Good Bye/Auf Wiedersehen

Alright folks.

I am packed, my plane tickets, money and passport are all neatly organized in my backpack and I have been blessed by a Hindu priest.

My good friend Rebecca, who is coincidentally traveling to Europe at the same time as me, has a 400 page binder that she put together for her 2 week trip. She outlines the exchange rates, has information on threats facing travelers through the US Consulate, different phone numbers, hotels, tourist attractions and much more. I haven't done anything to plan. I am getting off of the plane, holding my breath and hoping for the best. That and getting blessed by a Hindu priest is my plan of attack..

It's funny how different we are.

My morning started at 7 am with a drive to Boston and a flight to NC at 2:40pm. I take off from Charlotte at 8:10pm and land in Germany at 10:50 in the morning. From Frankfurt I board a train to Aalen and am in for a 3 hour train ride. I am sure the scenery will be lovely! Once I hit Aalen I am only 20 minutes away from the school and I get to settle in.

Look at how small my seat was! I am pretty sure they picked this out of a doll house! My legs were in my stomach for the entire 8 hour flight! It was awesome!

My whole life for 6 months fit into one large suitcase and one small duffel bag. I am pretty impressed with myself. I am only taking 3 pairs of shoes, which really impresses me even further!

I am 6 hours ahead of everyone back home, which means I am always in your future;) Just be on the look-out for me.

This is a trip of a lifetime and I am so lucky and blessed to have the ability to go on it. I am looking forward, but thinking of home. North Conway, you take care!

Words from the (not so) wise...

My throat is closing up.

I just bought my Eurail pass and due to my inability to plan efficiently I have to pay a 35 dollar shipping fee to get it out here before I take-off. It's a chronic disease, my lack of planning. For a self-proclaimed tight-ass you would think I would have all of this stuff taken care of months in advance to avoid fees and stress like this!

Perhaps I am living in a bit of a fantasy land that all will take care of itself and I can just walk off the plane into German bliss. That fantasy is getting a little pinprick of reality - just enough to let it burst the last three days of being home I am sure. Purchasing this train ticket is just the beginning! Everything on their Bahnhof (train station) website is in German (surprise, surprise) and I can't read German (even bigger of a surprise). What ever made me think I would magically be able to interpret anything over there?

It looks like becoming a language aficionado is going to be added to my list of things to accomplish! So far I have had to get my license renewed, all of my credit and debit cards expire half-way through my trip so they have to be renewed as well, I have to have some mildly serious dental work done, have an x-ray done on my arm because I am convinced I have a stress-fracture, get my hair cut and pack - all before the 27th.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. I am. I really, really am. (Can you tell by my above inscribed freak-out?) This trip has been 2 years in the making and has sounded great and cool coming out of my mouth when I tell people about it. But now I have to actually do it. Just buying the Eurail pass on an American website was stressful enough, which makes me think that I won't ever leave my dorm and will have to make a bunch of shit up to put in my blog to keep all of my dedicated readers interested. How can I handle all of the change coming my way? Sure I have a Eurail pass, but when I get off the plane and can't figure out which train to board to get me from Frankfurt to Aalen my Mother will probably receive a call from a melting puddle that used to be her daughter.

Regardless, a lot of change is coming my way. I am convinced that something HUGE is going to happen me on this trip. Whether it is more transcendental and takes place within my soul or it materializes into something more physical like a job or permanent residence in Europe, a lot is about to be revamped. I asked my Mother what made her think I was capable of handling this. Her response was nothing less than straight-forward: "Jaimie, a lot of kids have done this before you and I can guarantee that a lot of them are bigger idiots than you."

That right there is 100% pure Mother confidence. You just can't bottle that stuff and sell it on a shelf! I guess she is right. I don't know what I am doing and I have to embrace this trip fully as a learning experience. So I have to spend an extra 26 dollars on shipping for a train pass. I won't ever make that same mistake again. And 26 dollars is probably nothing when it comes to the amount of money and mental energy I will spend just covering my butt for all of the other things I didn't know about. This can only be looked at as a classic example of failing up."

And if my throat closes up again due to stress, thank God Germany has socialized health care!

Flashing Lights

I caved and bought myself new snowboarding gear. And as you can tell I am a little too excited! Not to say there wasn't an immediate need. My pants were only good for three runs before they were soaking wet on the butt.

I went into Joe Jones with no intention to buy anything. I was just browsing, but my unexplainable loyalty to 686 brought me down and I bought this jacket. It was the least stupid one out of the entire snowboarding jacket selection. If you want to be photographed you have to wear the most obnoxious colors and patterns and usually because of this, you end up looking really stupid and like you're trying too hard to prove something.

This jacket can't be too offensive and at least my pants weren't lime green! I like it though. For those of you who have seen my Harley Davidson Jacket and know how I walk when I wear it, this jacket makes me feel the same way. The new pants that actually keep me dry and goggles that aren't too big for my head and let wind come through non-stop don't hurt either. Plus I haven't been able to find Spy products out here in forever, so I go nuts when a store actually decides to stock them!

There has been so much to catch up on since I got home! My flight is booked for Germany and now I have to pack, get my finances in order, tie up any loose ends and mentally prepare myself. I am thinking though that since I just bought brand new gear with only 3 weeks left to actually snowboard, I will be doing none of those things until the last second because I will be out on the mountains!

