The countdown begins! I’ll be in France in less than one week. Packing status: 0% complete...unless a packing list counts as progress.
The past week has been chaotic, to say the least. Since before Christmas, I’ve been at my parents’ place in Dalton, Georgia. The past semester was a rough one. I knew I was going to be studying abroad, so I decided to quit my longtime job at Starbucks (4 and a half years!) right before final exams and spend the entire break at home and really unwind, something I’ve not been able to do since I moved to Maryland 2 and a half years ago. I was looking forward to a month of being absolutely lazy, but knowing that I get really restless when I have nothing to do for an extended period of time, I came to my senses and was able to transfer to the Starbucks in Dalton as a temporary employee. So I was there for a month. It was great to see all of my friends and family and I was really thankful to have a part time job to keep me from pulling my hair out. The last few days I was there were a whirlwind of goodbyes and hugs and promises to keep in touch and send lots of pictures and bring back souvenirs.
Wednesday I made the 11-hour trek back north from Georgia to Maryland. My mom came along for the ride, mostly because she is taking my car back to Georgia for the semester, but also because my roommates and I have just moved into a new house and she wanted to check it out. We got in around 9pm, and can I just say how horrendous it is to come back to a house in chaos? I’d been gone for a month and kind of forgot how we moved everything to the new place and then I immediately left town. There were boxes and furniture everywhere. Every surface in my bedroom was piled high with papers, mail, knick knacks, random power cords to who knows what, and boxes of things to unpack. Special thanks to my roommate, Lori, who managed to clear all the crap off my bed and throw on some sheets for me before my mom and I got into town. The funny thing is that her mom was also here visiting. So not only was the house a wreck, but the moms were here and we were playing hosts and tourists, trying to unpack in between.
The moms left yesterday and after quite a bit of groveling, my cat has forgiven me for abandoning her for a month. I’m finally settled into our new place, just in time to leave again (and hoping that Kit will forgive me a second time!). We had a housewarming/ going away party last night, so it’s finally starting to sink in that I’m leaving. It’s been difficult, trying to squeeze in time to see everyone before I leave. I know it’s only for a few months and I’m not the homesick type, but I’d like to say goodbye to some of my friends who couldn’t come to our party last night (which is proving problematic since my car left with my mom yesterday). I’m really excited, but also a little nervous. More than anything else, I worry that my language skills aren’t as advanced as they should be. I feel pretty confident with my reading and writing skills, but oral conversation makes me nervous because I don’t have time to think everything through and rephrase and look up words and check grammar like I can do while I’m writing. I know I’m not fluent and I fully expect to make a million mistakes every day, but I hope that what I know now is enough for me to feel comfortable opening my mouth in public. I also wonder how my language skills will compare to other students in the program and if I’m fluent enough to really converse with my host family. I wonder how the classes will be at the university there. Will there be a lot of discussion and conversation? Or will they be more lecture style? I’m really looking forward to the rapid development of my language skills that can only come from immersion. I just hope that the expectations I have for myself are reasonable and that my goals are attainable.
