The Rest of the Story-Part 1

And, now that it doesn't so much matter what I say, I'll tell the truth. Not that anything I've written up til now has been a lie, but, now, I won't omit anything. Post by post, I vow to tell you everything that happened during the 7 days I was in Vienna. Here Goes.

After travel plans progress to a certain point, you can't really take them back. For me, that means that, though I started to have second thoughts 2 weeks or so before I left, it was pretty much a done deal after I bought my plane tickets. $660 worth of one-way plane tickets and my future was locked in for the next year. Of course, I never would have said anything or seriously considered changing my plans because I notoriously change my mind about everything having to do with my professional life at some point. In the last year alone, I've been certain I wanted to join Teach for America, join the Peace Corps, give graduate school a try, volunteer in London, and move to Vienna. I'm indecisive about my future, and I'm self-aware enough to know that. In the game of chance that my life became after college, Vienna won because I committed myself financially, and, ultimately, I didn't fight it because I didnt think I had anything better to do.
And, I was really excited to go to Vienna! Don't get me wrong. I thought going there as an aupair was the ideal plan for me. The perfect next step from which I could realize many of my other goals. For example, I wanted to go and sing! Audition! Find a voice teacher! Start a music career! I imagined myself learning and speaking fluent German, becoming unbelievably culturally aware, and even taking cooking classes. I scoured the city guide books and made plans for places places I'd visit, sights I'd see, and people I'd meet. In my most private thoughts, I even dreamed that "Mr. Right" was waiting for me in Europe. So, never doubt that I was sincerely and fully thrilled to be going to Vienna.
And yet, somehow, when i got on the plane to leave, I wasnt. My plane out of Springfield was delayed by 2 hours, which was almost long enough for me to miss my connection in Chicago that would take me to Frankfurt. Sitting on the tarmac, I joked that maybe it was a sign, but, inside, I was beginning to suspect that I had indeed made the wrong decision and that going to Austria for a year wasnt really what I wanted to do. I privately wondered how long I needed to wait for my flight to leave before I could legitimately call the whole trip a bust.
Maybe these foreboding thoughts were warnings of what lie ahead-Foreshadowings if you will. But, Second thoughts are a normal part of life for me, so I labeled them 'jitters,' got out my guidebooks in an attempt to renew my excitement, and ignored my misgivings.