JFK

I'm on my way. Presently, I'm on the nice tile floor of the JFK airport as I charge my phone. My flight here was pretty good. Well. That may not be true. It was pretty rocky, but I enjoyed that. It made me feel like I was in a car going across a bumpy road, not in a plane going through turbulent air. 

On the plane, I set my tv screen to the map and watched as I progressed toward New York. It's weird being here. I spent a lot of time in stagnant lines. It felt like more time had elapsed because of the time difference telling me it was an hour later than my mental clock. I wonder what the ten hour difference will be like. While I was in one line, I was holding my phone and this security lady came up and was like "Hold out your hands" so I did, because why not? And she swiped some weird stick thing over my hands then left. 

There are so many different people in the airport. I hope UAE is like this. I've seen a lot of Jewish men walking around with hats and coats and comfortable looking black shoes. I can't really tell how many languages I've heard people speaking, I just know it's a lot. One of my favorite things was hearing some kids from Wales(?) talking. Accents are the coolest. It just made me want to start talking to them and work in the word y'all so they could be like "omg I met a Texan and she said y'all!" That's what I would do. 

Here is a short allegory from my flight to JFK

*pilot over intercom* "prepare yourselves for the smoothest landing of your life!"

We proceeded to land jerkily and there was a little bit of laughter. 

*pilot over intercom* "not so much..."

Everyone laughed then. 

Anyways. I had to get dinner here, so I walked almost as far as possible until I circled back and decided to just get Panda Express. I know, that bit was super interesting. That's why I added it to the blog. Oh. I remember why I mentioned this. The price of food and drink is higher here. Not just in the airport, but in NY in general. Prices in the Austin airport were less than great, but here they are just terrible. 5$ for a small side at panda? I got a medium schlotzkys sandwich for that price in the Austin airport! 

My mom asked for pictures. You're welcome. 

Austin airport

Tracking my flight and jamming to music. 

You know you're in New York when! this guy passes you...

I missed the first AirTrain!

Phew! Thankfully another came about two minutes later!

Enduring, if creepy, mannequin hanging from the ceiling in JFK airport 

And my final picture, me waiting in a line. 

Oh wait, this is real?

It's an entire week into February now and the realization that in a matter of weeks I'll be in another country is slowly settling. I'm getting excited and also extremely nervous.
1. I've never been to another country and I've barely been to other states,
2. I don't know anyone over there sans the family employing me,
3. I'm not prepared yet.
Speaking of prepared, I've been preparing. I got my international license, my passport, a suitcase, and a basic idea of what I'm going to bring. I'm emailing the family about visas and packages and Skype sessions and it's not all that much but it feels like a lot more because everywhere I go, people ask me about it. "When are you leaving?" "Where are you going?" "Why are you doing that?" "How did you find out about this?" "Is it even safe?" I get versions of that one a lot. More often it's akin to what a friend said to me yesterday "Ashley, you're going to DIE over there! Saudi Arabia is so dangerous!" Fun fact: I'm not going to Saudi Arabia. Fun fact: My parents and I have taken precautions and researched to where they feel comfortable sending their youngest daughter there. So, yes it is safe, and no I'm not going to die. Thanks for the vote of confidence though.
The thing I've been worrying about the most with leaving is trying to find times to spend quality time with my quality friends before I leave. In my endeavors, I've found that quality time is harder than it used to be. With some friends, it's as easy as being in the same room with each other, but with others, I'll see them pull out their phones constantly. I like having an iPhone and a computer and the internet; however, I don't like when people use it separately from the person sitting next to them. Looking things up that you're talking about or pulling up a video to show them is fine, but texting and using Facebook just makes your friendship feel like a facade.
On a separate note, I've been having more and more scheduling issues arise. It's February 8th and people have already started asking me to do twice a week babysitting for the entire summer. I realized also that I have to go to ACC before I leave to fill out my ECS form and get advised for summer classes. While we're talking about college, at least once a week someone asks me what I'll be doing for the fall semester. I don't have an answer yet. Will I move to Fort Worth? Will I continue education at ACC until I have all my core classes? Will I cry in a dark room and ignore the world for the entire semester? The former is feeling more likely every time someone asks me...