Salut! So this will be my little blog for the next 5 months, so I can record everything that's going on and so I can keep in touch with you all and let you know what's happening over in good ole Paris! Leave me your address and you might receive a lovely little postcard~~
I can't believe I'm leaving for 5 months in Paris in one day!!! =-O I've spent most of the past few days wavering between nausea, increasing excitement and a good bit of frustration at the American Airlines weight limits for luggage.... :P Somehow (with much help from Lizzy Parker who basically argued every item in my suitcase with me) I've managed to get my one suitcase down to 47.5 lbs (there's no way i'm willing to pay the crazy over-weight fee) and now the 10 or 11 hours of flying await me. ATL to O'Hare to CDG. A 1.5hr layover which makes me extremely nervous. But I'm surprisingly excited for the long plane trip. I plan to use the time to get some good French studying in and watch Paris Je T'aime (persistantly recommended by Meg and long overdue).
I'm still in shock for the most part that I'm actually going. I don't think it will really hit me until I'm at least on the plane, but more likely till I'm there meeting the other students on the program and the family I'm staying with and realizing that my French is extremely sub-par. That, of course, will be of no surprise to me, but that's why I'm going! The best I've been able to practice is with Elvis (my cat) and I'm sure he's really appreciated having (bad) French spat in his face~ If i ever need to use the phrase "i love you, bubbie! you're the best cat in the world~" while I'm in France, I'll be good.
In the next 5 months I really want to:
~Speak the language as much as possible! It's always been one of my goals to be bilingual and 5 months in Paris may not be enough, but it's certainly the best chance I'll have in a long time!! Being with a family will definitely be a big help, and I'll have to learn to understand the language really well if I want to do at all well in my classes :P I'm so excited to live with a family. Seeing how much my sister and her family love having exchange students and how great of a time those students had and how they've all kept in touch soooo much makes me even more excited. I really want to have that kind of relationship with them~~
~Dance! I don't know if any sort of university dance class is a possibility, but I definitely want to find dance classes in the city, or try something new. Ballroom dancing in Paris would be so awesome!
~Travel! I've saved up a little money and I have so many friends abroad that I really wan't to travel! Rome is a definite! But I'd like to go somewhere else also (okay, there are a lotttt of places i want to go), so that's gonna happen.
~Eat! Okay, that's a given. Cheese and wine are my two favorite food groups.
~Walk! Yeah, that's to counter the previous item.
~Don't worry! Big thing, I haveeeee to go into this letting all the little worries go. Everyone keeps saying "Things are going to go wrong. Just let it go and enjoy everything else," and its not necessarily that I'm afraid of things going wrong, whatever, no big deal, but I'm nervous about meeting people and not being able to enjoy things as much as I should. I haven't been able to do that in awhile, and that's the biggest thing for me now. I need to let myself have fun!!!! and take things "au jour le jour" (one day at a time)~ Hell, I'm going to Europe for 5 months!!!!! How crazy is that?! I had no idea 3 months ago that this would happen, I never in the last 2 years really even considered it! (though I 've always wanted to do this~) Crazy how those sudden impulses lead to.....this!
~Oh yeah, and that whole city of love thing? Yeah, I'm not opposed to that either ;-)
Driving up to Atlanta tomorrow and spending the night. Then Saturday I'm off at 3:30! Wish me well!
Bon semestre à tout le monde! Je vous aime, et vous me manquerez beaucoup!!!
Random french word of the day: une gouttière = a drainpipe
No comments:
Post a Comment