Quimper

Ok, so I'm officially at my new home-away-from-home in Quimper, France. I've been staying at a hostel for the past two nights, and only have two more to go before I get to move into my new French home (thank goodness). Not that the hostel's been bad, but it will be really nice to settle into my own space, finally. Quimper is the quintissential French town - super old, huge cathedral in the center, cobble stone streets everywhere, river running through the center of town crossed with footbridges that are covered in flowers. I will post pictures as soon as I'm settled into a more reliable internet connection, but trust me, it's pretty darn cute. Aside from that, it's been a little lonely around here. I don't exactly know ANYONE, and we can't be in the hostel between 11 and 5, so that leaves me to wander alone for hours on end. I had a few small breakdowns (one in front of the incredibly nice hostel front desk lady, much to my chagrin), but think I'm doing better now. There's an Austrian girl staying at the hostel who's going to teach too, so it's been nice to have at least one other person who sort of understands what I'm going through. The other English assistants should be getting here either tomorrow or Friday, so my friend base should be growing - S-L-O-W-L-Y but surely.
Quimper really is adorable though and all things considered, I'm glad to be here.

I'm here!

I safely arrived in Paris about 2 days ago. I don't have a ton of time, but here are some highlights:

- FInd out my luggage is lost when I arrive in Paris. Annoying, but I'm too tired to care

- When my luggage does finally arrive at the apartment of the friends I'm staying with, I CANNOT for the life of me figure out how to open the door. Seriously, there wasn't a regular handle so I spent a good 10 minutes apologizing to the kind man from Charles de Gaulle airport, trying desperately to get the door open. I couldn't, he kindly ended up signing for me and just left it on the doorstep. Due to jet leg, this just about made me start bawling (but I kept it together in the end)

- My friends in Paris live within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower and when I went to get bread and wine with them the other night for dinner, the sun was setting behind it. C'était magnifique!

- I've been mistaken for French twice now. One guy on the metro started telling me about how great the film "Sicko" was and said I really should see it. He was talking about how messed up the American health care system is, and when I told him I was American he was super apologetic. I didn't mind at all (Lord knows our health care sucks) and had a nice little (very brief) convo with him about it.

- I've really suprised myself with the amount of interactions I've successfully had in French, let's hope it continues!

OK, c'est tout for now. More soon. Lot's of love to those of you who have wondered onto my blog to see what I'm up to :)

4,897.82

That's how many miles away from Olympia, WA I will be this time next week. It'll probably actually be about 5,000 miles, seeing as I'll be in Paris this time next week. But when I do finally settle in to my new life à la française, it will be 4,897.82 (approx.) miles away from here.
I'm feeling a crazy mix of emotion at the thought of beginning this next chapter of my life. I'm ecstatic at the thought of going back to France, but if I think too much about the details of it all, it starts to terrify me a little. I can't wait to speak French again. I can't wait to eat fromage blanc, and crèpes à la nutella. I can't wait to see old friends. I can't wait to shop for my produce in an open air market. I can't wait to settle back into a slower pace of life. I'm not looking forward to the inevitable periods of homesickness, to feeling like an idiot when I can't find the right words in French, to spending my first Christmas away from home...
When it comes down to it though, I know without a doubt that it is my time to spread my little wings and move along to something new. I am blessed beyond belief that my something new is a year of living abroad in France. I mean, come on. Sometimes it's a little hard for me to believe that I'm actually doing this. Every now and again I just have to stop and convince myself that, yes, this IS my life.
Whatever the experience, I'm determned that it will bring perspective, growth, an increased sense of self-confidence and some kick-ass French skills.