Bye Fish!

It has been a bit since I last posted... The reason being that I have sort of been busy/ too nervous to really be wanting to say anything. I had to get rid of my fish last week... This was a bit sad. I have had fish for 2 1/2 years now so it has definitely been bitter sweet. Every time I pass by a Petco I think, “Oh I should get a few more fish!” Nope... But they went to my friend Sam who is apparently going to use them in fish races at a bar in Portland? I guess they will be having fun! But she has had fish before so I decided they would be safe with her :-)

I just got back from our group trip to Disneyland so I haven't had France on the mind to much... But now I have no more distractions before I leave. I should be getting my housing assignment here soon. They say that they send them out two weeks before the program starts. Whether that is two weeks BEFORE the early program or not? I don’t know. But I hope I have the chance to at least send an email of introduction or something… Or vice versa. :-/

I’m going to be concentrating more on my trip now so stay tuned!

Packingish List

I posted a Packing list on the right. It is by NO means everything that I am bringing but are some of the things that I could remember off the top of my head that I have purchased for France so far. I still need a few things but have kind of hit the pre- and post-wedding wall where I basically have forgotten all about my trip. But that just means that I'm probably trying to ignore it because I am scared... It's kind of hit me that this is a pretttttty long trip. Four months is a pretttty long time... Also I have expended my financial resources which isn't surprising being that I have been surviving off of my money back from the school from Spring and didn't get money for Summer. And I had to pay rent and stuff but I'm not too concerned. That's what happens when you don't have a summer job. But oh wells. That's okay. My parents keep telling me that I need to save my money but if I'm buying things for my trip I figure it is okay...

Yeah so that list isn't everything that I am taking but it is some of the things I want to have to take. I think that as we get closer I will be getting more prepared. But as of this moment right now I am nervous and a little freaked. I try not to think about it late at night because I wind up keeping myself up freakin' out about the whole thing... But it will be okay.

Things I Need/Want:

Non-tennis shoes

Flat sole boots

Tanktop/Camis

Plain basic T shirts

Good Jacket

New Jeans (Thanks Roz for shopping with me!)

Nice summery dresses

Conservatively colored socks

Suit case

Over the ear Noise cancelling headphones

Digital Camera(?) (Could use iPod)

Swimsuit

Prescripts (enough for entire time) NOT ALLERGY YET

Outlet converters

Scarves

Watch

Alarm Clock

In less than 2 Months...

It hit me really hard coming out of the PDX airport that the next time that I leave that airport I will be returning back from France. WOW. And I will be leaving via that airport in LESS than 2 months. LESS than 2 months. If i doubled the time that I have left in the USA I would have less than the amount of time I will be in France. Now that is crazy.

But leaving the airport I got overcome by this feeling that I am really going to go there. I'm really doing this. It isn't some far off experience but it is approaching. And FAST. Pretty soon I will be really packing and leaving and living and aix-periencing ;-). But it just has seemed so surreal.

When I come back so much is going to be different. Spegan will be living someplace on their own and a lot of my friends from school will be almost graduating and finishing their masters degrees. And that seems crazy to me. And it seems crazy that I will come back and everything won’t have stopped while I was away. I mean of course the world doesn’t revolve around me but it just seems like I will have more of a disconnect to life here while I am there. Which is normal… But it doesn’t stop it from being crazy and weird. Walking out through those PDX doors I will be home after so long of not being home and not seeing my family. And I can just tell how emotional of an experience that will be for me which is why it must have hit me so hard. There are a lot of people that I am going to miss while I am gone… But knowing that they will be there to support me when I get back makes it not so bad.

 I think it is finally becoming a realization that this is all happening…

Classes!

So I got my official classes for France. I originally put in for like 8 classes and then the program decides what classes they are actually offering and stuff. The program enrolls you in 5 classes and each class will transfer back as 5 credits. So currently I am actually taking what will come back as 25 credits to WOU. But Western doesn’t really like that because it is more than the normal credit hours for a term. But since it is semester credits the time is spent more. I would rather take 5 or 4 classes and get more credit and have the experience than not take as many. I mean either way I will have time to explore. So without further ado the classes I am taking are:

Lit 373 World Literature Classics

The Great Books of World Literature from Homer to the present day.

