The quintessential first post before departing for study abroad!

In honor of the fact that I leave for France in 33 days and the fact that I don't really want to study for finals at the moment I thought I would write my first entry! Please excuse the multitude of exclamation points that are sure to follow. I can't help myself!

As I said I leave in 33 days! On January 10 at approximately 6pm I will board a non-stop flight to Paris and then hop on the TGV (the high speed train) to Nantes where I will meet my host family for the first time! 
As of this post I know absolutely nothing about my future family. I don't get to find out who they are until about 3 weeks before I leave. Waiting to see who they are is killing me! I guess just the waiting in general is killing me haha. I feel like January is taking forever to get here considering I have basically been ready to go for over a month now. I already have my visa, my plane ticket, and the huge amount of paperwork completed and ready to go. All that's left to do is pack my bags!

While in Nantes I will be taking classes at the local university completely in French. I'm not really worried about understanding the professor or the readings but am a little concerned when it comes to having to speak and write. My French lit class this semester (which I loved) was conducted completely in French so I feel like I have a little bit of insight into what it will be like in France. Most of my classes in Nantes will be literature, history, or art history classes which are all subjects I love so at least class will be interesting! However, my grammar isn't the best so hopefully that will improve quickly considering I am living with a real French family!

I think packing is my biggest concern at this point. After my program in Nantes ends in May, I am just going to kind of bum around until my parents and sister come to meet me in the middle of June. Once they get to Europe we are spending a few days in Nice France, a few days in Florence Italy, and then a good amount of time in Slovenia where we still have family. This means that I have to pack for almost 7 months, 3 seasons, and a whole host of countries depending on how much traveling I do with friends while waiting for my family to get over to Europe. Oh and all of this (plus souvenirs) has to fit in one suitcase, a duffle bag, and a tote/purse. Oh well I guess I'll just have to pack light and buy clothes in France as I need them haha! It seriously needs to be January 10th so I can be in France already!

p.s. I just want to say thank you to the Madames from Waukesha West if they are reading this! Without them I wouldn't be as French obsessed as I am and probably wouldn't even be going abroad so thank you!!