The final push

Visa acquired, suitcase purchased, new credit card, plane tickets, train tickets, hotel tickets, arrival plans...the checklist goes on and on. Somewhere in the midst of finishing finals, packing up everything at Brandeis, getting home and buying Christmas presents, I've managed to get almost everything ready to leave for France in less than a week. I was ahead of the game on getting my passport and visa, but I had no idea how many little things I would need to pull together before I finally head off for my five month adventure in Montpellier. 
I've asked all of my friends who have just returned from Europe a million questions about a million different tiny nit-picky things that I've been wondering, so hopefully I don't have too much more to do before I leave.
For now I'm just hoping to catch up with a few more Northampton friends, since I haven't really been home for more than a weekend since last January and enjoy Christmas with the fam. Then I take off for a few days in Paris with Louisa before heading to Montpellier to start off the new year!
It seems like every day I say goodbye to someone else, starting a week ago when I was leaving Brandeis, which is really sad, but it also means this whole thing is real. I'm actually going to France. For a whole semester. WOW. Such a crazy mixture of emotions I just really have no idea how I feel about the whole thing. Guess I'll figure it out!
And for the time being, Merry Christmas, happy holidays!! My next post may just be from Paris!