China? How'd that happen?

So, only 18 days until the big trip! This news came as a shock to me. I can't believe it's almost here!!! We have been so busy this last week with my little sister's high school graduation that I put the trip out of my mind entirely.. except, of course, for all those times I thought about it. But seriously, it still kinda feels like a pipe dream. Like it wont be real until I land in a country where they don't speak English. In these next few weeks I will be converting currency and checking out the airports where my flights connect. I just looked up the Belfast International Airport and found out that I can leave it on my LONG layover! I had it in my head I would have to sit and wait for six hours, but as it turns out... I can explore a while! Obviously I shouldn't go too far. My sense of direction (or lack of..) was never one of my most alluring features. More so the opposite. It is a horrifying feature. I have been known to absentmindedly end up in other states. Knowing my luck, I would go out for a 'wee stroll' take a wrong turn and wind up in China (The idea that I would cross and ocean and never realize it isn't that far fetched) And seeing as how China is a little ways from Northern Ireland, I would most likely miss my flight. But like I was telling my roommate, the worst thing that could happen is I get deported back to America. And then I can always say "Hey, remember that time I was deported back to America? NO? Allow me to explain..." And I am sure I will never run out of people to tell. And if by chance I do run out of people to tell, I am also sure I will never decide that people shouldn't hear that story again. My redundancy IS one of my more alluring features (as anyone who knows me personally can vouch for the fact that my stories remarkably improve the fifth and sixth time you have heard it. The distances get longer, the raindrops are bigger, the police officers are meaner and stronger..) But I digress.. I will be just going in search of a pub to have a nice Irish stout and that is all. No meandering streets or poorly marked roads for this gal. No siree.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I got a hammock to set up in the airports as my sleeping space. And by "I got a hammock" I mean that my sister (whose name I will not mention for privacy's sake... but it rhymes with Hair-a or Bear-a or Chair-a and starts with an S) won a hammock for me at her project graduation. So while I am sleeping in comfort and not having to lie on a hard Belfast floor, I will dream of her.. )