A course that explores the art of storytelling at its finest in diverse cultural contexts, where the truths of the human spirit are revealed through the narrative imagination. Sophocles, Shakespeare, and Dostoyevsky are just a few of the major voices studied in this seminar. See syllabus for more details. Each semester we will focus on a selection of works.

HIS 301European History: 1870–1918

Major social, economic, political, and diplomatic developments in European history from 1870 to 1918.

HIS/FRE328 (in French) Provencal History and Culture through its Monuments

Introduction to the History of Provence and a study of its most exemplary monuments. Typically includes excursions to sites in Provence

FRE 401 Translation and Stylistics I

Translation from English to French and French to English of literary texts, with constant reference to technical and

theoretical considerations

FRE/FLM 355 France as seen through its Movies, post WWII to the 1970’s

Study of the different facets of France from literary imagination to social issues, from the 1980’s to today

The best part of this schedule is that I won’t have class on Fridays!!! So every weekend in France will be a three day weekend which will open me up to be able to go on trips and stuff! YAY! Here is what my schedule will look like:

I may decide to drop the translation class but I haven’t really decided because that class sounds cool. But I am happy! I was really excited to get into the Provencal Culture and Monuments class, that one sounds really cool!

San Francisco

So last Tuesday I flew down to San Francisco to apply for my Visa in person which you have to do if you are staying for a while. So my flight left at 6 and I got there around 8:30 am. But that meant leaving St. Helens at 4:45ish. This was not very good considering I had a bad time sleeping that night... But I groggily walked through security and the airport to get to my flight. I sat next to some guy and fell asleep and read Clash of Kings for most of the time. When I got to Oakland where I flew into I figured out how to get onto the BART system which is a subway system that runs through the area. I almost accidentally bought a $20 ticket but I eventually figured out how to get to work the machine. I then rode for 20 minutes to the stop I needed to get off at.

Knowing that I would get lost my mom was really helpful and made me a map! Unfortunately she blew it up so big that I had no idea where to go because the McDonalds that I was supposed to be walking away from was literally right across the street. So figuring out which direction to go in was a problem. So because I was so overwhelmed and culture shocked just from getting out of the station I decided to have some pancakes at this said McDonalds and figure out my next step. After Breakfast I decided the best way to figure out where to go was to walk around. Why not right I was only 2 and a half hours early. So I walked until I found the street I knew the place was on. I grabbed a soda at a 7-11 and continued for a while until I said to myself “Hey I must be getting close right? Where am I?” just in time to see 77 Kearney St. on a building. So I said hey I wonder what number I need. Oh look 77. WIN! SO I inadvertently and without knowing it found the building. So I went in and was in an elevator with a little girl and her mom who spoke French. The little girl was incredibly adorable and it was fun to see someone so young speaking French. I bet it was her first language.

The consulate was in the 6^th floor in a random nondescript building that had close to 40 floors so it was cool that I was with people speaking French. So I rode the elevator up and was told by the security guy that I was too early to check in. So I went back downstairs and to the nearest corner. When I looked down the road I noticed that there was a flower stand that looked suspiciously like the one that was next to the subway stop. So I walked down the block. And it WAS the same flower stand. So now I vaguely knew where I was. I decided to go find some coffee in a café that I could chill out in for two hours before I tried going back for my appointment. I ended up stumbling into a Capital One café that had chocolate croissant and free wifi to customers of Capital One. Not being a customer of capital one I took the time to enjoy my book and the closeness of the café to the building and just chilled out.

