The Joys of Packing

So I'm sitting here on my bed with things flung all around me, listening to Pandora. I'm attempting to pack for 7 months in France into one very large suitcase and a one very small carry on. I'm a girlie girl and I have clothes and toiletries and just little things that need to be packed and of course they don't all fit. Which presents a challenge.

I don't leave until January 13th, but I just got home from Tuscaloosa a couple of days ago and since then all the stuff from my apartment has been strewn all over my room, making me very claustrophobic. I decided that I would go ahead and start unpacking it and putting it away today and decide what I was going to take away with me for study abroad. (Robyn and I previously went through my clothes and made a take pile, so this task didn't seem too daunting). How wrong I was. This seems to just keep going on and on. I took the stack of clothes to take and put them in my large suitcase and then after I had put other things in there and zipped it all up I remember that I have clothes in the wash that I want to take with me. Like sweaters and stuff that I'll need because it's cold and that will take up too much space in my carry on. So I've been trying to get those through the wash and now I'm sitting here with them beside me and I'm looking at my suitcase, which is basically full, wondering how I'm going to make them fit. So instead of facing it and just going through all of the clothes and slimming the pile down AGAIN, I'm writing my first post for this blog. Procrastination is the key.

I'm really looking forward to going back to France. Last semester was amazing and I feel like there's so much left to see and to learn and to experience. I'll be studying in Aix-en-Provence (which is a beautiful, picturesque town in the south of France about 20 minutes from the Mediterranean) at an institute for foreign students learning French. It's the same school that I studied at last Spring semester, but I'm hoping to place in a much higher level this time and take the TCF (Teste de Connaisance de Francais-- basically the French version of the TOEFL test) and receive an official score for my resume (or CV as the Brits call it) and for job applications/qualifications.

Last year when I was getting ready to leave feels completely different than this year. For one, I've done it before so I know more of what to expect. For two, I'm not as nervous (which is probably in large part due to number one). I know exactly what to expect when I get off the plane. I know the wonderful boy who will be meeting me (and who I hope will be as excited to see me as I am to see him). I know which bus to take to get to the city. I know the city (well, knowish). And I know where I'm going to school and where I'm living and whom I'm living with. There's less room for surprises. Packing has been interesting because I know what to expect and what I'll need and what I won't. (Honestly girls... we really only need to take two purses with us: one biggish one, and one small one for going out). I can tell I've learned a lot since this time last year, and its a really nice feeling.

Well, I should get back to packing things up and cleaning my room up. Christmas is in two days and I have family staying in my room. I also have a TON of presents to rap!!!