C'est si bon!

Bonjour à tous! Je suis Vanessa, étudiante de 20 ans en France pour le moment. Je viens de Pékin, mais j'étudie à la fac à Chicago.

Hello! My name is Vanessa, a 20-year-old student in France for the moment. I come from Beijing, but I go to college in Chicago.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

pre-departure excitement

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I opened this blog last night after I received an email from my study-abroad program with details concerning my classes in France. Fear not - I am not here to write about academic things, even though I might if what we learn is worth sharing. The point is, I started this blog with the intention to document the next six months of my life as I discover what it's like to be living in France.

From mid-June to the end of July, I will be in a small city in Provence called Arles, where I will study art history and French. (Fun fact: Van Gogh and Gauguin have lived here for some time during fin de ciècle, while Cézanne and Picasso also made some important life journeys in the area! In fact, Van Gogh's Starry Night is a depiction of the night sky at Arles.) After my stay in Arles, I will move on to Paris and spend the fall and early winter there, staying in a student apartment. In Paris, I will study more art history (yay!), European foreign policies, as well as intern in an institution of art.

Right now, as I enjoy my last few days on my college's campus sipping iced tea and pretending to not have homework or finals, I can already feel the excitement of adventure bubble up in me. Here is a song that perfectly captures my anticipation: 

I probably won't blog much between now and my actual arrival in France, but as soon as I get to la belle France, I will try to post updates at least once a week!


Stay tuned (and excited!)
xx
Vanessa :]