When it was close o my time I headed back over and up the elevator to the 6^th floor. I had to go through security. Which was some poor security guy sitting there with a metal detector that basically just made sure you didn’t have any guns? He looked super bored but I guess he had to be there because it was officially French territory, which was cool! Technically I have now been to French Territory!!! From security I walked 5 yards in the same room to sit down until a teller was ready for me. There was just one other guy there so I pretty much got called right up. They have a glass screen between you and the other person and they talk to you with a microphone and you slide things under the glass like at a bank. It was a pretty scary process because They were like okay “this form now this and this and a copy of this and give me the originals and a copy of these and one of these” and you know that if you don’t have something then you have to make a new appointment and come back again. This would have been a BIG pain. But luckily I had what I needed. So then they took my picture and fingerprints and said okay you should get it in 10-21 days. YES!!! The process took not even ten minutes. But they were not very personable but rather really efficient. They were a little thrown by my middle name because they didn’t know whether to do it as MLynn or M’Lynn. So they had to double check. But other than that I made it through easily and painlessly.

After my appointment I called my cousin Chris’s girlfriend Melissa who lives in the Bay area and we met for lunch. I used my ipod Maps app to figure out how to get where I needed to. It was pretty cool to see someone I knew. We went to a Vietnamese food place that was pretty full when we got there and because she was on her lunch break from work we didn’t have a ton of time to hang out but it was still nice to see her and see someone I knew. Also on the way there I found a pair of sunglasses on the ground that someone must have dropped but there was no one around to ask so I gave them to Megan when I got home. (Payback for when she found some and gave them to me.) But after I had lunch, My plane didn’t get to leave until 5:20 pm so I was bored and went shopping to kill time. I went to Target, Ross, Old Navy, and Burlington. I found some things but stupid California has sales tax so that was a bit annoying. But overall it was good. I made it back to the airport still super early. But I entertained myself by trying to find the cheapest sandwich in the airport which was actually at Starbucks for $8:50. Then on the way back through the airport I looked for the cheapest fruit cup which was $4:50. Airplane food is ridiculously expensive. But oh well. I didn’t buy those things I was just bored. Also my plane was delayed an hour so that was sucky. But overall it was a pretty good trip! A bit unnecessary I think for just a visa but it was good that I got it done early.

My visa is actually here! It arrived today in the mail! In under a week so that is very nice! Also apparently you aren't allowed to smile for the picture!

Overnighted Visa Papers!

Oh man! Getting my visa forms together has been a real nightmare. I have to appear in person on Tuesday in San Francisco in order to apply and you have to have a ton of forms done and ready in order to be accepted. The only problem is... When your program won't give them to you!!!

I sent an email a month ago asking for them and got a stupid email back saying that my program coordinator was going to be out of the office for 3 weeks... WHAT. So I said can I get them before you leave since my visa is coming up and I got another email back saying how I am applying too early because you have to be within 3 months of when you leave. Which I was at the time!!! And I don't want to be waiting around hoping it will get back in the mail in time for me to leave so I am applying on Tuesday with it supposedly being done in 21 business days, which makes me consider now to then be the perfect time to do this. But then I get an email back saying how they will send them out mid June… Uh what. So then I wait until last week before I start demanding them again. And then my program coordinator sends us a link to CampusFrance which is a program that you have to get registered in the school system of France to be able to go, which is something that has to be done before you can apply for your visa. That FYI takes 3 weeks to get processed and confirmed. So naturally I did that in March and have been done for ages. But that was all they sent me. So then I called WOU to try and get a form and they were like we can’t give you that and also we don’t understand what you need it for. It was a certificate of Enrollment. That is it… GAH. So finally frustrated I called the main boss lady of the WOU study abroad office and she was like send me the criteria for what you need and I will call them and get this all straightened out. So she did that and not 5 minutes later I get an email from someone at CISabroad and it is a new person saying she just got moved to the France programs and that she is on it like a bonnet and will get that to me ASAP and will even overnight all my forms. So as of 6:15 a.m. today my forms are in the mail and set to arrive here at my parent’s house tomorrow.

Long story short: Get the forms started and done as early as possible, because I would have been really screwed if I hadn’t and had relied on my program.

