February, during my Junior year in Berlin:

"Bindi?" I peered up from my bag to see my mom looking rather upset.

"What is it?" I tried not to let my voice falter from worry. Mom sniffled and failed at making eye contact with me. I felt my throat grow tight, she knows what tears do to me.

"I just can't believe it's time for you to leave soon." Her voice cracked the instant she had to force out the word 'leave'. I looked up at her sympathetically. I felt bad that I was going to be leaving her by herself for an entire year, but I had already made my decision. I was not going to let her sway me.

"I will call you as soon as I am at the house in Korea." I comforted her. "I will call as often as I can and I will take a whole bunch of pictures for you." I continued. Mom bit her lip and looked up at me cautiously. Her eyes were red and puffy from previous hours of crying.

"Oh, sweetheart, I know..." She sneezed quietly, she cried often, causing sneezing fits. "I'm just going to be lonely. Besides, you can't back out of this now. Especially considering how much work you've put into this." She was definately right about that. Ever since my freshman year when I found out about being able to go, they changed around a lot of my classes. I was switched out of my Spanish classes and into Korean (which I am a complete failure at.) I also had to take many extra classes to make sure when I left I would be finished with all my Junior year assignments. The school year (first semester) in Korea starts in a couple of weeks, so the school board had to make sure I was caught up with all the curriculum needed. If I hadn't been going on this exchange program, I would only be through half of the school work.

I searched through my bags to make sure I had everything. My flight was taking off in six hours, I had to be at the airport in an hour. Passport... Uh oh....

"Mom?!" I hollored down the hall. Her head popped back around the corner from the kitchen. She raised an eyebrow at me, questioning her summoning. "Passport?" She smiled automatically and waggled her fingers at me, gesturing me to follow. I clenched my jaw, wishing she would take this more seriously. I stalked into the kitchen to see all my paperwork laying out and organized by importance on the kitchen island.

"I figured we could put all of these into your carry-on and purse. That way if your luggage is lost, then you'll still have all of the contact information on you." I nodded slowly, as she sorted through all of the papers again. Maybe mom isn't as big of a ditz as she gave off to be. Almost as if she was reading my mind, she tripped, sending all of the papers scattering.

"Nevermind..." I sighed and began to feel myself growing teary. I sure am going to miss my ditzy mother. She gave me a really confused look, which I shook off and began helping her clean up her mess. She had no need to follow my train of thoughts. She would probably be very insulted by them anyways. I couldn't help but to smile to myself as I thought about this.

Forty-five minutes had passed and I was all set. My bags were packed, I had called Mr. Schwartz to make sure of where we were to meet at the airport, and now my mom was driving me down to the unloading zone. As we pulled up to Mr. Schwartz, I could feel a sense of panic arising within me. This is it. I won't be here again until next year. I could feel my heart beat in my throat as I climbed out of the car and began unloading my bags. I could feel mom standing behind me, waiting for me to turn around. I slowly moved my bags up onto the curb. I lowered my face instinctively. I refuse to let anyone see my tear stained face. I could feel each individual tear run down my cheeks and nose. Reminding me I was soon to leave. Very appealing I'm sure. I reached forward for my mom, soon enough she was holding me tightly. She whispered how she loved me so much, how she will miss me, and that she is just one phone call away.

"You ready?" I heard Mr. Schwartz's muffled voice behind me. I nodded and pulled away from my mother's grasp numbly.

I wasn't very sure of much at that moment except for the fact that this was going to be one hell of a ride.

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Sorry for the uber boring first few chapters. I am hoping there will be more going on in the next chapter. :) I hope I haven't lost anyone along the way. =D Thank youuuuu!