USA

Hello everybody, I made it back to the United States. Last Tuesday, I said my final goodbyes to the last of my remaining friends in Klagenfurt as I boarded a train to Vienna. It's seemed so crazy that my time there was over, but I think that's how it always seems at the end of something great. If there is any consolation in something like that ending, it is believing in the possibility that something even more magical is about to happen. Those positive thoughts about the future were in my head during the train ride, but they took a back seat to the thoughts of reflection on what I had just done for the past 6 months of my life. A lot of amazing things popped up in that reflecting, but it was really killer to be alone in that train car.

When I left Klagenfurt, I started a new journey that was going to last 3 days, 3 countries, 3 states, and 4 forms of transportation. I took a train to Vienna, where a bus was waiting to take me to the airport. Then I stayed the night in Vienna at a hotel across the street from the airport. At dinner that night, I went to check out prices at the few restaurants in the airport, and as I was reading one menu, a familiar face popped up next to me. Sitting at the table next to me was a man I was used to seeing only on the beach in a swimsuit. David Hasselhof was there, but I was too hungry to talk to him or ask for an autograph.

The next day, my plane left Vienna and landed in Düsseldorf, and 10 hours later, I landed in Chicago. A friend of mine named Jordan picked me up from O'Hare and drove me to Milwaukee because I was going to stay with my sister Megan there. Instead of walking into her apartment to see just Josh, I saw a small little angel. Zoe was there to surprise me along with the rest of my family. We spent the night at a crazy restaurant straight from a horror movie, and the next day we went to the zoo. It was really wonderful to see all of their lovely faces on my first day back in the country. My journey wasn't over though, because the next day, I was flying again from Milwaukee to San Francisco.

San Francisco was my final destination because two friends of mine from YWAM were getting married. I was excited not only because this was the first wedding I was able to attend of a friend of mine, but also because I was going to spend the next two weeks in San Francisco, a city I really love a lot. I think it will be nice to spend my time adjusting to being in America while I'm in this city.

Every time I come here, it seems as if a part of me wakes up that has been asleep for awhile. It's like a breath of fresh air, and it's usually necessary. Soon enough, I will be back in Cedar Falls, and school will start. The crazy adventure will seem as if it has ended, but I know that it will not. I know that it won't because this crazy adventure is all just part of the story title Thomas Panicucci. I'm reading Donald Miller's new book, and it's all about stories. It's about living a life that is worthy of being called a story. That means actually living and creating, not just existing.

I want to live because otherwise I'd be bored.

Hanging out with Dante

Hello my faithful followers (sounds kind of like a cult leader, but i like it anyways), I am currently in Vienna. Across the street is the airport, where I will be boarding a plane to Düsseldorf in 14 hours. You see, today is my last day in Europe. Tomorrow I'll be arriving in Chicago where a friend of mine is picking me up and taking me to Milwaukee. I get to see my sister Megan for a couple hours in Milwaukee, and then I continue my journey to the West Coast. That's the future, though. Right now I'm in a place I think is similar to Purgatory. I'm neither here nor there. I'm in a hotel room by myself after having said goodbye to the last of my friends this morning in Klagenfurt. I'm planning on watching the soccer game this evening to pass some time, but that's about it. Tomorrow morning will be very early with my alarm set at 4:30. I'll land in Chicago some time tomorrow afternoon, and I imagine it will be strange. My experience in England was crazy because it was the first time in a couple months that I could understand everything. I can't imagine what it's going to be like in America when I will even be able to understand the people on the street because they're not talking in a crazy accent. Anyways, the point is that it's going to be weird. I guess I'm ready for it, though. I just want to leave this middle place I'm in right now. I'll let you know what's up in a couple days. It's time to rest and remember what just happened to me over the past 6 months. What a crazy time. I hate to think of the idea of me over time forgetting people, places, and events, but I know that no matter what, the experiences will be mine forever. What a crazy semester.