I'm pleased to report it is officially legal for me to live and study in France. My trip to Vancouver was successful, and tons of fun, and the French Consulate gave me my student visa on the spot. It's nice to have that stress over and done with because there's not really anything major I have left to do from this point until I arrive.
As some of you know I am a list person. Thus, I have multiple lists on the go so I dont forget anything; lists on email, Word, paper, stickies, in my mind and in my folder of France documents. You'd think that many lists would actually make me more confused, but somehow it all works out and I keep track of all things necessary.
Also, I've started packing already. Yes, I'm fully aware there are still 28 days until I leave but I figure this way I'm less likely to forget anything or not be able to find things I need when I'm desperate to pack. There's still lots to figure out such as how I am going to pack few enough items that it won't cost me a small fortune in luggage fees to come home in December. As well, I'm hoping to play rugby with "Les Givrees" women's rugby in the fall which means I'll be bringing most of my rugby gear with me (aside from the warmer clothes I might have to buy there since I'm used to practicing in 20 degree weather rather than the zero degree mark). Plus I'll also be bringing along my snow gear for skiing and boaring in the Alps (if it snows early enough since the ski season in the Alps usually doesn't start until mid-December). All of the sudden my giant suitcase and a backpacking bag just don't seem like enough space...
Anyways, I don't want to bore you with the details running through my mind. Needless to say I am distracted by France. I dont think this next month could go by fast enough but at the same time I'm quite enjoying my summer and all the activities I've had a chance to do before I leave. Let me tell you that the longer a person can go before they start a countdown the better. I think I started a good month ago at least and it just makes time seem to go by so much slower.
I'm a little bit frustrated (being a person who likes to plan in advance) because we don't get our school schedule until September 9th. This means I don't get to start planning my weekend trips to far-away-lands until over a week after I arrive in Grenoble. This seems counter intuitive to me since you'd think they'd want students to be focused on the begining of classes and have planned their trips already during their summer and prep time rather than just as school starts. Maybe they just like to play ignorant to the fact that school is probably the last priority for many exchange students and that the tally of countries visited clearly takes presedence.
Alright well this has been enough rambling for now but I'll probably make another post or two before the departure date (August 29) depending how absorbed I am in tying up lose ends and seeing whomever I can before I say aurevoir to Canada!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Prelude
Hello all!
If you read my "About Me" section you'll see that I am heading to Grenoble, France on August 29, 2010 to start a 4 month, semester abroad at Grenoble Ecole de Management (this will be the second last semester of my Bachelor of Commerce degree). This blog will begin by telling the tales of my French adventure and, if I can keep up the writing, will continue to serve as documentation of my travels. Bear with me as I'm a detailed person and parts of my blogs you might not find very interesting however, I hope you will find other parts enjoyable as you join me on my journeys.
I must say I found it especially helpful and interesting to read other blogs written by students who have already gone on an exchange to Grenoble so I'll do my best to document the process, my frustrations, what I learn, amazing places I visit and of course...the best cheese and wine I experience! That way, hopefully, other people can benefit just as much from my blog as I did from others.
The process of my exchange began in the idea stages last October/November. Although I have already been in post secondary for 5 years and will have finished the Cooperative Education program, I started seriously thinking about adding in one last experience before I graduate in April 2011. Because my major is International Business...and I ADORE traveling...an international exchange was the first thing on my mind. Deciding on a location was a tough call. I had already visited Europe twice (France, Italy, Germany, England and Greece), but it was mostly with my parents and living there on my own would be a whole different story. I thought about Mexico, and South or Central America but based on previous experience, I determine it would be a lot harder (almost a logistical nightmare) to travel between countries, during my spare weekends, then it would be in Europe. The reason I had already ruled out most other areas of the world is because I thought it would be advantageous, to my degree and to my language skills, to live in a country that spoke a language I also spoke (English, French and Spanish). Well that left me with France or Spain. I have never been to Spain but I decided I could actually communicate fairly efficiently in French so that would be better for signing leases (for my appartment), setting up a bank account, maybe scoping out a job (for after graduation) and for social reasons as well.
Anyways, point being, here I am now after much preparation and bureaucracy (which I was expecting but not really before I even arrived) I'm headed to Vancouver, BC this weekend for an appointment with the French Consulate to get my Student Visa. Hopefully everything goes smoothly since this would be the last thing that could potentially stop me from studying in France.
If you read my "About Me" section you'll see that I am heading to Grenoble, France on August 29, 2010 to start a 4 month, semester abroad at Grenoble Ecole de Management (this will be the second last semester of my Bachelor of Commerce degree). This blog will begin by telling the tales of my French adventure and, if I can keep up the writing, will continue to serve as documentation of my travels. Bear with me as I'm a detailed person and parts of my blogs you might not find very interesting however, I hope you will find other parts enjoyable as you join me on my journeys.
I must say I found it especially helpful and interesting to read other blogs written by students who have already gone on an exchange to Grenoble so I'll do my best to document the process, my frustrations, what I learn, amazing places I visit and of course...the best cheese and wine I experience! That way, hopefully, other people can benefit just as much from my blog as I did from others.
The process of my exchange began in the idea stages last October/November. Although I have already been in post secondary for 5 years and will have finished the Cooperative Education program, I started seriously thinking about adding in one last experience before I graduate in April 2011. Because my major is International Business...and I ADORE traveling...an international exchange was the first thing on my mind. Deciding on a location was a tough call. I had already visited Europe twice (France, Italy, Germany, England and Greece), but it was mostly with my parents and living there on my own would be a whole different story. I thought about Mexico, and South or Central America but based on previous experience, I determine it would be a lot harder (almost a logistical nightmare) to travel between countries, during my spare weekends, then it would be in Europe. The reason I had already ruled out most other areas of the world is because I thought it would be advantageous, to my degree and to my language skills, to live in a country that spoke a language I also spoke (English, French and Spanish). Well that left me with France or Spain. I have never been to Spain but I decided I could actually communicate fairly efficiently in French so that would be better for signing leases (for my appartment), setting up a bank account, maybe scoping out a job (for after graduation) and for social reasons as well.
Anyways, point being, here I am now after much preparation and bureaucracy (which I was expecting but not really before I even arrived) I'm headed to Vancouver, BC this weekend for an appointment with the French Consulate to get my Student Visa. Hopefully everything goes smoothly since this would be the last thing that could potentially stop me from studying in France.
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