Counting the days...

Only 4 days until Christmas, 11 days until the New Year and 21 days until I depart from Burbank to San Francisco to Chicago O'Hare to Paris Charles de Gaulle!

I finally know the actual address where I'm going to be living in Paris! And the family's last name. I'd like to call them sometime before I actually get there. The only bad thing is that I requested a meal plan, but the family I'll be living with doesn't offer one. I'm going to have to cook for myself! Uh oh!

Let's all go to Paris!

Guess who else is going to Paris?

Lauren and Whitney from The Hills, as was revealed on the season finale the other night. Here's a preview of the extra episodes that are going to air of the girls in Paris for Le Bal Crillon de la Haute Couture. http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1576122&vid=194620

"I need to go find a 'reboudir'," Lauren tells Whitney. (Translation: a rebound!) In the preview, there's some scruffy French guy who takes Lauren to see the Eiffel Tower and drives her around on a scooter. Damn, I'll need to find a hot French guy to show me around Paris! (Preferably several hot French guys...) Once we get past the language barrier, that shouldn't be too dificult, since they supposedly love American girls. And at least mine will actually be a legitimate love interest and not some fauxmance orchestrated by mtv producers!

HOW many suitcases did she bring?!

I saw this picture earlier today and it made me think about how I'm going to pack for my trip! Paris Hilton arrived in Charles de Gaulle airport yesterday with *ahem* 15 pieces of luggage!

It's my understanding that I can bring 2 pieces of luggage to be checked, weighing up to 50 lbs each, as well as 2 more bags to take as carry-ons. Anything more and I'll be charged extra. Paris Hilton packed over a dozen bags and she'll probably be in Paris for only a couple days: How on earth am I going to have enough stuff for 5 whole months with only 2 or 3 bags? And it would probably be in my best interest to leave some space in my luggage for all the souvenirs I'll inevitably bring home...
I'll probably try to wear my bulkiest things on the plane, so that I won't have to try to stuff them into my luggage (like my new Michael Kors chocolate quilted down coat!)

Bienvenu- Part Une

Bonjour mes amis! So basically, I started this blog because I'm going to be studying abroad in Paris, France during the Spring Semester of 2008. I'm taking the rest of the school year off from UC Riverside and transferring to the American University of Paris. The program starts January 12, 2008 and ends May 17, 2008 (but I booked my return flight for June 18 so that I can have an extra month to traipse around the Continent). This is sure to be one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences and a blog seemed like a great way to record everything in detail. Also, I want a way to keep in touch with friends and family to let them know what I'm up to.

I've never been to Europe before, and I'm crazy excited! I leave in about a month but it seems like there's still so much left to do. I've had my passport for months and I've already gotten my long-term student visa from the French Consulate of Los Angeles (which was a huge hassle and introduced me to my first taste of rude French attitude). This whole process of applying to study abroad has taken nearly a year! Hopefully all the paperwork and confusion will soon be worth it.

Au revoir for now. I still have my UCR finals to study for!

-Shanna