I Thought This Was Cool...

As We Look Deeply Within

We Understand Our Perfect Balance.

There Is No Fear

Of The Cycle Of Birth, Life And Death.

For When You Stand In The Present Moment

You Are Timeless

-Rodney Yee

What's your anthem?

So reverting back to an older post about chairlift meditations, I was asked by a friend what song I would consider my anthem? - Funnily enough this question was posed on a chairlift! - I always have my headphones in when I hit the slopes, but I never really thought about which song spoke to me the most.

Asking me to choose my favorite song or most poignant song is like asking a parent which child they love the most. I can never answer absolutely. It is the same thing when it comes to my favorite books or movies. Different things speak to me on different dimensions. So, I went through my ITunes playlist and researched which songs I had listened to most over the past few months. Some songs I am just embarrassed to admit I listen to and even exist in my ITunes. I like to think of myself as a music connoisseur (you are what you think, right?)

It was a close game with wonders like "Proudest Monkey" or "I'll Back You Up" by Dave Matthews. Bob Dylan does an awesome duet with Van Morrison (one of my favorite artist's of all time) on "Crazy Love" Bon Iver delivers some great hits with "Skinny Love" and "Blood Bank" but it has to be a tie between Martin Sexton's "Black Sheep" (although he does an amazing rendition of "Purple Rain") and Grace Potter's "Apologies." The latter came in with a stunning 794 plays on my ITunes playlist and that doesn't count the amount of times I have left it on repeat on my IPod. Out of the some 3,500 songs I have in my ITunes library, those were the two winners.

My anthems couldn't be the polar opposite of my friend's, which is probably the way it is supposed to be! Why would we be friends if we were exactly the same. But none-the-less, Grace Potter is awesome to follow. She is amazing live and her song "Apologies" is a very honest in my mind. And when it comes to a man that was trained in Classical Opera, but gave it up to sing Acoustic Rock, who wouldn't love that?

So in the words of Martin Sexton:

Times they were changing, I did just a little re-arranging

Take a couple chances on my progress as it advances

To that prize of my freedom!

What's your anthem?

You Can't Get Rich Playing the Penny Machines!

As my time here at Schweitzer comes to an end and I point my eyes towards Germany, I have to take a moment to collect what I have learned and experienced. It's funny, as I begin to bounce around, I am getting better and better at finding that sweet spot of how long it takes to get acclimated to a new place, how long you need to enjoy the new spot you're in and how long it takes to be dying to go home. I am only a 1/4 way through that process.

2 months was just long enough to start getting to know people to hang out with, to not let all of the "one ways" in town trip me up anymore, find a place to get a real martini and let loose a bit more on the mountain. Now I need 2 more months to enjoy all of those things and 1 month to get sick of them! But I have packed a lot into these 2 months that I will remember forever and I feel really good about what's coming next!
* "Beer-Mosa"
----->3/4 of PBR mixed with 1/4 of orange juice - just try it and you will fall in love with it.

* We are all just trying to figure out ways to do what we love
---->People here take (HUGE) pay cuts in order to teach ski school or work for the Patrol. They work 24 hours a day in the summer in order to be able to swing the winter. As tight as times can be, they make it work, b/c they love to ski. I am sure 90% of the rest of the world would give up their steady salary to get away from their desk and enjoy life the way those on the mountain do. Not enough people do what it takes to do what they love, regardless of how unglamorous it can be at times.

*Keep your board centered and nothing can go wrong
---->Don't question things or take your eye off what's right in front of you. Stay commited to what you want to do and you'll land it every time. A lot like life, right?

*Do what you dig;)
---->And nothing else. Don't spend time or money on anything BUT what you are passionate about.

*Embrace things as they are.
---->Don't try and make a situation into something it isn't. Enjoy it for what it is meant to be!
(This one is really easy to manipulate with projection and unrealistic expectations! But it's wonderful when you get past it!)

*I'm getting really great at finagling rides out of people I have only spoken to a few times!
---->At least I am not as uptight and controlling!

*Fear is for suckers
---->Something I want people to describe me as is fearless. (There are many other things I want people to reference me for, but this one is probably in my top 3.) If you're not getting your heart racing then you're making it too easy on yourself. Mark Twain said it best: "In 20 years you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do, than the things you did do."

*You can't get rich playing the penny machines!
---->You have to go all in to reap big rewards. You can't sit around and play it safe and follow the trodden path. You have to create a new one, hold your breath and hope it works. If it doesn't, pick yourself up and move on. But don't stop taking risks, it's the only thing that in the end, will give you insane return on your initial investment!

It is funny to think about how I will be looking back on my time spent at Schweitzer. I remember all of the times I have listened to my Mom tell all of her stories (and there are quite a few) that brought her to the pinnacle she is at now. I think this experience is going to be just like that. When I am sitting around with friends 30 years from now I will be looking back on all of the things I did out here in Northern Idaho and how it shaped me into a person that someone would want to marry, or a company would want to hire or someone that a friend would want to have.

I am not quite ready to leave, but I can carry with me the fact that it has radically changed my life for the better and put into motion, many things I have been trying to teach myself over the course of the last few years. I hope I am able to make it back in the near future to commemorate where I ended up! And it will be somewhere big, because I am going all in with this thing called life!