Preparation: Less than one week to go.

It is 9/9/09 and I have six days before I leave. I'm content that I have all my paperwork necessary but haven't yet started packing. I will probably get that going today when I stop by mom's house (all my luggage is there). I'm getting so close I can taste it!

Last day of work today. Pretty geeked about that. Just about to run some errands before that happens:

Deposit paycheck
Notify bank of going abroad
Visit sis/mom/doggie
Practice mon francais
Revise lesson plans

We'll see how much of that actually gets done. I'm intent on getting the first three accomplished, and if I have time the latter two.

I've been watching a lot of Rick Steves' travel videos (if you're a traveler and haven't seen any of his stuff, I highly urge you to get on the bandwagon). He's an enthusiastic world traveler and documents his stays with passion and a smile, and his unique personality has kept me renting his videos for years. He has some stuff on YouTube too, but most of those vids are just short clips. If you want to see the real stuff, go to the library and chances are you'll find a few of his DVDs just waiting to be checked out.
Anyway, watching the videos has made me even more excited to be in France again. Especially the prospect of seeing my old host family (Samuel, Juliette, Yohan, Arlette & Laurent) and friends (Alban, Alexandros, Adrien). And of course, meeting my students at Aiguillon and the townsfolk around there. And yes, town fits the bill quite nicely as there are only about 4,500 people who currently reside there!

I haven't planned any trips yet to Bordeaux proper, but I feel it is necessary as I will be so close. I'll be equally distant from Toulouse, so i'm sure a stop there will happen in the future as well. Those are just the first few places I want to visit- I plan on doing many weekend trips throughout France so I can experience it completely this time. When I studied abroad, I stayed mostly in/around Besancon, which was nice but I was eager to see more. I didn't have an income as I was only there as a student on a scholarship/financial aid, so this time around it'll be pretty different.

I'm going to be posting a bit more frequently now as the date approaches. This blog will help me organize my thoughts as well as provide a means for me to vent when I may need it.

A bientot!