2 days to go, nervous.

Here we are then, the original idea of a blog to document my year abroad! Nobody has done this before, and nobody will ever do it again!

So, the aim of this is to update you all on my progress throughout the year, tell you what I'm getting up to, share some lovely photos and maybe even write up what I learn about the history of places I visit (well, I'm only working 12 hours a week, I have spare time and I'm going to do useful things in that time!). But first, the standard background.

I am a student at the University of Kent. As part of my four year degree, I must spend one of those years abroad. I opted not to study, but to be a language assistant. There are a few reasons for this:
1 - I wanted a break from pure studying, so that I came back to my final year more motivated as I began to lose motivation during my second year.
2 - I had a French language assistant at school, and it helped me so much that I wanted to give the same back.
3 - The spare time means I can socialise with French people a bit more, but also explore the country. It is for this reason that I chose the Ile-De-France, it's a central transport hub.

With 2 days to go, I am quite nervous (naturally). What scares me the most is being taken from my comfort zone (basically, this country) and being placed somewhere about 400km outside of it (in this case: France). I wish I could say I'm prepared, but I don't think anyone can be.  I'm in a good position, I've had contact with my host school, I've been to my host town and found an apartment and got all the things I need to live there. I'm as prepared as I can be, but when my parents leave town and I'm all alone, I'll be like a lost sheep. I've got a week until I start the work at the school, a week to settle into French life and get the all important bank account.

Today I've been into London, bought a load of English language books (even though I know exactly where they are sold in Paris) and revisited the Olympic Park type area (I was a gamesmaker, and needed to revisit my Stadium!).

I'll try and blog again soon, I doubt I'll have chance before Sunday though.

I shall leave you with a picture I took of the town I'm staying in. It's called Meaux and it's about 15-20 mins outside of Paris on the Transilien train.