Last day in the USA...part 1...

Well, it is officially my last day in America. I'm sitting here in the living room looking at my well-packed suitcase, and I just found something that I got on my Bellarmine Crossroads 2008! It's Thomas Merton's prayer...I feel as if it is something to reflect on my feelings right now:
"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."
So here I go...not knowing what lies ahead. I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that I am leaving in 36 hours for France...I'm just trying to stay as calm and normal as possible or I will epically freak out. So that's all I have to say about that for now. :)

Pre-departure thoughts...

So here I sit...a mere 6 days before I embark on the most life-changing journey I'll ever have. Today was an important day for me actually...I figured out how to use Skype! For those of you who will follow me on my journeys while I am in France, thank you for your support and I hope you find my blog somewhat entertaining! As I sit and think about what lies ahead...my mind is a completely blank slate. I don't know what to expect...it's such a mystery, but it's incredibly exciting at the same time. Part of me is extremely nervous, yet the other part of me is wondering why the heck didn't I book an earlier flight??? I am fortunate enough to have already corresponded with 2 American girls joining me at Lille III for the semester! It makes me feel a little more at ease at least knowing one person there. I remember so many years ago when I would have been deathly afraid of studying abroad, which would have been WAAAY far out of my comfort zone...And now, it seems to be the perfect time for me to go. I am not yet sure what I want to do with my life, and I've got a feeling I might find out in France. I am proud of myself for taking the initiative to study in a foreign country in a completely different language. I am definitely ready to experience and live in a culture so different from my own...The French really have a unique lifestyle, and I am SO excited to be a part of it. I am so lucky to have had so much help from my international studies coordinator, Hannah. She has helped me more than anything and has given me the confidence and knowledge to really succeed abroad. The last year of applying and killing an entire forest for all of my paperwork has been exhausting and extremely stressful, but I've got a feeling that I'll forget all of it when I step onto the TGV (train de grand vitesse...or, A REALLY FAST TRAIN) on September 1st. I may not have packed my suitcase yet, but I am definitely ready to go, and can't believe I'm going back to France again!! So many beautiful adventures lie ahead...and I say, Bring it on!