7 days. 1 week.

Hi again!  I felt like since I'm leaving in a week I would update!  Nothing really exciting has happened, but I got my visa which is a relief.  This is my last week of school (yay!) and after Friday it's time to play the waiting game.  I'm getting really excited and surprisingly a little nervous about leaving!  This is a really random post but I felt like I should say a little something anyway.  I hope I'll have something to post about really soon!  Until then, auf wiedersehen!

So many things, so little time!

AH things are getting crazy.  I can't believe I'm leaving in 17 days.  IT'S SO WEIRD!  I have so many things to do before then, I think it's finally starting to set in that I'm actually going!  I tried packing today, and found out that I'm a lighter packer than I thought, which is a relief.  And I found out I can wear my Sperrys in Austria and not look like an old man.  Phew.  Today I had my pre-orientation, it was actually a lot more fun and informative than I imagined it would be.  It was a small group; me and 3 other girls going abroad.  They're all going to warm places (Argentina, Costa Rica, and Paraguay), so I was a little jealous.  We did some... "interesting" activities and it was fun talking to other kids that shared my excitement!  I'm a little sad those 3 won't be in New York with me for the gateway orientation, but I know they'll have a great time in Miami :)  Other than that, my day consisted of planning planning planning!  I have a going away party with my friends on the 21st, a family party for me on the 22nd, and the day before I leave I'm spending the day with my dad and having a final family dinner that night with him, Julie (his girlfriend) and my sister :)  I'm more excited than ever, but at the same time more nervous than ever.  This is one hectic adventure.

Inroductions!

Hi everyone, my name's Ian!  I'm a junior in high school in southern Maine.  In 20 days (at the time I write this) I will be starting a 5 month adventure, between the end of January and the beginning of July.  I'll be leaving the United States and living in a small town in upper Austria called Sankt Martin im Mühlkreis.  While my home town is around 17,000 people, the population of St. Martin is a little over 2,000 people, and Linz (where my school is) has a population close to 200,000 people.  I'll be staying with a family while I'm there!  My parents are Hermann and Gerlinde Barth, and my sisters are Marie (17) and Toni (14).  I've talked with them some, and they seem like a really interesting and fun family!  I can't wait to meet them once I'm there!  Well, I'm really bad at writing these kind of things, so I'll leave you with that for now and I'll definitely be keeping up with this!

                                                                        Tschüss!  Ian