Au revoir Charleston

Hello Raleigh! Ah, I find myself here once again. I feel pretty on top of things at the moment, mostly because I'm fueled by delicious espresso, provided by my favorite Cafe Helios downtown. I left Charleston yesterday, and it was just as hectic as every transition I've made. I haphazardly packed the car so full, that I could hardly see out of my rear view mirror, my eyes were puffy from two days of crying, staying up too late, and stressing. I will be in Raleigh for one week, and then NYC for two days with a best friend from high school, and then...la France! At last.

Plans are coming together, and I feel secure, many thanks to the English teacher at the high school I will be working at in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule. I will fly from NYC to Madrid, connect to Lyon, then take a train from Lyon to Saint-Germain-des-Fossés where I will be picked up, probably in a car too small to contain my suitcase. I should be able to immediately stay in my apartment provided by the school, and my roommate from Germany will arrive at the end of October.

I am so thankful for these solidified plans, but I have a few big things to do right when I arrive: set up a bank account, file paper work for health insurance, get my Carte 12-25 (provides amazing train discounts for people under 25), get a cell phone, and finish the processing of my visa with French authorities. No biggie right? At least the apartment is taken care of, because I've heard that finding housing in France can  be quite treacherous for Americans.

For those of you readers who prefer me to discuss issues in my blog, I apologize because the next few weeks are going to be crazy, and the blog will most likely start to sound like a journal--which really wasn't my original intention.

I have so many things on my mind, from here on out I want to talk a lot more about travel--not just where I go, but the process of traveling and how it changes the traveler. I think this is part of the reason for the anxiety/unease I am currently feeling, because any prolonged exposure to a foreign environment is sure to change you. The way you think, live, eat, sleep, all the comforts that I take for granted will soon be gone, and I will have to rely on my strength and good sense of humor to pull through it.