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Tuesday Aug 29, 2006

Very last minute preparations

This post is long overdue, I know – but I leave tomorrow and I've been maniacally trying to sort everything out. And I must admit, what with results day then my leaving party I've been fitting in a lot of socialising too... I got AAB so I felt celebration was well in order!

After results day I really felt like school was officially over, but I can still barely get my head round the fact that I'm going exactly 5,728 miles away tomorrow (the wonders of the internet). Well, I say tomorrow, but it'll take me til Thursday to get there. I haven't been on a long haul flight since I was tiny, so I'm even excited about that. But this is exactly what I mean; I feel more like a kid in a sweet shop than an adult ready to work as a journalist. Hopefully I'll settle down once I'm there but I have a feeling I'm going to spend a lot of the year in a state of fidgety excitement.

I've done a practice pack of my bag, and it took me and my sister together to get it on my back and stand me up. I felt very like a tortoise, the bag is nearly as big as I am. I'm torn between thinking that I've got too much stuff and my bag will weigh too much, and that I haven't got nearly enough to last me a year. In a way, the amount of clothes I'm leaving behind is proving to me that my mum's right, and I really do spend far too much time and money shopping!

I've just said goodbye to my little sister, Rosie, she's going camping and she doesn't get back til after I've gone. I'm feeling a little bit emotional. It's strange to think I won't see anyone I know now for a year - especially Rosie, as we share a room and so spend loads of time together, whether we want to or not! She's actually benefiting greatly from me leaving, so I've given her some strict instructions:

1. My bed stays in our room.

2. She can't pretend my clothes were always hers and not give them back.

3. My nice stilettos are not intended as school shoes.

4. She can't use my half of the room as a stable or tack room (believe me, she'd try).

5. She's not allowed to get any taller or any prettier, because she already looks like a model and it's annoying when little sisters do that!

All that said, I will miss her and the rest of my family loads. I suppose that's just what happens when you leave home for the first time. My older brother's starting uni too, so the house will suddenly seem a lot bigger for the four left behind! My family and friends have been lovely and supportive, which makes it hard to leave them, but reassures me that they'll be here for me when I get back.

My best friend's coming round later to help me pack, because he's lovely, so I think I haven't finished my emotional episodes for the day. It's weird to be this sad and this excited at the same time, I feel like I'm using up all my emotion for the next five years.

Next time I write, I'll be in Namibia. I might explode with excitement before then.

Posted by Lucy Hayes ( 10:07 AM )
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