Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Bought my airline tickets with my travel award!

Yesterday I received a $1000.00 French Immersion Travel Fund Award from UM's Dept. of Modern Language and Classics. Today I used it to purchase my 2-way airline tickets to France ($923.00), and then will purchase my TGV train tickets from Paris to Angers once I land at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. I'll be departing from Bangor International Airport at 1:35p.m. on January 15, 2008.
Now I just have to figure out how I am going to pack everything for a semester into what I can carry from here to Angers; maybe one large suitcase, a smaller one, and then my backpack and purse for carry-on. Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

securing my student visa

On Dec. 18th I drove to the French Consolate of France in Boston to apply for my Student Visa. I had a lot of paperwork to prepare for this trip, and it was not easy finding the address of the French Consolate in Boston. Needless to say, I got lost driving around Boston before finding the Consolate and a parking garage. Then, once I found their office, there was at least a one hour wait, since there were many other students there in line before I arrived. After submitting all of my paperwork and my passport, I headed back to the parking garage and spent another half hour looking for my car. By the time I checked out of the parking garage, I was charged $22.00 for less than two hours of parking time. I could not believe how pricey the parking garages are in Boston. Then, I couldn't find my way out of Boston even with all of my maps. What a Nightmare! Finally, a friendly Bostonian led me in the right direction. Then, the day after Christmas I finally received my Student Visa in the mail, allowing me to study in France. That was the best Christmas gift of all!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Today, 2 December 2008, I created my blog for Spring semester 2009 at the University of Angers, France. I'm hoping that this blog will help me to keep connected with all my acquaintances at the University of Maine, Orono while I'm away.