I got my ticket!! :)

I bought my ticket! I am officially leaving on Wednesday, August 24, 2011. That means that I'll arrive in Paris on Thursday, August 25. That is almost exactly 3 months away. So far, yet so stinkin' close! I'm hoping that this will work out to me needing temporary housing upon arrival in Paris for only 1 week, and then I will be able to move in to an apartment of my own on September 1. Let's hope!

Air Tahiti Nui offers non-stop from LAX to CDG! It's so much better than having a layover - trust me!

LAX to CDG ... 5830 miles ... 10h50 flight time. CDG to LAX is a 12h20 flight time though. Ughhh! :(

So, I'm already starting my housing search. I am determined to not live with Americans this time. While it was a ton of fun and I made life-long friends by doing it last time, it did absolutely nothing for my French skills. This time I am determined to change that. I am trying to decide if I am going to live with French roommates or not. The part of me that wants to improve my language is totally for it because I could end up with awesome roomies/friends, but the part of me that doesn't like to deal with drama and likes personal space is throwing up red flags (just read a few blogs about people who lived with Frenchies - particularly Parisian women - and you will completely understand my hesitation). Maybe I'll just try it, and if it doesn't work then I'll look for somewhere that I can live on my own.

 Hmm ... What do you think - suck it up for the sake of learning and possibly meet cool people or just save the hassle, live on my own and find another way to meet people?

Peace

Paperwork

Oh the paperwork!!! There is a ton of it! So, I am officially doing 2 programs this year. I will first be a student through the CSU International Program - the same program I studied abroad through in 2009-2010. My program works with the MICEFA which is essentially a program that coordinates exchange students between France and North America. Through the MICEFA, I applied for one of their English Teaching Assistant positions. So in addition to being a student, I will also be assisting in a high school classroom. For both of these programs, there was/is a lot of paperwork. So, I have been spending my "free time" slowly making my way through it all.

This is for the TAship. We needed 4 (FOUR!) copies of the exact same paper ... with our picture stapled to each one. I'm still not sure why, but I keep coming back to the same thing - it is France.

This is the packet for my study abroad program. It is my confirmation of my participation in the program along with a long checklist of other paperwork I need to fill out. (I already filled this packet out in 2009 so I know it's not difficult, just a lot of information about my entire life story- it is the United States.)

This is to show you how thick the packet actually is ... :(

I have so much paperwork that I had to make a binder for it to keep it all together. 

This is my list of upcoming important dates. Since the programs are separate, I am getting confused with all of the deadlines and important dates.

I just mailed the packet for the TAship, so that is completely official. I made the deadline and I am just waiting to hear which school(s) I'll be teaching at. I hope that I am not placed too far from Paris because I'm going to be living in the city and I am tired of long commutes. Although, at least commuting on a train should be better than driving on the 91 freeway where there is always traffic and cement trucks who like to flip over and cause nearly the entire freeway to shut down ... I am SO ready to have access to public transportation again!!


Peace