Oh, Chicago! (H.S)

1st chapter.

Eleonora

5 hours and 26 minutes. 5 hours and 26 minutes until the start of a new chapter of my life. And for sure the biggest one so far. I was laying awake in my bed, looking at the white alarm clock that was situated on my bedside table, as thousands of thoughts run through my mind. Would I like it there? Would I fit in? Would I make friends? Would I miss my family and best friends too much? The answers to these questions I didn't know, but I was about to find them really soon.

I was moving to Chicago, Illinois, for a whole semester. 6 whole months in a completely new country and continent, and I was sincerely starting to regret this life choice of mine. 2 years ago, I applied for a culinary course in a university in my hometown, and one of the major attractions was the fact that the last semester was taking place in the U.S.

Cooking has always been a passion of mine and you can clearly see this in half of my videotapes from when I was a child. In those tapes, you can see a mini version of myself wearing a little pink and white apron, as I made a mess in the kitchen, mixing sugary items with salty ingredients, thinking that I was making the best meal my parents would ever taste.

Ever since then, I knew that I wanted to pursue this career, and I was glad my parents were letting me follow my dreams. They have always been really supportive, and I'm so blessed to be able to call them mine.

I shook away my thoughts and tried closing my eyes for the tenth time that night, but all the nerves and second thoughts that I should have had when I signed up for this course were coming now. 5 hours before going to Chicago. Great. I grabbed my phone and scrolled through Twitter, thinking that this would be a good idea to make my eyes tired and in that way I would be able to fall asleep. And it worked.

4 hours later I woke up. Moody as per usual, but with other feelings running through my body. Excitement, nervousness and thrill. This was all I was feeling. I was also pretty tired but I knew that I would be able to sleep throughout most of the plane ride, and that soothed me.

I got up from my bed, rubbing off the sleep from my eyes as I made my way to the bathroom to get ready. By the time I was done doing my skincare routine and brushing my teeth, my parents were already eating breakfast and waiting for me to join them.

I walked back to my bedroom, closing the door behind me. I put my toothbrush, my toothpaste and all my other face washes inside my makeup bag, and I grabbed the most comfortable clothes that I had in my closet: a pair of black leggings, a red hoodie and my black vans. I then put my hair up in a very messy bun and checked myself in the mirror to see if I looked at least decent, not putting any make up on since I didn't really like using it everyday. I made my bed as quickly as I could and before I exited the room, I looked back at it one last time.

"Goodbye room, I will miss you." I said as if I was saying goodbye to my long time lover that was leaving for war. I finally made my way to the kitchen, my parents already half way through their meal.

"Good morning sweetheart, how are you feeling?" My dad asked as he sipped his black coffee, fog forming in his reading glasses that he had on.

"Not sure...I didn't sleep much, so I'm a little tired, but I'm excited." I say looking at him briefly and smiling at him softly as I added some butter on my toast.

"Well, I don't want to rush you baby, but your flight is in an hour, so I would eat a little faster than usual if I were you." Mom said. She was looking as if she was okay with me leaving for this long, but I knew deep down that she was really nervous and worried. After all, this was going to be the longest I have ever gone without seeing my parents, and this was going to hurt me and the both of them. But, on the other hand, this was going to be an amazing experience, and we had to keep that in mind as well.

I ate my toast and drank my mint tea as fast as I possibly could without chocking on anything, and I managed to do that successfully. "I'm all done." I said as I stood up from my chair and grabbed the plate and the mug to put inside the sink. I had previously put all my bags at the entrance of the house, so I was all ready to go to the airport. I made sure that my phone was fully charged, as well as my camera and my laptop, since I knew I was going to need those for the long flight. "Shall we go?" I asked my parents as I saw them exiting the kitchen and making their way towards where I was.

"Yes. Let's go." My dad said as he grabbed the car keys and exited the house. The three of us made our way towards the car and got inside of it, ready to make our way to the airport. The drive was fast, as the distance was of about 15 minutes, and once we got there, my parents helped me carrying the bags inside and making the check in. Once all that trouble was done, it was time to leave and to say my goodbyes to my parents.

"I'm going to miss you two so much." I said quietly and trying not to look into their eyes, I knew I would cry if I did, so I just hugged them both as hard as I could.

"Oh my dear girl, we are going to miss our little baby so much too!" My mother said, her voice cracking at the end of the sentence, signaling that she herself was about to cry too. I looked at her and smiled, doing the same with my dad and taking in their features.

"Call us when you land, and every other day okay? If you need anything please contact us, don't try to be all miss independent, okay sweetheart?" My dad asked, grabbing my face in between his hands and looking at me.

I chuckled lightly and grabbed his hands in mine. "I promise I will call you everyday, and I even brought the camera so I can vlog and make sure you guys know how my adventure is going, okay?" I asked looking at the both of them.

"Okay love, now off you go, we don't want you loosing the plane." Mom said as she hugged and kissed me once again, my dad doing the same right after.

"I love you guys so much!" I say as I start walking towards the plane entrance, but still looking at them.

"We love you darling!" Dad said, starting to get a little emotional too, but acting as tough as he could. After all, his little girl was leaving for months, and he wasn't ready to let her go.

Once I got inside the plane, I checked for my seat and got in it, making myself as comfortable and ready for the 8 hour flight that I had ahead of me. I grabbed my laptop and put my earplugs in, as I clicked on the first movie that appeared and that I had downloaded previously.

And just like that, I was on my way to the biggest adventure of my life, the place that would change it forever: Chicago.