into the next gate. Twas a memorable moment when the flight attendant came on the loudspeaker and said we would be landing 20 minutes early. I flew JetBlue, so I had a mini TV screen of my very own to watch whatever I pleased. After a quick scroll, I settled on The Scripps National Spelling Bee on ESPNU (The bee beat out a History Channel special on the French Revolution by a hair).

For whatever reason, the ESPN folks were airing the 2007 championship instead of the most recent one. Nevertheless, I was fully entertained for the entire flight by the 15 finalists, who are a motley crew to say the least. I was particularly taken by one boy, Evan O'Dorney, who is an amazing speller as well as an ingenious mathematician and musician.

At the age of 13, Evan had already written a piano concerto in his own numerical language; he assigned numbers to musical notes and wrote music as strings of numbers instead of on staffs. If you have three minutes to spare, you should watch his bio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFGz0IkfP30 (start at the one-minute mark). In addition to be a genius, he is endearingly awkward.

As the spelling bee ended, we descended into New York. I have been roaming around ever since, either physically or mentally, preparing for the next leg of my journey to Venice. Below are a few musings of mine since I've been in New York. You may continue on if you like; keep in mind that I am still on my training wheels as writer :)

Goodbye for now, everyone. Look for another post in a day or so; I will be joining you from Zurich, Switzerland.

Until tomorrow,

Lindsey



MUSINGS: I, II, III

I. Airports

Airports are strange places. I never know exactly what to do or how to act, but I realized today - after my 5th hour of sitting in one - that you do whatever you want (within the confines of federal law). I have been kind of out of it all day, and I thought it was due to sleep deprivation, but I think it's because of the airport environment. I have been doing some prime people watching, focusing only on the subjects I have chosen and nothing else.

During the pockets of time when I was focused, I practiced my Italian. I have fully resigned myself to the fact that I have only an elementary understanding of the language at this point in my life, but I need to be quasi-conversational to do my job. As I read through the materials I brought, things started to surface in my mind - useful phrases and words, some attached to fond (and not so fond memories). I will share one of these with you.

I have a 5-subject notebook that I used during all five semesters that I took Italian. I didn't plan it that way; I was - in my first-year diligence - going to have a section for notes, one for homework, one as a homemade dictionary for useful words and phrases, etc. It turned out, however, that I used one tab for each semester, conveniently taking down all of my notes in the same notebook. I was flipping through that notebook this morning, and I was delighted to find my vocabulary lists from Italian I. I drew, yes drew, a icon or picture for every single word. (See image above) Gone are the days when I had enough time and enthusiasm for my homework. I am hoping that my time abroad will rekindle my love of learning, which has slowly fizzled out over the last year or so.

II. Luggage

I hate suitcases. They never seem to fit all of your stuff, and they are ridiculously cumbersome. As you all know, I am not a graceful lady to begin with, so I feel especially uncoordinated balancing a huge backpack, a purse and a massive suitcase. I also have a coat, which conveniently slips and slides away from the backpack strap it is tied to and wanders all over my torso and back. I have successfully hit three people at varying angles and speeds with at least one of my bags. Isn't that wonderful? Long story short: I can't wait until I can check my huge bag, put the others in a locker and take a nap.

III. Apprehension?

I have been devoid of any significant emotion all day today. I am excited, deep down, but I am not allowing myself to be so until I am safe in Venice. Perhaps it is the cynic in me, but I will not allow myself to become excited...yet. My feeling today is similar to that of my feeling in February, while I was waiting to hear from the Collection. The only time I thought about the impending news of my acceptance/rejection was while I slept. I apparently allowed my sub-conscience to go through all of the "what if" scenarios, just not my conscious mind. It is the same now as it was then: I am sitting, waiting, and secretly wishing for the best while going through the necessary motions (or, in today's case, stations).

I will leave you now with all of the words above, and these few words below:
I love you, I miss you, and I will talk to you soon.

L