Virtually Home

On my last night in Bordeaux, I did some hurried packing and cleaning and I went down to Dick Turpin's for my last open mic night with some friends. I stayed until a little after closing time, and went upstairs to try to catch a bit of sleep before I had to wake up at 4 a.m. to catch a taxi. I had fitful dreams and I woke up every hour, panicked that I'd missed my flight. I didn't miss my flight. I had four hours of layover in Paris and then the transatlantic to New Jersey. From the moment I got off the plane, everything was shiny and efficient. I had a Dr. Pepper, and some cheap Chinese food. Life was grand, if a little strange. People were wearing t-shirts and tennis shoes and there were entirely too many people who had bleached their hair blond. And then I got stuck in Newark because Continental purposefully overbooked their flight to Tulsa. They put me up in a hotel room and I spent the night and entire next day watching the Discovery channel and hanging around in the...

Just a little over a month until my departure to Bordeaux to study abroad for the 2009 - 2010 school year. After a mix-up at the French office when they lost my paper application, I finally received an acceptance letter a little more than a week ago, leaving less time than I would have liked to complete the visa applications and make airplane arrangements. My flight leaves on the 27 of August, and today I was working on setting up an appointment at the French embassy in Houston. Hopefully everything will go smoothly. When July started, I think it became real. People are starting to make plans for the fall and I have to keep reminding myself that I won't be on campus next year. I'm beginning to get excited -- but also nervous. I need to review some French before I go. I need to do a lot of things. Hopefully I'll keep this blog updated, pre-departure and while I'm in France. I think it'll be good to have, when it's time for retrospection.