Screw you, Little Orphan Annie.

All I keep hearing in my mind is that stupid song from Annie in the voice of some obnoxious child belting her poor little heart out: "TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMORROW! TOMORROW! I LOVE YA, TOMORROW. YOU'RE ALWAYS A DAY AWAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!"

Disdain for a certain musical aside, tomorrow is coming more quickly than I had imagined and I'm feeling the proverbial walls starting to close in. I think nerves are attempting to overtake excitement, and I'm afraid they might yet succeed. Placing everything out on my bed before finding a spot for each item in my bag is a long and methodical task; hopefully it will become more calming than nervewracking as I go.

Though it may seem otherwise, it's not just fear all up in here (see what I did there? Yeah...). Tomorrow I will hop on a plane for Washington, D.C. and meet up with the other six members of the Kalamazoo College Cog Sci Semester in Budapest contingent. Tomorrow I will be frantically checking my watch several times an hour, making sure I and my bags are where they belong at that specific moment. Tomorrow I will probably consume more coffee than is necessary in any situation to keep me awake. Tomorrow I will use my one phrase of German--Darf ich ein Bier, bitte? (May I have a beer, please?)--while on layover in Frankfurt, unless I wimp out. Tomorrow I will walk out of the Budapest Ferihegy International Airport, with wonder at its maximum and courage at its minimum, thoroughly jet lagged, yet aware of every tiny nuance of my new world.

Till then, I've got a lot of packing to do, and a lot of mental preparation to endure.

I guess I can put up with Little Orphan Annie for a teensy bit longer.