At JFK.

I’m at the JFK airport now. I can’t believe I’m actually flying out to Spain! I am extremely excited! When I saw off my roommate at the gate where he boarded to the plane going to Madrid, I heard a lot of people speaking Spanish, and I started to feel a little nervous—very similar to the way I used to feel when I heard people speak English. I hadn’t experienced this sensation in a long time, I realize.

I spent a long time packing up my baggage last night. Finally I went to bed after the sky started to get light. Well, to be precise, I went to mattress rather than bed because I needed to store sheets and pillows at my suitemate’s apartment for next year. The day before the flight, I always find myself staying up late struggling to fit everything in my blue suite case with a sticker that says “Exchange Student” that symbolizes my first trip to America, where I learned English and American culture from the native speakers.

My first flight, which leaves in less than an hour, is to Dusseldorf, Germany on Air Berlin. There, I will have a 10-hour layover. Yes, 10 hours. Ridiculous, isn’t it? Having chosen this flight its reasonable price, I was obviously thinking of ways to kill that 10 hours in the airport as comfortably and meaningfully as possible, like watching movies or taking a nap. But I realized 10 hours is such a long time that I could use it to other purpose. I want to take advantage of this opportunity and try to go out of the airport to do a little bit of sightseeing in Downtown Dusseldorf. OK, maybe tasting a little bit of German beer too. Since I have never gotten out of airport for layovers, I’m not completely sure if this works, but let’s give it a try. If it fails, I will probably be updating this blog. After Dusseldorf, the next flight will take me to Bilbao, Spain. From there I’m probably taking a taxi to my host family’s house. I hope the driver will know what I’m referring to when I tell him the address.

For now, I should proceed to the gate. Wish me luck.

Introducción

Hello world.

I'm Taka, an international student from Japan who go to a university in the U.S.
The main focus of this blog is going to be about my experience in Bilbao, Spain during summer 2011.
I will be staying in Connecticut and Bilbao for a month each to study Spanish this summer.
The whole reason why I started this blog is because the branch of my university that overlooks student's international opportunity encouraged me to keep a journal during the stay. The interesting thing is that they said it's better to start now, because it'll be interesting to look back in the future what I was thinking before the trip. Very helpful tip I guess, because I easily put off things, especially those that I don't want to tackle right away. And we're talking about writing here. I mean, given how much I procrastinate before writing my paper, it's pretty obvious this tip is going to help me a lot.
Anyway, I'll try to update this blog everyday at least during the program.

Wish me luck.