Home for the Holidays (and then some)- Dec 27, 2011

Well, I'm done with first semester! I'm living at home until I leave in February. At first, I wanted to find a job for the couple months I'll be home, but the more I think about it, the better it is that I don't have one. Well, technically, I do have a job. The catering company that my aunt works for was kind enough to agree to schedule me for events, so they call me once in a while asking if I'd like to work certain days. I have the luxury of being able to say yes/no to events, though, so I don't count it as the type of job I had in mind. Without the time commitment of a full-time job, I'll be able to do things that I don't have time for during the school year (get my wisdom teeth out, go to physical therapy, etc.). I'll also be able to go visit my friends at school more often :)

I had my meeting in November with all of the other kids going on my program. The two hours were loaded with basically everything we need to know through June. They invited a girl who went on the same program last year, and she had tons of useful information to tell us. She gave us a lot of cultural tips, a list of places and restaurants we should go to, and plenty of other bits of information that will definitely come in handy. There are about 14 kids on my program. From what I could see, it looks like there will be roughly 11 girls and 3 boys.

I found out at the meeting that since I'll be gone for so long, I need a long-stay visa, which I have to go all the way to Chicago for. I booked a small trip to Chicago the first week of January (yet another instance where I'm glad I don't have a job!).

Host Family
I filled out my host family application and submitted it to the study abroad office. They give you a questionnaire, similar to the one you get when you fill out a housing application in college. I indicated that I'd prefer a family that would like to interact a lot with me (as opposed to a family where I'm more independent), preferably one with kids. I think I'd feel more comfortable in a house with kids instead of an old couple or single person. Additionally, having kids to interact with would probably really help my language skills!

At the meeting they told us that we should be getting our host family information in the first couple weeks of December. After checking my email multiple times a day, hoping to get something, I finally got an e-mail titled "Host Family Information" at the end of December. To my dismay, the e-mail informed me that they are still housing people, and won't be able to tell me where and whom I'll be living with until 7 days before I get there. 7 days!?!? The anticipation alone will drive me crazy. The girl who came to our meeting told us that she got her host family info in early December, and spent the next 2 months e-mailing them back and forth, so by the time she got there, she felt like she already knew them. That would've been nice, but I guess there's nothing I can do but wait.

On a brighter note, I bought myself a new iPod for Christmas. My iPod has facetime / iMessage capabilities, so if you have an iPhone, I'll be able to facetime / text you from France! I'm so excited about it!! Be sure to let me know if you have iMessage, so I can text you while I'm away.

Until then, I'll be here in Troy, bumming around until February.

Affectueusement,
Katie