It lacks a little color, but hey, it's home.

After so much anticipation and planning, I am finally here. It’s hard to believe that just a week ago I was laying around my house bored out of my mind during winter break. But now I am here in Paris, and I’m going to try my very best to make the most of it!

My 6 1/2 hour flight from New York to Paris on Sunday went smoothly, and we landed at 6:30 a.m. Unfortunately for me, that was seven hours ahead of Chicago time. As a result, I had terrible jet lag on Monday. It did not help that I had to sit and try to understand my foyer director explaining to me the rules of the dorm in fast, fluent French. Needless to say, I took a 3 1/2 hour nap immediately after that rendez-vous.

My foyer is actually very quaint. It’s in the 14th arrondissement near Montparnasse (a skyscraper) and is easy to get to using the metro. Many French girls around my age live here, but girls from other countries stay here too. My roommate, for example, is German and has been living in this foyer for a year already. We speak English to each other since we are both more comfortable speaking English than French. While this may not be useful for practicing my French, she’ll be moving to a single room at the end of the month and I’ll be getting a French roommate. Hopefully by then I’ll be a little more comfortable speaking French to native speakers! (I tried ordering a sandwich yesterday and failed. But that’s what learning is all about, right?)

My study abroad program is through Central Colleg and only has four other girls in it. Already I am thankful for choosing my program for this reason! It’s so nice being relaxed in such a small group and getting to discover Paris without sticking out like a sore thumb in a huge group of Americans. My program director is also wonderfully helpful, and I could never thank her enough for all of her help so far.

While I have not been in Paris for very long, I am so excited to see what the semester has in store for me. Tomorrow I am starting a language class with the Ecole Etoile, and I can’t wait to see my French skills improve. Although I haven’t seen many monuments or museums yet (even the Eiffel Tower!), I know I have four whole months to see what Paris is really like. I think I can safely say this semester is going to be a memorable one. (:

I've been trying to get the hang of this since I arrived!