Under a week

We're under a week until D-Day--departure day, that is. I've got a million things still on my to-do list (that may be an exaggeration, but it certainly feels that way), and I'm running out of time to do it in. High on the list is to decide which suitcases I'm taking, and figure out how to fit everything I need into them.

This was much simpler when I was going to China as a college student, and I didn't feel any need to worry about my appearance. This is about making contacts in my career field, and I really don't want to do that looking like a rumpled girl with uncontrollable hair. So I have to pack all of my hair appliances (and adaptors so I can plug them into British plugs), makeup, contacts, downy spray to keep my clothes from getting wrinkled, shout wipes to keep me from looking like I'm too uncoordinated to get food from my fork to my mouth (which I am, but there's no reason for the big-wigs at Oxford to know that), and my pretty clothes. I'm discovering that it's more difficult to pack pretty clothes than jeans and t-shirts.

It's complicated, but I'm not too worried. I will figure this out, and I like to think I'm creative enough to come up with a solution if I get to London and figure out I've forgotten something. But as more days tick by, I can't help feeling a little nervous about the idea of getting off the plane in a foreign country and having to navigate the place on my own. Thank goodness there's not much of a language difference between here and England, so I can ask for help if I need it.

Okay, I'm going back to my list-making!