Geneseo, IL, where my European travel began

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This is it - the last night in the USA before taking off for our adventure in Europe. Back in Ames, Iowa, I was waking up around 10 this morning at someone’s rack at the house, since I didn’t have any room anymore - somewhat still drunk from the night before after watching the Minnesotan Wild hockey game with our rushee Dan Orr and a bunch of guys. I bought a sketch book and sold back two architecture textbooks at the UBS when I saw my buddy Jim. He wished me a good luck in Rome. I also saw Gilk back at the house, and we were talking for a bit - hope to see you later in Europe? Jakey pants' advise not to spend too much time at Amsterdam and always wrap it - yeah, right. After taking shower and packing up for the last time, I was finally ready to be picked up by Jason at noon.

Four hours driving to Geneseo, Illinois, wasn’t bad. We stopped by at a mall in Moline to buy a pair of New Balance for Jason, while Coreen bought a collar for Bella the dog.

The Hardys live in one storey house with a basement, a typical American home. I got acquintanced with Gary and Kathy, Jason's and Ryan's parents. They are funny people. We had dinner around 7:30 at Pizza Hut of Geneseo (go figure!) when I met the whole Hardys: Mike and wife with their kids, Lori and Kelly. Then Lindsay, who is pregnant for her first kid and her husband Jamison, a cop that showed up in his uniform. I guess they wanted to meet me, a friend of Jason’s and Ryan’s that will travel together for the next three months in Europe.

We’re planning on leaving Geneseo around one o’clock in order to get to the O’Hare airport around three-ish. Our flight, AA66, will be leaving at 6.15 pm tomorrow.

I was mad to myself for forgetting my passport size pictures back in Ames. We need some pictures to file some paperwork and the tube pass in London. Damn, so we have to work on them tomorrow morning, don’t forget that. After watching the Bourne Identity last night, with beautiful Zurich, Paris, and somewhere in the Mediteranean, I believe I am ready for our own Europe adventure. And of course the study abroad program itself, which mostly emphasize the Urban Design Studio.

So here I am, on Ryan’s water bed, lonely, with a potential huge thunderstorms developing outside, a shudder of excitement, writing on my journal of the day. I will be filling some pages of my passport with stamps and visas - and the first stamp would be tomorrow, Sunday, at Heathrow Airport, London!

Time to go to bed, relaxing before a whole stressful day tomorrow and sleepless night at the 7 hr 50 min flight Chicago-London.

Good night USA!

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