Pre-Europe To-Do's

A bright light in the end of the fall semester is that my summer study abroad opportunity is fast approaching.  We leave June 4^th and I can’t wait.  We have been busy learning about the European Union (EU) through our homework and essays on current events.  We’ve also been trying to make a list of what the essentials for our trip are.  Dr. Norman Sunderman, our professor has these questions he asks us each time we report for class:

 Do you have walking shoes?    Do you have rolling suitcase?    Do you have a converter?   Do you have a mini umbrella?

Seems simple enough right?  Well, not so simple when you start asking what kind of walking shoes?  This girl is seriously contemplating the description.  Please, don’t mean sneakers I beg.   And thankfully, no, they can’t be sneakers because you will have to wear them with business casual attire during our meetings and tours with European professionals…hmmm.  Heels? Definitely not.  (What do you mean no heels?)  You won’t make it on the European streets that we will be walking on, pushing our rolling luggage making our way to public transportation in the rain while we hold up our mini-umbrellas to protect us during daily rain showers.  So the shoes must be versatile enough to sustain a long walking day on European streets in possible rain puddles as well as serve to complement our business casual attire for image sake. So, the fashionista in me chose a pair of Clarks Mary Jane WAVEWALK.  Apparently they are going to give me a boost of energy as I wavewalk my way around Europe.  Comfy as they may be, they aren’t much to look at.  I would never buy these for fashion’s sake.  But the serve both purposes—and we know how I feel about sneakers—so it’s my compromise.  To make me feel just a tad better I got two pairs one in Pewter the other in Black. My friend Jayna says they are awesome.  Yea, I suppose, that is if you like round toes and flat shoes. Sigh. I hope nobody looks at my feet.

Did I mention the other must have? The converter is probably the most important tool.  We need to be able to plug in our electronic devices in Europe and if we don’t have the converter it could disconnect us from all modern conveniences.  No phone recharge, no laptop recharge, no flat irons and no blow dryers and for the men, that would mean no electronic shavers.  We all took our converters to class for inspection.  Guess who didn’t pass?

Yep, it was me. I had only the adapters for the converter, not the actual converter.  Ohhhhhhhhhhh, I said.  So much I don’t know.

So, that’s the status of my study abroad trip.  Stay tuned though, I suspect I will have many more stories.