So people seem to actually be reading this thing...

...because a few people over the last few days have said to me, "Oh yeah, I saw on your blog...". So thanks for following guys, I shall endeavour to keep you as in the loop as possible!

Flying out Tuesday now, barring any unforeseen volcanoes, earthquakes or giant plane eating sharks. My bag is (still) packed. I bet you're dying to know what's inside, huh? Well, I'll tell ya, since this is all I'm bringing with me for a year. Anything else I might need I can pick up there, I'm sure.

Clothes

4 nice shirts (with collars and everything)
4 pairs of pants
4 T-shirts
1 pair of shorts
Hub Hoodie (sooo comfy!)
Swimming trunks
My red jacket
2 Towels
Poncho (freshly washed and dried by my wool-washing expert grandmother)
Thai Fishermans pants (for general lounging around)
7 pairs of underwear (including my new Spiderman jocks!)
7 pairs of socks (in actual pairs- what has happened to me?)
Runners

Toiletries
(pretty much none of this stuff can be gotten over there, apparently, and if you do find it, it's ridiculously expensive...)

6 roll-on deodorant sticks (I'm concerned this may not be enough...)
New toothbrush
3 tubes of Sensodyne toothpaste (again, will surely need more...)
2 packs of Mach 3 Razors
Shower gel & Shampoo
Shaving foam & Aftershave
Sunblock

Toys

Nintendo DSi (Keep me entertained on the bus/plane)
Digital Camera
Netbook
MP3 Player
Hard Drive
Bag of cables

Books n stuff

Folder for important travelling paperwork (tickets etc)
Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener
Day to a page diary
A few little posters, photos and trinkets I couldn't leave behind
And of course, my passport!

My checked in stuff weighs less than 20 kilos, would you believe? So on Tuesday, I'm going to lug this big heavy bag to Ennis bus stop, where I will take the 8.25 (AM!) bus to Galway. There's a 45 minute wait, then I'm on the 10.30 Citylink direct to Dublin Airport. I'll wait there for a couple of hours, before getting a plane at 17.00 to Heathrow. There's another wait in Heathrow until 21.00, when I get on the big plane. This flight is 10 hours and 50 minutes, and I have to wait in Incheon airport for three hours for another connecting flight to Daegu. I'll land at 20.15 local time, which in GMT (which my body will still think it is) is 11.15. That's right, AM. Meaning from the moment I set off, until the moment I land, I will have been travelling non stop for 27 hours. I'm sure I'll manage to sleep after that, no matter what my body clock says...

Anyway, unless you hear to the contrary, you can take it for granted that I'm on the plane. Fingers crossed, my next post will be from Korea!

Still sitting at home...

I'm supposed to be on a plane now. I'm supposed to be flying to South Korea, with nothing more than the bag on my back and a fistful of dreams. Instead, I'm sitting in my parents living room, watching a movie, and wondering what to do with myself for the week.

The clouds of volcanic ash from Iceland mean that no planes are flying in or out of Ireland. No planes are flying in or out of London Heathrow, either, and no planes flying over Europe. While the airline companies are pushing to get them back in the air, the prospect of actually flying anywhere til Thursday is pretty remote, and I don't know if Sunday is even viable, either. I haven't heard back from the school yet, but I expect an email from them any minute, telling me it's all going to be OK, and I'll be on the next flight over. Or that they're doing everything they can, and to hold tight until it's taken care of. Which of course, nobody can say, because they don't know how long it's going to last. In addition, apparently the cloud will move into Korean airspace on Wednesday or Thursday, and while the authorities expect it will have dispersed enough to not cause engine problems in jets, anything can happen. Literally anything.

My bag is all packed, has been since Friday. All my remaining clothes are in it, and I don't really want to unpack, wear, wash and pack stuff again. I finished up with the job on Friday, and I've everything ready, so I've nothing really to do until I get on a plane. My going away party last night, while it was really good fun, felt a little hollow knowing I wasn't going to be leaving tonight as planned.

I know I am not as badly affected as so many other people- at least I'm still at home, unlike all those stranded on holiday across the world- but I still feel a little bit put out. Everything I've been planning and preparing for the past few months is now looking much tougher than expected. I've overcome so many obstacles and put in so much effort, and this is just another massive problem. It will sort itself out, it has to, but in the meantime its a whole load of trouble and uncertainty.

There's lessons to be learned here, I suppose. No matter how much time and energy you put in to something, there's always something that can go wrong. Things you never even thought of- things nobody thought of- can turn around and bite you in the ass. I'm learning an awful lot about international air travel, and global weather systems, and crisis management. With this much time on my hands, internet reading is going to take up a fair bit of my time I'd say!

Anyway, I'm glad I finished on a more positive note. I'll keep posting any information I recieve, and I hope I van get on a plane soon!