The Trip
I was intensely studying the insides of my eyelids when suddenly, my clock radio sounded. “Laksjdflajsdfljasdfj” I mumbled groggily. Unfortunately the blinds made no attempt to keep the sun out of my face this morning. I furiously rubbed my eyes, trying to unglue them after my slumber.
“This is not the time for being sleepy,” I told myself “It’s a big day.”

I pulled my vintage blue suitcase out from under my bed and unzipped it. The lining of the suitcase looked up at me, reminding me that I’m a complete fool for waiting for the morning of departure to pack. I sighed and threw in an armful of clothes from one of the moving boxes. I held up two jackets and tilted my head slightly to the right, trying to decide which one would be best for Copenhagen weather.

“Oh screw it,” I said, and flung both in the case. I tugged the zipper around the suitcase to secure my belongings. I lugged the old thing down the stairs to be welcomed by a video camera shoved in my face, courtesy of my mother.
“Ugh mom, get that out of my face, I just woke up,” I grumbled.
“Sweetie, I know, but this is such a BIG day,” she said with tears swelling in her almond shaped eyes. “Now go get dressed and we will drive to the airport.”
I turned around and sprinted up two flights of stairs and arrived at my room. I spun the brass doorknob and walked inside. All of my belongings were packed up in boxes, ready to be shipped upon my arrival overseas.
“Wow,” I said thoughtfully. “This is really going to happen.”
I trudged over to my opened box of clothes and threw on a pair of jeans and an Indiana Hoosiers sweatshirt that I set out the night before. I took one last look at my childhood room and shut the door.
The rest of the morning went past in a blur. MY mother was in a mom-like frenzy to get me on the plane. There were lots of “goodbyes” and “I love you’s” exchanged but it was finally the time to board. I found my seat and promptly sat down, because I was starting to feel a bit uneasy.
Now, It’s not like I was afraid of heights, but I was afraid of falling to my death from thousands of feet in the air. So yeah…I guess I was afraid of heights. I plugged in my Ipod and put in my headphones. I listened to The Ramones sing about how they wanted to be sedated and I figured a bit of sedation right about now wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I felt the plane jolt forward and realized that my palms were sweating from gripping the armrests. Cautiously I released the chair of my death-grip and tried to lean back.
The guy next to me leaned over about two inches from my face and suggested that I should do some deep breathing.
“Thank you.” I said politely and looked away, trying to avoid eye contact with this stranger.
“First timer?” he pursued.
“Excuse me?” I shot back.
“This is your first time on a plane, I can tell,” he said smoothly. “So are you here on business or pleasure?”
“Um…neither,” I said, desperately trying to escape this conversation. “I’m actually going for my first semester of university in Copenhagen.”
The man raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes. I sat up a bit taller in my seat, knowing he was impressed.
“A college girl then, eh?” his accent was heavily British.
It turns out that his name was Roger and he was attending the same university as I, except this was his second year. We ended up talking the entire plane trip. He was from London but took a trip to Indiana to visit friends before school, which explains why he was on my flight. Before I knew it the flight was over and the plane had come to a gradual stop. I had gotten off the plane successfully; nothing much damaged except maybe my dignity. Roger and I walked to get our luggage at baggage claim.
“Well I guess this is where we part ways.” he said after we had gotten our stuff. He held up my hand and wrote down his flat address in purple sharpie.
“Just drop by if you ever want to get a tour of Copenhagen.” He said confidently.
He playfully saluted me goodbye and walked away, disappearing into a crowd of globe-trotters. I glanced down at my hand, realizing that his flat was just down the street from mine.

“This is going to be quite the year.” I muttered and walked confidently out of the airport with a grin plastered on my face.