Well, Sept 1st is the tentative D-Day for us. That’s around 130 days. Not long at all. I’ve been trying to figure out in my head what its going to be like, i.e. smell, taste, busyness, the people, the food etc. Maybe I should back up a bit, in the last few days of me getting it in my head that all of next year I’m going to be in Europe, I realized that there is alot of stuff that I take for granted. For example, back home in Virginia, I miss the mountains. Chicago ( no offense ) is flatter then Paris Hilton’s chest. I miss being able to look out my back porch and see the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains. Now I look out my window and see the urban canyons. Not that I don’t like it, its just different. I also noticed that the water back home was less abrasive if that makes any sense. Here I guess because the water comes from the lake rather then the mountains. Again it’s not that I don’t like it, just different. So now that I noticed these little things that people take for granted I’ve been trying to prepare myself for what its going to be like. Judging from what I know, heard and read I think it’s going to smell old. Not like old grandparents, but more stone / cobblestone smell that gives the impression of old. If anything I think it will smell and look a little like home, Winchester is very old, not nearly as old as France. However there are alot of French influences in Winchester. For example, alot of the same building material and style from that colonial era. Eventually when I get some time I’m going to add a page that will have a larger list of comparisons between my hometown, Chicago, and what I think France and Sweden will be like. Then when I get there, I’ll add to it with what it’s actually like. Well this was a good rant, but after a long hot day of softball I’m bushed. I’m gonna sit back with a few shows of Man vs Wild and hit the sack.

Au revoir et bonne nuit