Saturday, June 5, 2010

Preparations

Bonjour, tout le monde.

So. I made this blog yesterday, after much deliberation over the title for it. I decided to make it a teensy, rhyming play on words in French. "Colleen sur la colline." Colleen on the hill. Someone I knew used to call me "petite colline", and despite his being an obnoxious 15 year old loser, it always struck me as kind of funny, if also annoying... so I made it fit. Colleen on the hill, looking around and taking it all in. Because I am off to Europe. Finally.

After years of trying to finagle my way back to Europe after my trip to Rome, it's happening. I'm under the care of Lille 3 - Université Charles de Gaulle from September 1, 2010 until June 30, 2011. I'll be able to continue on with my studies for linguistics, Arabic, and, of course, French. Maybe I'll take a few other things just for fun.

Tuesday, I mailed the first part of my visa process away. I should hear back within two to three weeks, and then I'll be setting up an interview at the French consulate in Washington, D.C. And, moments ago, I bought my ticket. Harrisburg -> Washington, DC -> Brussels, Belgium. The plan is to take a 30 minute train ride over to Lille, France upon arrival. I'll be looking at that soon, but for the moment?

Too excited/terrified/overwhelmed to even function. Well, to function outside of writing my first blog post...

In short:
Acceptance? Check.
Visa? Begun.
One-way plane ticket? Check.
Anticipation? Beyond check.