Pre-Departure Orientation

So today I had a pre-departure Orientation meeting at WOU. And this morning I was checking my email with twenty minutes before class and had an email from the Study Abroad office that pretty much said “Hey! We think that you aren’t actually going abroad because you haven’t filled out all these forms that we never told you about!” And I was like uhhh what? So I emailed back and was like I was planning on going to the meeting but I didn’t know about these forms so I haven’t done them. I would be more than happy to do it by the end of the week. But I have class all day today until the meeting so I can’t possibly get them done! But luckily she was okay with it and I had a little more free time today than I thought I would so I got a lot of them done. But it was a bit stressful to say the least. I was blind sighted more than anything. But the ladies in the Study Abroad office are pretty nice so it all worked out okay. I also learned that the course equivalencies are back with the exception of one so I need to make an appointment with them to sign up for classes. So that is exciting! The only problem is that now everyone who was at the meeting today is going to try and do it all at the same time… But that’s okay I will be around this summer too. But it would be really nice to get it done soon so that I could know what I was doing.

The meeting today was pretty good. I had thought that it was going to be really boring and more of a “let’s all meet everyone else who is going abroad!” but not necessarily anywhere near where you are going… And we did that but it went pretty quick. They covered a lot of important information like packing, finances, transportation, insurance, how to travel by yourself, how to find health information, whether to do this and that. It was pretty good. PLUS! They had it catered with free food! So that was like a special bonus treat. I remembered when I got there that one of the guys in my French class is going to Angers, France. So we sat together and talked about France stuff. They gave me a folder with my name on it with a bunch of information about culture of France and general study abroad stuff. I learned that it is really smart to use freezer bags to pack shirts because you can condense them and they take up a lot less space. But they have to be clear or else you run into customs trouble. Also they say to get a good pair of walking shoes and break them in now. So it’s a good thing that I am on the ball with that one! I was really excited when I got out and have been getting more excited as of late. But then once I got to my car to go home I realized that I had locked my keys in the car… oops. That was a bit of a buzz kill. But I got it figured out. 

I am really excited though and still a bit nervous. I also applied for an ISIC card which is like 22 bucks but comes with some more insurance and is required to have to leave. But I guess that it also gives you some discounts at different places… like Target and Macys! Woot woot! Overall a little hectic but informative day :-)

A Little Teaser Video

So I have been stalking some online blogs from people that have gone on study abroad in the area that I am going to. And I stumbled across this video that I found to be super cool. So I started following the girl who made this video and have started to kind of get a foot in the door with her to find out all I can about her experience to see what it was like and what she recommends and stuff. So that is cool that I found her on the internet. (Thanks Tumblr!)

Anyways this is a video that she made to recap her experience and I asked her if I could share it on here. But I think it is nice to kind of see a little of what happens and stuff. Also I watched it and looked at everyone's clothes which felt a little strange but important!

This past weekend or I guess yesterday really though it seems so long ago, I went with Kristen and Chelsea to go shopping for some new clothes for France. They dress a lot more stylish over there and a lot nicer than clothes that I typically wear so I figured if ever there was a time to style up my wardrobe it is now! So I bought I think two tops and four dresses as well as a few tank tops. Overall it was a fun experience to try some different things on that I typically don't wear to find things that I liked and made me look good without being too foreign. It was great to have some help along in order to get some other opinions or else I probably wouldn't have bought anything because I would be thinking "I never wear anything like this!" But it is just because it is different not because it is bad. :-) But I am very excited about new clothes and things. I want to get a pair of flat boots to take there because I think they would be very handy and go with everything, as well as a pair of not athletic tennis shoes and another pair of leather sandals. I have heard that shoes are very important there so I want to be sure that I don't stick out TOO much but rather have the true cultural experience.

It is now less than three months until I leave and with it already being June I am sure the time will just fly by!
Speaking of flying my mom got my flight changed to the new dates (with only being on hold an hour and basically being blamed for THEIR mistake!) But I again am going to be getting there a day early than I am supposed to. But it was cheaper to go a day early and get a hotel room than fly in on the correct day because it changes from a Friday flight which is expensive to a Thursday flight (which is cheaper). So today my mom booked me a night in the Best Western Marseille Aeroport, it looks nice and will work great! And it is only 300 meters from the Aeroport! I am again happy to be getting there a day early. I think that it will be nice to have the time to adjust myself to the time zone and take a shower or nap on my own time before I meet my family. :-)