The Final Countdown

5 days.  That's how many days are left before I leave.  Which makes this my last weekend in the good ol' U.S. of A.  This month has just flown by!

I have been on what I am calling my "Goodbye Tour."  It has basically been going on all month long and continues through this week.  It's nice to know that so many people what to see me and wish me luck before I leave.  Thanks!! 

My sister Holly and my brother-in-law Kyle threw me a going away tailgate.  For those of you who know me well, know that this was the perfect send off!  It was before the first home game of my beloved Purdue Boilermakers.  However, it was our bad luck that it turned out being the hottest day for a game that I have ever been too.  So thanks to all of you who came out and suffered with us.  I had a great time despite the heat and humdity.  Plus we were able to pull off the win!  Boiler Up!

I plan on going to a soccer game while I am in England.  I am told that it is a completely different atmosphere.  And it would have to be because they don't tailgate before the games!  How can the call it football without tailgating?!  Although, I will let them slide a little bit since I have been told that they don't really have the large parking lots that we do around their stadiums.  Not really sure what they do before and after the games, but I guess I will find out.

I have been getting a lot questions about my upcoming trip.  So I thought I would answer them here:

Q:  Am I getting excited?
A:  Yes and no.  Don't get me wrong, I am really looking forward to going.  I just don't think that it has really hit me yet.  Plus I am trying to spend as much time with family and friends that I can, so I trying not to think about it a whole lot.

Q:  Do I have my passport?
A:  Yes.  I got it shortly after I appiled for the secondment.  I don't think they would have booked my flight without it.

Q:  Am I packed?
A:  No. :)  I really only have to pack my clothes.  The apartment that I will be staying in is already furnished.  I took three days off from work this week, so I plan on packing while I am home.  Plus, if I forget anything, I can always buy it while I'm there. 

Q:  What is the time difference?
A:  England is 5 hours ahead of us.

Q:  What is the weather like over there?
A:  I can't really answer this one, because I haven't been there yet.  But I am told that it is rainy and cold.  It just doesn't get as cold as it does here in the Midwest.

Q:  When does my flight leave?  When do I land?
A:  My flight leaves Indy around noon on Friday.  I have a lay-over in Boston for a couple of hours.  The flight from Boston to London is about 6 hours and 45 minutes.  I will be landing in London around 6:30 Saturday morning.  Lets hope I can sleep on the plane!

Q:  You do plan on taking pictures, don't you?!
A:  YES!!  I wll try to post as many of them on here that I can.

Those tend to be the questions that get asked the most.  If I didn't answer a question that you have, let me know and I will try to answer it next time.

For anyone interested in hearing an Englishman's prospective of what it's like living here in America, you should check out my friend James' blog.  He is starting his second year of his secondment.  You will always be able to find a link to his blog on the side of my page.  But for now, here it is: http://www.doyouknowthequeen.blogspot.com/ 

Truth time, I have tried posting this blog 3 times tonight and everytime I lose it!  So I'm going to get this thing saved and posted before I drive myself crazy.

Just think, I will be writing my next post in jolly old England!

Let the countdown begin!

Today is September 1st, which means in 29 days I will be crossing the pond to start my secondment in England. For those of you who don't know what secondment means, let me explain.  It's a fancy way to say work exchange.  And I have been lucky enough to be chosen to work in Kings Lynn, England for 6 months.

Having never been out of the country, you can imagine how excited I am!  I know where I will be living.  A small village just outside of Kings Lynn called West Winch.  I know that I will be driving a manual car while I'm out there.  While driving a manual doesn't worry me, I have been driving one for the last 12 years or so.  What does have me a bit worried is driving a stick with my left hand, while sitting on the wrong side of the car.  Let's just hope I remember to drive on the right side of the road. (The wrong side for us Yanks!)

I have been working on a list of places that I want to see and do while I'm out there.  London, Stonehenge, Hever Castle, Bath just to name a few.  The plan is to take a lot of pictures while I'm there and I will post as many as I can.  If anyone has any suggestions on places that I should see, let me know!

So, at this point, the only thing that I really need to do is pack.  Which may prove harder than I think.  However, I'm not going to worry about it too much at this point.  I still have 29 days.  Let's just hope that the next 29 days don't go by too fast!

I'll post again when it gets closer to the date to let you know how I'm doing with the packing and finishing up at work.