Je suis très excité.

I guess this will seem a bit cheesy, a little too sentimental, but I don’t really care. I want you to understand why my upcoming trip is a big deal to me.

I have always wanted to go to France, at least as far back as I can remember. Whether it was the first time I saw the curiously shaped Eiffel Tower, the first time I heard an accordion playing a French tune, or a movie that was set in Paris that I now don’t remember, something put France at the top of my Places to Travel List and has kept it there since.

In high school, I took French as my foreign language. I wanted (still do) to learn the language and be fluent in it. The French class took a trip to France. I wanted to go very badly. My grandparents said they would pay for me to go on that France trip…OR they would pay for me to go to Seattle. I wanted to meet the family I had never before met and to see where my grandma grew up, so I ended up choosing the latter. It ended up being quite a memorable adventure (I have some hilarious stories I could tell you), and I do not regret my decision.

When I graduated high school and began Columbia State, my plan was to go there for two years and then transfer. I wanted to go to a school that had study abroad opportunities, so I could study French. Of course, I was far too immature and irresponsible to finish college and dropped out.

 Then, around the beginning of 2004, I came up with a new plan to venture to France and Italy. That idea had barely gotten past its inception when I discovered that I was pregnant with Asia. The opportunity never presented itself again until November of 2010. I got an email about the school’s International Studies program that offered study abroad trips to Argentina and to France. It sounded like a fantastic experience. I didn’t really think that I would get to go. I knew there was no way for me to come up with the money, but the meeting was free and it never hurts to fantasize. Fortunately, the school offered aid, scholarships, and loans. After all was said and done, I had signed the papers.  So here I am practically two weeks from departure, excited beyond words about something I honestly thought that I would never get to do.

If my excitement annoys you, I’m sorry. I have waited a long time for this and it is finally happening. You see, this isn’t just a trip for me, it is a journey. It will be over before I can blink, so if you’ll just allow me this fleeting joy, I would really appreciate it. Merci!