Behold, that introductory blog post: those awkward few paragraphs where one tries to guardedly describe oneself and accurately express certain levels of excitement and anxiety associated with moving across the world for the next four to ten months. \u00a0I am horrible at introductions. \u00a0Writing papers, meeting people, all of them. \u00a0I either err on the side of caution where I seem disturbingly enigmatic after providing too little information, or I spiral downward into the treacherous doldrums of word vomit where I feel the need to say everything interesting about every subject ever. \u00a0I have no idea which of these routes I will traverse with this entry. \u00a0You\u2019ve been warned either way.<\/p>\n
I am assuming that most of the people who read this have a vague idea of who I am at the very least. \u00a0If you stumbled upon this slice of Internet by chance, however, then you are most welcome. \u00a0My name is Shelby and I am a student at the University of Puget Sound. \u00a0I like things that are made out of words and will be studying both English and Classics at Trinity College Dublin for the next academic year. \u00a0This blog is where I will be recording my adventures.<\/p>\n
I am currently en route to the thriving metropolis of Gander, Canada, where I will enjoy a brief but riveting jaunt before flying to some city called London.\u00a0 I sit here sipping complimentary boxed wine at 37,000 feet, having just finished a delightfully crumbly meal of an indeterminable form of poultry.\u00a0 I think it was chicken, but that\u2019s what everything tastes like so I really have no idea what I consumed. \u00a0This is called \u201cliving the dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some people find traveling stressful or tiring or annoying.\u00a0 I, on the other hand, would live in an airport if I could. \u00a0The strangely universal leather chairs! \u00a0The expensive Internet access!\u00a0 The prime opportunities for people watching! \u00a0Needless to say I am quite excited to be living on (or near, I suppose) a continent with budget airlines and decent trains again. \u00a0Expect blog posts from many places other than Ireland.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re still reading this, I must tell you that nothing exciting has happened yet. \u00a0I mean, there aren’t even pictures in this entry. \u00a0I probably should have waited to write this until I had some life-altering adventure, but I suppose this will just make relaying my real abroad experience that much better. \u00a0As of right now, I am just reveling in the simple pleasures of transit, and for that I apologise.\u00a0 I suppose I could have made this into a Choose Your Own Adventure Blog or something of that nature. \u00a0Hmm.<\/p>\n
The middle seat of my row is empty.\u00a0 This thrills me.\u00a0 There was a surprisingly neurotic Croc-wearing woman there until the moment that the fasten-seatbelt sign turned off, when she promptly moved to the other side of the plane without a word. \u00a0I assume she did this because she had managed to tell me her entire life story in the fifteen minutes of taxi instead of pacing this information out over the next ten hours of flight and now felt awkward with nothing more to say until we could turn our iPods on. \u00a0Or else she would prefer to re-read her newspaper clippings about Hungary alone.\u00a0 She is going to Budapest, and I just happened to represent Hungary during one of my years of Model United Nations. \u00a0Since I know things about this subject, I chose the word vomit style of introduction. \u00a0What?! \u00a0I thought she would care about the quarrels between Slovakia and Hungary over rights to the Danube! \u00a0But I digress.<\/p>\n
I should mention that I have a strange ability to attract the most bizarre patrons of public transportation whenever I use it, so I really shouldn\u2019t be surprised. \u00a0These people feel some irresistible need to tell me everything about themselves, even resorting to showing me pictures of family members and particularly enjoyable events in their past as I sit there and absorb their lives. \u00a0I must remember to try to look more repulsive or dangerous on a daily basis. \u00a0Or use them as characters in a novel.<\/p>\n
I also have an even stranger ability to encounter people I know in unexpected places. \u00a0For example, on my mid-flight stroll about the cabin, I noticed a guy I went to high school with sitting a few rows behind me. \u00a0What\u2019s even weirder, though, is that this exact same thing happened on my last flight to London. \u00a0What is this. \u00a0Anyway, you know that moment after you say goodbye to someone when you both end up walking in the same direction or something right after? \u00a0Remember how awkward that is? Well, try having the \u201cIt\u2019s been three years since we\u2019ve spoken and now we\u2019re in the same metal tube!\u201d conversation and then sitting four feet away from that person until the following morning.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve spent the past few hours since then staring at my tray table in its full, upright, and locked position with my seatbelt securely fastened across my lap. \u00a0I\u2019ve also been musing over the fact that that there is no term appropriately opposite of \u201cabroad.\u201d\u00a0 I am now referring to home as \u201canarrow.\u201d \u00a0Thoughts? \u00a0Oh, we\u2019re almost in Canada. \u00a0This is a monumental event in my life. \u00a0I am a very bad Minnesotan\/Washingtonian because I have never been to Canada before. \u00a0This first impression is crucial. \u00a0I must put the laptop away now or else the flight attendant will think that I want to destroy Newfoundland. \u00a0I scoff at this assumption. \u00a0I\u2019ve played Risk. \u00a0That would never be my first move. \u00a0Greenland, perhaps.<\/p>\n
UPDATE: I love Canada. \u00a0It has free Wi-Fi and Canadian security personnel nonchalantly eating Popsicles. \u00a0This is my kind of place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am currently en route to the thriving metropolis of Gander, Canada, where I will enjoy a brief but riveting jaunt before flying to some city called London.<\/p>\n