Almost time to go! Paris here I come!

“Life is a journey. When we stop, things don’t go right.” - Pope Francis

    After all these months it is almost time for me to leave for Paris. I read some of the other articles on studying abroad and I came to realize that my experience is going to be much different than the others in many ways. For starters, this is not my first time living in France and I am already fluent in French so that helps a lot. Secondly, having already lived there I already have friends awaiting my arrival, so I won’t be alone this year abroad. And lastly, this is not a normal study abroad that most people go through their undergraduate university to do. So, not quite like the others.

Plane ticket booked and my friends await…

    I just booked my plane ticket for August 16. I am arriving 2 weeks before orientation starts to get settled, find an apartment, get a cell phone, check my bank account, look for basics like grocery store and pharmacy and then go visit my friends in Normandy. I am so excited to get to Paris to go sight seeing and see my friends! Mortagne au Perche, where I taught English for the French Ministry of Education in 2011-2012, is only a 2 hour train ride away from Paris on the slow train. And my friend Manu said his door is open to me any weekend I want to get out of the craziness of the city life and take a break in the countryside. Yay! Being fluent in French is going to help immensely with settling in to my new home for the next year. 

Getting my Masters, not just any study abroad…

    Most people go study abroad through their undergraduate university and only stay for a few months in a country they’ve never been in before. Not me! I love France and cannot wait to go back. And besides, I am not going through the University of Texas at Austin, where I got both of my Bachelors degrees. The American University of Paris is in no way affiliated with UT Austin. I am going to get my Masters in Global Communication so I will be gone a solid year, from August to August. Luckily I already know about time management, study skills, the importance of office hours, and the blissful silence of the library. I know not to go party the night before an 8 am class and I know better than to wait to the last minute to cram for an exam. As we say in Texas, “Ain’t my first rodeo!” :)

So much to do now and when I get there…

    So excited to get to Paris, find a permanent place to stay (I already have a temporary apartment), get used to my surroundings, find a church and a yoga studio, see some of my favorite sights, bask in the shade of the Eiffel Tower, go under the roundabout to see the Arc de Triomphe, revisit the Louvre, and so much more! I need to make a to-do list so I don’t forget to do anything here before I go, and set up anything I can before I get there. In fact, I think that is what I am going to do right now!