Luggage!

Feast your eyes on this purple luggage!  It rated very highly online and it came in the best color in the world, so I immediately acquired it.  I have a 25" and a 29" (the one I am sitting in).  Of course, the very best news of all is that with all of this space, I can bring all the shoes I was hoping to.  I'll be traveling with these two bags and my backpack, so I definitely have enough space for everything I could want or need!

I really love the tangible progress like this towards leaving.  The steps involving insurance and visas are crucial, but this is a physical sign that it's getting close to time to leave.

For those that know me (at least over the last year), you know how dependent I am on my daily planner.  I ordered a custom one online with a beautiful Monet as the cover and it should be here in about a week!!!  I'm excited to have both this blog and my planner to record my journey.  I'm not one for writing a daily diary, but the planner will chronicle my day-to-day life while abroad and I consider it an incredibly important piece of memorabilia.

Updated Flight!

After much confusion on my part, and a slight update in my program arrival date due to housing, I am now leaving Charlotte on August 30th.  I'm glad that I don't have to languish (expensively) in a hotel room in France for a week and that I get seven more days with my family and friends, but now I'm even further from starting my journey.  Ouch.

Another update on the other blog I discovered (with the girl who had an identical schedule to me):  She has not contacted me yet, but someone else has!  A guy who studied at Lille 3 in 2013 through ISEP (International Student Exchange Program, by the way) at the same school emailed me!  I can't wait to pick his head for all things study abroad!

http://bonjourmarissa.blogspot.com/2011/09/arrivee.html  This is the blog post I discovered with pictures of the residence hall where I'll be living (though of course I will post my own pictures after I move in!)

Slow progress

I feel so ready to leave already!  My family and I have been doing so much in preparation- dealing with a cell phone plan, navigating my housing, insurance, luggage- that I feel tired of waiting. In reality, I'm not ready to leave and there is still much to be accomplished, but I feel too stagnant. 

I have, through the gaciousness of my aunt and her flight points, officially acquired a ticket!  I will leave Charlotte on August 23rd and arrive in Paris on the 24th mid day.  Once there, I will take a train to Lille and stay in a hotel briefly until I can move into my residence hall.  Unlike residence halls in America that are on campus, the affiliated dorms for French universities are off campus, though nearby and seem completely exclusive to attending students.  

As part of the paperwork for confirming my bed space, I am finally making first contact with the university officials who run the international office at Lille 3.  Writing administratively appropriate emails in French is really putting my limited language skills to the test and showing me how much I need to improve on before I feel comfortable communicating accurately in any situation.  

The delay for my visa is a struggle for me.  Before even applying for my visa (which requires a trip to the consulate in Atlanta), I had to complete a separate student application that is required before I can even send in the application.  This is my first encounter with the "French" pacing, as opposed to the very predictable and trackable American system.  I feel like I should already have everything done and I need to remind myself that not everything needs to be rushed (but this waiting game, though).  

Amusingly, I was looking for more pictures of where I'll be living and I found a blog by a girl who flew out of Charlotte...to Paris...and took a train to Lille...and lived in my future dorm...and applied through ISEP.  I kid you not, this girl had the same experience a few years ago that I am about to have!!!  I'm really hoping to get in contact with her so I can pick her brain and talk to her about her experience!  Such a small world, guys:)

Sorry for the scattered post, I'm just a mess with all of this prep, not to mention that I turn 21 in 3 days!  I can't wait to really get organized as it gets closer to the end and I can really see progress:)