nerves!

hey guys! i think my nervousness has truly set in right around now...i am in a place where i feel strangely unprepared, even though i KNOW i've spent months getting everything pulled together. i know what u-bahn stops are next to EVERY destination i want to go, i know what my days will hold, i know how to get from the airport to the hostel, i even know the size of the lockers that the hostel provides. today is friday (july 4, which i totally forgot about until i heard the fireworks over federal hill....i admit, i freaked out and thought they were gunshots at first. bmore pride! i've been inside assembling schedules and things ALL DAY. i got a lot done but i feel LAME. there is also no food in the house...i just heated up the only thing in the freezer, some vegan sausage patties. hmmm). 

in case you lost the train of thought above due to my extensive parenthetical information, today is friday and i've decided to start packing sunday, so there's this weird no-man's-land tomorrow, where i don't think i really have anything specifically to DO for the trip, but feel that i should be doing SOMETHING. wow, i'm big on the caps lock today, too. 

i spoke to my aunt and her friend on the phone this afternoon, which was absolutely fabulous. i now know how to ask for the bathroom: wo sind die Toiletten, bitte? as opposed to what i was going to ask: wo ist der Badezimmer?, which, while technically correct, is unidiomatic, and means i'm actually asking for a place in which i can take a bath. not so great in a grocery store. yuck. 

i guess i'm writing all this out of sheer nervousness...i've talked to will (hi fuzzbutt! you're awesome!) about exactly when we need to leave for the airport on monday...i've made copies of my passport and driver's license to keep in the locker in the hostel, all the sort of things you do when you've never taken an international trip by yourself before. my german teacher would be proud (except she hated me...i can't blame her, really...long story). i have retained SO much more than i actually thought i did. i keep role playing with myself, but i think that all my attempts might be accompanied by a lot of frantic pointing on my part. :)

it's getting late, and i have a date with humphrey bogart to get ready for. i recently bought a dvd of dark passage, which is a noir movie i absolutely LOVE, for occasions just such as this. 

okay. i'm sure i'll feel better when i start packing and acting all official and confirming flights and things...i'll try to stop prattering on. except talking needlessly for ages is kind of my specialty. 

i need a glass of wine....