And we're off!

Today begins the newest chapter of my life. While it's certainly an exciting chapter, it's also still shrouded in a cloud of the unknown, and despite the details that I do know, the adventure I am about to begin remains for the most part mysterious.

I'm sitting right now in Terminal C at Dulles International, my two carry-on bags at my side, with just under two hours left until my flight to Paris. I've spent the last 24 hours running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to get everything together and packed and ready to go. This past weekend was Rosh Hashanah, so I didn't have much time to get things together, especially because we made a single night trip up to New Jersey on Saturday to see my dad's side of the family for the second night. It was really wonderful to see everyone before I left.

I've never attempted to pack for such a long period of time, at least not when I didn't have a car available to carry my things. Eight months in two suitcases is quite a feat to say the least, and amazingly neither of my suitcases went overweight! I asked my dad to lend me his luggage scale, and you know I was checking the weight every time I added something new.

But in the end, it all has worked out. My carry-on luggage (my backpack and a small duffel) are heavier than I would have liked, but something's gotta give, right?

I arrive tomorrow morning in Paris at 6:55, and my friend Flavien from MMLA (the language immersion program I've worked at for the past two summers) has graciously offered to pick me up from the airport. So that's going to be nice, for sure! Unlike last year, I won't have to lug my almost-50-pound suitcases up and down the stairs in the metro. Thank god.

I'm in a very bizarre state right now. One part of my feels like I should be really excited, which I know I am, but the other part of me is left feeling numb. I'm not really sure. Maybe it just hasn't hit me yet that I'm actually leaving for France in an hour and a half, and that I'm going to be gone for the longest I've ever been away from home so far in my relatively short life. Maybe I've gotten used to going abroad because I've been fortunate enough to have gone to France three times before this. Maybe it's my fear of not really knowing what I've gotten myself into that's subconsciously suppressing my excitement. I don't know.

What I am pretty sure about is that as soon as I step off the plane at Charles de Gaulle and see and hear French all around me, reality will finally reveal itself to me, and I just might pee myself on the spot (hopefully only metaphorically).

I'm looking forward to spending some time in the city of lights also because I'm going to get to see my host family from last year (see: my blog from my semester in Paris). I had such a wonderful experience with them and can't wait to catch up.

I'll be in Paris until Saturday, when I will take the train to Annecy, the city where I will be spending the majority of my time in France. I just realized I have not even mentioned the reason behind my stay abroad. For those who weren't already au courant, I am spending the academic year as an English teaching assistant in a public high school, Lycée Charles Baudelaire in Cran-Gévrier, a suburb just outside of Annecy. This is what I don't really have much information about. I don't know where I'm living, I don't know exactly what my position entails... much remains to be discovered. I guess that's why I chose the title of this blog; the next eight months are going to be one big adventure!