Departure.

5/20/13
Today marks 93 days until I depart from Portland Oregon and 96 days until I arrive in Paris, France.

Honestly, it's so incredible that I'll be arriving to Paris in a matter of months. Traveling like this is something I never imagined myself doing until I was much, much older and had a very expensive vacation that I would only do once. Now I'm filling out a student visa worth 11 months. I'm talking to my host families and host club. I'm researching my city. I'm studying the language even harder than before. It's all becoming so real.

Also, the visa process is not simple. For France, you have several permission documents and approvals you must fill out (most of them in French....) and you need copies of several types of ID's. For me, we need to collect all of the documents, such as the consulate approval form, parent permission form, passport, passport photo, copy of ID, etc. and mail them to the Rotary travel agent in Seattle. Her name is Emily and she works for countless hours sorting all of the countries' visas and travel requirement. Props to Emily!

So in the mean time, I am currently finishing that up so I can mail it in and get ready to see the French consulate on July 22nd in San Fransisco. I'm very excited for our appointment. I love San Fransico and it's a big part of the exchange process.

That's all for now!
~Effy