A week from now, I’ll be on a plane crossing the Atlantic. Probably trying to fall asleep. I’ve never been good at sleeping on planes.

It’s pretty surreal, when I think about it. I’m used to the questions. Have you packed? Not really. Are you nervous? A little. Where are you living? A lovely new dormitory with a bunch of grad students; the ones I’ve chatted with on Facebook so far seem very cool and friendly.

To get a sense of how complicated and delicate this is, I only have to look at my “important papers” folder. It has: my housing contract, my airfare and hotel receipts, my loan letter, my conditional offer letter, my unconditional offer letter, my international-student events receipt, my KU transcript and degree statements, my passport (which includes my precious visa stamp) and my Oyster card (for rolling on the Tube in style). I’ve picked out my classes, applied for a few student jobs and have slowly started to segue back into life at a university.

It’s weird to think of how much work and patience it’s taken to get my here. I try not to think of my break as losing a whole year: I got some much-needed rest, kept up on my news and social-media updates, completed another internship and got my dog. But finally, it’s time to move on.

So, friends, because I’ll probably be quite busy in the next week, consider this my sign-off from American life for the time being. The next time I update, The Canterbury Tales will live up to its name. Stay tuned.