My train for Brussels leaves in 4 hours

...and I'm still not sleeping. Anyone surprised? After 4 days full of packing, moving, cleaning, working, shopping, and cramming in some last-minute Nancy cultural activities (such as the museum dedicated to the famous School of Nancy/Art Nouveau movement), I'm overwhelmed, wired, and...some other emotions that I can't figure out.

This morning, I had to bring all of my enormous suitcases from my apartment over to their place, since my place is rented as of the 1st. My biggest suitcase weighed 40 kilos, well over the 23 kilo (50 pound) limit. I had to think fast about what I was going to leave behind, as all of the Salvation Armies, Red Crosses and such are closed for the holidays, and I had arranged ahead of time with one of the agencies to drop off some clothes anyway - but the lady was only going to be there until noon, and it was after 11. I think I got all my suitcases down to their proper size. We'll see how much manipulating I have to do next Wednesday when I do my final packing.

Tonight, I said goodbye to the kids and to Jérôme and Dominique (since they're leaving tomorrow and won't be back until after I'm gone). Bittersweet: I'm so happy to be going home, but at the same time, I'm going to miss my little Cyriaque (almost 3 years old), especially when he says, "Tu sais quoi? Je t'aime bien. [You know what? I like you.]" and kisses me on the cheek. They gave me a beautiful Swatch watch as a goodbye gift. Mine is 11 years old and pretty beat-up (and not to mention not very professional), and my attachment to it (even going so far as to duct tape the perpetually-breaking band) has been an ongoing joke between the family and me.

After my weekend in Brussels, I'm heading to Nantes. I'll be happy to see them again, and I hope it's not too awkward.

All right, I better go finish packing my suitcase for this week. See you all in less than a week!

12 days left

We just arrived back in Nancy after our week in Provence. I'm SO glad to be back. More details about the trip later, but I'll just say that it was a very long, hot, somewhat frustrating week. No worries, though. We all made it back in one piece and are still friends. I have a lot of things to blog about but no time tonight. Hopefully I'll have a little bit of time this week, but time is running short. It's currently Saturday night (almost Sunday). I'm leaving for Brussels early Friday morning. Since the family will be leaving for their second vacation in Brittany that day, I'll be saying goodbye to them on Thursday night. I'll spend the weekend in Brussels and then take a train to Nantes that Monday. I'll be spending 2 days in Nantes visiting the other family, and then I come back to Nancy late Wednesday afternoon to prepare for my return to Minnesota the next day (of course I have to leave at 5am). In short, I'm coming home in 12 days!! I can't wait, although I'll have to. More soon...

I'm coming home in 3 1/2 weeks!

I remember writing a blog called "...I'm leaving [for France] in 3 1/2 weeks!" And it wasn't that long ago (well, nine months). Crazy. Time is flying. The rest of my stay here could be like a vacation. Interestingly enough, it practically will be. Thursday, I'm heading down to Provence with the family. As much as I prefer the north, it'll be great to experience the sunny south in its best season, summer. We return to Nancy a week and a half later, and the following Saturday, they leave for Bretagne (west of France, just north of Nantes). Since I'll be coming home that next week, I won't be going with them. Instead, I'll use that time to visit the family in Nantes. I don't really want to stay for 5 whole days there, and I haven't decided exactly what I'll do with the rest of the time (2-3 days). I've thought of going to Germany or Belgium. We'll see. There are also a few cities nearby to Nancy that I plan to visit.

I can't wait to see you all. Again, as I'm leaving for Philadelphia for a week right after I get back, it may be closer to the middle of August until I see some of you.

I've been reflecting a lot lately on my experience here in France. I'm sure once I get back, I won't even have time to think about it. I'm still mulling over it all; maybe I'll have some thoughts to share later. Things that come to mind are I didn't make enough of this experience and I can't believe I'm leaving already. And then there's Look at everything I've learned and I'm so ready to go home. It's confusing. I'm sure I won't get it all figured out, but a little analysis can't hurt, right?

Ciao for now...

Things

Things are going great here. I never thought that I could feel this comfortable with a French family. In Nantes, I felt uneasy all the time. When we would eat dinner together on Sundays (pretty much the only time we all had dinner together), I felt really out of place and on edge. That feeling never went away. When I left, that was even something they pointed out to me and for which they criticized me. Arriving in Nancy, I felt instantly less uneasy than I had felt in Nantes, but I still didn't feel comfortable. This past week, I realized that not only do I feel comfortable with the family, I enjoy being with them. It's a natural progression as you get to know people. For various reasons, that never happened in Nantes.

I thank God for intervening in this situation. I'm planning to enjoy my last month here. Coming home in 4 1/2 weeks!