procrastination is like...

I've been avoiding posting because posting means dealing with my feelings. In the span of a week I've gone from overwhelmed to overworked to devastated to relieved to nervous to... You get the idea.

First off, on December 9th I found out that the American Business School had changed its course offerings. In order for me to stay on track for graduation, I need to get credit for three, yes, just three, classes next semester. I big reason why I chose Paris over Grenoble was because I thought that I would be able to get those credits. Well, now it looks like I will only be able to get credit for two classes.

Now, my finals basically started December 13th, and I had already been dealing with study abroad issues for the past two months, plus I was leaving College Park in a week, I had my mother breathing down my back to figure out where I was going to store my things while I was abroad, AND I had to pack and ship the things I needed to bring home... So as you may imagine, I wasn't quite focused on figuring out the credit situation. Instead I was hard at work and hard at play. (That's me, with the curly hair, in 2001 - "hard at work").

Finals went okay... I think I should have been a lot more stressed out than I was (I was stressed out with crap, but not specifically about finals), and I probably should have studied more than I did (although I studied, but maybe I could have studied harder?)

I figured out the storage situation... My big sister, Karen, was kind enough to let me store some boxes in her basement. :) It was hard to part with my picture frames, my sorority paddles, my favorite mug...

The worst part of the end of the semester was definitely saying bye to my best friends. There are people that I have been friends with since freshman year, who know me better than anyone, others are friends I've met along the way and have become even closer to this semester, and then there are those people that I would have never expected to become friendly with, but did this semester, and I can't imagine life without them.

It's hard at times, being in a large group of friends, and being in a sorority, in both, you get lost at times. Not only do you have to find your place within each group, but then you have to make sure that the group knows when you are with them and when you are with the other group (if that makes sense...).

The point of the story is that saying bye was really hard to do because these people have become my family at some point during the past two and a half years. (That's me, with four of my best friends, taken on December 18th). Especially the day that I life - the last three people I said goodbye to are my three closest friends at school. I spent the car ride to the airport crying.

So... Then I'm home, and I'm sad to be without my friends. My mom starts getting on my case about what to do about credits and everything kind of blows up. She's furious that ABS has changed their courses, she's furious that CEA let it happen, she's furious that I didn't get everything figure out sooner. She's on the phone with everyone and she has me freaking out. I got home last Wednesday and since then my life has been consumed with figuring out this credit crisis.

One of the solutions we've come up with is for me to do an independent study, but between you and me, I don't want to do it. I'm sure it's not going to be fun, it's probably going to be a lot of work and I'm not going to meet any people (as I would if I were enrolled in a normal-sized class). Grr.

Anyway, I think I need to talk to my mom because her pressuring me to figure something out is only making me really stressed out and nervous about going. I need her to calm down. Or something.

get up and go

so, i know it's been a while, so i figured i'd write a real (quick) post since i'm procrastinating writing a 6 page consumer analysis paper that will officially end my junior year here in the states. (It sounds weird saying that - "the states" - but I have a feeling I'm going to be saying that a lot next semester...)

Basically, as soon as one thing gets figured out, something else goes wrong. I'm still trying to figure out what classes i'm taking abroad, because as of now, going abroad is putting me one class behind schedule (and it makes me very uneasy to be behind schedule). I'm trying to figure out whether to stay at the American Business School and really, whether to stay in Paris after all. Which brings me back to the whole debate of Paris versus Grenoble which I was all to happy to bring to an end back in October. Whatever, I don't want to think about it anymore. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

Basically, just like the typical five-year-old impatient child in the back of the car during a long car-ride, I JUST WANT TO BE THERE ALREADY!

The anticipation is killing me. I haven't been able to fall asleep the past three nights; I've lied awake thinking about how it's going to be. It's not even that I'm scared, although a part of me is a little scared of going to this foreign country where I don't know anyone, where they don't speak English, where I've heard they aren't very friendly... But it's more that I just don't know what's going to happen!

It's kind of like that feeling you get the night before the first day of school. You have your outfit all planned out, you can't wait to see your friends, you're nervous about whether your teachers will be hard... But you begin imagining what the school year will hold - will it be the year you get chosen to be the lead in the play? The year of your first kiss? The year you get all As? Will you meet a new best friend? Make an enemy? Fall in love? Get hurt playing softball?

So that's where I am right now. Except in addition to all the excitement of studying abroad, I have to deal with all the little details right now, along with packing all my things and worrying about finals and saying bye to friends.

Oy. I just want to be there already.

l'horaire

1/24/2006

Arrival/Program Begins Official Program Start Date. Students must arrive at Charles de Gaulle airport on this date in order to be eligible for airport pickup. Students will then be transferred to the CEA Paris Office for a brief orientation, then to their respective housing.

1/25/2006 - 1/29/2006

Orientation Mandatory CEA Orientation will be held.

1/30/2006

Classes Begin Classes begin at American Business School (ABS) on this day.

3/18/2006 - 3/26/2006

School Break School is closed for Spring Break. No classes will be held.

5/1/2006

Holiday Fête du Travail (French Labor Day). No classes will be held.

5/8/2006

Holiday Victoire 1945 (End of WWII in Europe). No classes will be held.

5/19/2006

Classes End This is the last day of classes at ABS.

5/22/2006

Program Ends/Move-Out Official Program End Date. Students must move out of housing no later than noon of this day.

an update

Things are slowly getting worked out regarding my travel plans after my official study abroad program ends. I will be traveling with two of my crazy friends from high school, and one of their roommates from college that we are all friends with. It's going to be an interesting adventure.

Here's what it looks like right now:

June 1st - 5th: Corfu, Greece

June 6th - 14th: Other Greek Islands (Santorini or Kos, Ios, Athens)

June 15th - 20th: Prague, Czech Republic

June 21st - 26th: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Now the stressful part is finding hostels, finding flights, finding guidebooks and finding things that everyone will want to do. Also, I need to figure out what I'm doing from May 21st, the day my finals end, until June 1st when we will meet up in Greece.