Daniel Mizell is a student at Arizona State University and an ISA Featured Blogger. Daniel will soon be studying abroad with ISA in Paris, France.
Some days it feels like February 9th will never get here. Then other days I think for a few moments that I could use an additional day or two to get ready. I don’t need an extra day to get ready. Not by a long shot. Other than packing (And who packs for a trip three weeks in advance?), I don’t have anything major left to do. Packing is hardly interesting to me anyway, and most of the advice I’ve gotten about packing is to take as little as possible, which is sort of my MO.
So why do I sometimes feel like I could use more time before leaving? I guess that’s just nerves from something that I’ve been looking forward to for so long now being within reach. There are times when it gets a little overwhelming, or times when I can’t believe I’m actually going. But then I check my flight itinerary and it hits me again that this is real.
With the time I’ve got before I leave for France, I’ve been spending most of it brushing up on my language skills, while trying to get myself mentally prepared. Sometimes those two counter-act one another. I’ll try reading a newspaper article in Le Monde and think “Oh man, I don’t know nearly enough. I’m gonna be lost over there.”
But then I remember that I’ve got time, both before I leave and in Paris, to learn more than I ever imagined. And then it isn’t so scary anymore.