Bonjour!

Today I said my first official goodbye before going to France (aside from the goodbyes at school at the end of the semester) to a friend who is going back to school already, so I decided it was a fitting time to start my blog. As the holiday lights fade and the realities of school and work begin to bear down on us once again, I am preparing not to return to Puget Sound but to spend the semester in Dijon, France! It is a prospect as overwhelming as it is exciting, and as I slowly start to sort my clothes into piles of definitely-must-take (translation: there is no way in hell all this will fit in my suitcase so I am not actually taking most of it) and will-be-able-to-part-with-for-five-months (translation: I haven't worn it in the last two years anyway), the idea of living in France seems completely surreal. There have been quite a few moments when the reality of it has seemed to suddenly hit me, but then a couple hours later I go back to feeling like this can't possibly be happening. I think that's mostly because it is so unknown-- I've never even been to Europe. And also because this is something which I have been looking forward to for SO long. I can't even remember a time when I wasn't planning on studying abroad. I thought about it all throughout high school, and it is simply crazy that the time has come!

I am leaving on January 26, on my first transcontinental flight. My friend Helen and I are traveling together (she is doing the Dijon program as well and we have lived together the last two semesters). We'll fly into Heathrow and spend a week in London before meeting up with the rest of the Dijonettes (the nickname for the ten girls on our program) in Paris! We'll have a week in Paris, during which we'll have a little orientation and a lot of time to explore. I will also get to see Amber and Elizabeth, who have both already been abroad for a semester and who are studying in Paris. Helen and I lived with them in the French house last year, so we are excited to reunite, and Amber and I have been best friends since high school and happened to go to Puget Sound together, so we are REALLY excited to see each other. Despite all the amazing sights that await us in London and Paris, this reunion is probably at the top of the list of things I'm excited to do when I arrive in Europe.

After our five days in Paris, we'll be traveling by TVG (high-speed train) to Dijon, where we will finally meet our host families! I have emailed a few times with my host mother, who is single and has two daughters in school (they don't live at home so it will just be Catherine et moi). I can't wait to meet her and see where I am going to be living. I am also excited to start speaking French the majority of the time. I know that it will be overwhelming, difficult and frustrating at first, but I love speaking it and I can't wait to become more fluent. I am nervous about all the adjustments that will come with this move, but I feel pretty well-prepared for them, especially given my experience in Costa Rica in high school. Knowing that it will be hard sometimes helps a lot, I think-- but who knows? I do know that it will ultimately be rewarding, and I don't want to spend my time worrying about any of it. For now, I am just concentrating on the fact that I am going to FRANCE! (Well, that and the packing thing. It's becoming a bit of an issue already. My floor is covered in clothing.)

I suppose that's all I have for now. I can't wait to go and write all about it. I have about three weeks left at home. It doesn't seem like I am leaving that soon and I don't want to say goodbye to my family and friends here, but I know I will get more and more excited over the next few weeks! I'll update again right before I leave. Bisous!