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:)
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