took my dreams and i took to the road

In five days, I set off on my adventure (September 11th, cheapest day to fly). With a year's worth of clothing to pack into one suitcase (ok, one and a half), it's a struggle getting everything narrowed down. Whatever I bring, I'm going to have to lug around myself, and my arms? scrawny. Though I keep trying to think of every possible item I might've forgotten, but it's not like I'm going to the ends of the earth. I'll be in Paris, where I can buy toothpaste or a glasses case if I need to.

We start off in London. The people who will be attending the same study abroad program this fall will meet up there, and then we'll be off to Cannes for two weeks of orientation to the language and culture of France. It helps that the two weeks are also spent on the Riviera, and we only have class for 3 hours a day. There will be pictures.

I'm not one to wax poetic over leaving home. First of all, we moved only a year ago, so this place has a distinct lack of "homey" feelings. Second, I like exploring. It's not that I don't love my parents, friends, and home, I do, but I'm at the age where picking up my life and moving to another continent for a year is relatively easy to accomplish. I'd be a fool not to. Experiencing other types and ways of life is what the young are supposed to do, especially when those young tend also to be restless. I talk big, but the truth is I've lived in one city in the Southeast my entire life. I'm putting my money where my mouth is, as they say. I've been all over the United States, and I've explored all corners of my home city, but the fact that everyone speaks the same (at its basis, the same) language is somewhat depressing. I want to get lost in someone else's world and learn to find my way.