How would you prepare to live abroad for a year?

Yeah, I’m not sure either. So far I’ve got the basics down: enjoy spending time with family and friends, make some money, completed things on the logistics check list, and…oh yeah, pack.

I’m not going to lie to you — I tried to start packing last night and my room currently looks like a war zone (counting my blessings that my parents haven’t it seen it yet). Figuring out what to start packing first was the hardest part, especially since I haven’t fully unpacked from when I moved back home from college. In May. But alas, the packing will get done at some point, I won’t rush “the process”.

Right now, all of the excitement and mystery of studying abroad is bubbling underneath a surface of “what the heck am I getting myself into?” Like many other things in life, not knowing what to expect is scarier than facing a challenging situation itself. This is a current list of my apprehensions about studying abroad:

1. Not knowing how I’m going to handle living more than 15 minutes away from home for the first time ever
2. Not knowing how I’m going to handle only having 7 hours of sunlight during December in Copenhagen
3. Not knowing how various relationships will change after being away for a year
4. …and actually that’s it. Which, on one hand, is a great realization because I know I have much more control over everything else that will stress me out. (Except Netflix! Is that accessible in Copenhagen and Hong Kong??)

All in all, I’m looking forward to jump into this new experience, apprehensions and everything included. Chapel Hill will always be home, but soon so will Copenhagen and Hong Kong.