The Beginning of My Adventure...

Now that the headaches of packing and getting my visa (don't even get me started on that) are over, all that's left is to actually start my adventure.  Tomorrow I will depart for France at 1:05 PM and don't even begin to think I'm not terrified.  More than anything I'm worried about being away from my loved ones. Six whole months is a long time, my friend.  Six whole months away from my amazing girlfriend of 7 years, my loving and ever so helpful mother, my dad who's always to the point and more sensitive than he cares to let on, the rest of my boisterous, sarcastic family, and my supportive friends.  And while leaving them stateside is enough to make me crack, I'm also (1) going to France, (2) by myself, (3) completely alone, (4) this is me knowing no one in a foreign country, (5) where they speak French.  While my French isn't completely terrible, it's not at the level of fluency and that worries me.  But at least with my French, I'll hopefully succeed eventually.  When you begin the process of studying abroad, they tell you to always remember the reasons you're deciding to embark on such an adventure.  And now I know why....when it comes closer and closer to the time of departure, every sane thought in your head just whoosh! goes out the window.  You begin to wonder whether you can do it, what you'll do if you can't do it, why you decided you could do it in the first place.  But even with all of this insanity and stress and anxiety, I'm still excited to spend the next 6 months eating, breathing, studying, and living France.  I've waited for this semester since I was 12 (yes 12) and I can't wait to see if it holds up to my expectations.  All I have to remember is that the same sun shines on my loved ones, myself and France and that the same world lies beneath us.  If I can do that, I can survive.