But for real . . .

I am going to start posting on my blog again for real. But don't believe me. You've all seen my lack of dedication in the past and how all my good intentions turn into time spent sleeping. But I am going to try this time.
This is my last week in Provo, Utah and it's raining. Surrounded by boxes in my room, I need to finish packing and writing a paper, but even better would be writing this blog post before I venture out to explore the world. And I am going to explore the world. I will be in London Spring term for Theatre Study Abroad for six weeks. All the shows and museums I'm going to see may be enough to stand up and dance a jig about, but there's more. Ekitzel is flying out from Shenzhen after the Study Abroad is over and we are going to explore Europe, Russia, and eventually wind our way to China. She is flying in on June 5th and we are spending until the 12th in London, at which time we will become increasingly bored (probably not) and will rent a car to drive to Edinburgh and then up to Orkney Island. I'm not sure if you have even seen Simon Schama's History of Britain, but if you haven't and you have 18 hours, you should. One of the first places Simon goes is Skara Brae, an ancient Neolithic village. It is older than Stonehenge! And it isn't a Henge! Anyway, we are going to see that then driving back down through Glasgow so we can return the car. Then it is off to Paris for 5 days where we will begin to speak with each other in German! Okay, maybe not. But we will eat a ton of great bread and cheese.
You are probably thinking that this sounds amazing, but I have yet to tell you about the train to Switzerland, hiking around Luzern, the overnight train from Zurich to Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum, Brussels and then following the Tour de France from Liege (home of great waffles) to Bolongue-sur-Mer, Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Moscow, St. Petersburg, taking the Trans-Siberian railway from Ufa to Irkutsk, seeing Lake Baikal, hiking around it, taking a boat onto it, and then finally taking the Trans-Siberian from Irkutsk to Beijing.
That's about it. Then I have to fly back to Utah, course marshal the Tour of Utah for a week, then move all my boxes to St. Louis. No biggie.
So, I'm packing all these things I own and won't see until September, and I'm really questioning whether I need them all. But these shoes I will need. They are the ones I will be walking the world with before it happens. They probably won't look so good when I get back.