Less Than a Week, Now

I had my going away party, yesterday. Oh man, it was so much fun seeing my friends again, we had a blast just hanging out. Almost all of my friends wrote me a letter for me to open on the plane to France, and it's taking all of my willpower to wait until then. And some even gave me gifts (though I told them not to, goodness knows how I'm going to pack everything), including a Toy Story 3 deck of cards and an absolutely gorgeous bag that one of my friends made herself. (Instructions: No textbooks or heavy items.)

Having a going-away party really puts things into perspective. (Oh no, she's gonna go on one of her exchange perspective rants.) Knowing you won't see these people for a whole year...wondering if you're still going to be the same person when you come back, whether they'll still like you. You can't ever know what's going to change. But I do know I'm going to miss every single one of them. I'm going to miss all our inside jokes, being able to understand them. I'm really going to miss the comfort you get from knowing someone for years. I don't mean that I don't want to make new friends too, but it's going to be so much harder...(end rant.)

On another note: SIX DAYS! Under a week until I board a plane to go away to France for a year! You're probably all dying to hear how excited I am, but the truth is I'm absolutely terrified. This is such a big step in my life. While I am really excited, I'm also both looking forward to and dreading trying to speak French for a year. I want the experience, but I really really like being able to say what I want to say when I want to say it. This...will be awkward. 

~Josie Harris