the To-Do List & the To-Done List

Disclaimer: I know that the title doesn't really make sense. (To-Done? What is this grammatically paradoxical nonsense doing here?) Just go with it & read on, s'il vous plaît.

Well, with slightly more than a month to go before departure, I am finally getting in the mood (kind of) to really start preparing. For the past few weeks, I've been in some sort of weird limbo (I've done all the big things and am not yet to the place where I can start doing the sort-of-last-minute things), but I'm ready to move on to the final stages here, people. So let's review:

To-Done List: (This also serves as a look back on the process, for those of you who haven't heard about it in painstaking detail in real life.)

1) application to TAPIF* - due January 15th, but mine was finished in December, bien sûr. (Funny story Somewhat-related sentence, I was actually in Paris for an unrelated training the day the application was due.) Note, on the application, you must choose your top three choices of regions called académies (mine were 1. Montpellier, 2. Aix-Marseille, 3. Poitiers) and your top choice of level (secondary vs. primary, my first choice (logically) being secondary).

2) acceptance email - received April 4th. (Excitement! Relief! Big giant Facebook announcement with a zillion likes! Love you guys!) Académie: Montpellier, Level: Secondary (top choices ftw!)

Facebook status April 4, 2012

3) work contract application - in mail April 30th. Paperworrrrk! So exciting! J'adore remplir les formulaires! (Le sarcasme est bilingue.)

4) arrêté de nomination (work contract & placement notification) - anxiously awaited, then received June 16th in a beautiful, handwritten envelope. This I actually was MUCH more excited to receive than the acceptance, as this would contain the actual details of exactly WHERE in the world Katy SanDiego would be starting in September. Couldn't be happier** with my placement in Narbonne!***

pretty much the most exciting day of my summer

5) email contact person at my school - late June/early July. I have received response emails from three English teachers at my school, and even from the assistant who had my position last year! All of whom have been extremely helpful and informative and so very nice. God bless 'em for making my day and easing my worries about work. I even found out that I have a free ("very basic") room (I think at the school) waiting for me and at my disposal until whenever I find something more permanent. GRACE.  À . DIEU... for a free room! That was my number one stress.

6) visa appointment at the French Consulate in Houston - July 6th. I had such a nice visa processor who spent the entire time asking me about my previous travels in France and telling me how I'd love the south, rather than interrogating me about... you know... visa-ish things. (He even issued my visa for a full 11 months starting Sepember 1st... merci beaucoup!) In related news, who DOESN'T love driving from Fort Worth to Houston (4.5 hours) and back in one day, all for a 15 minute appointment? WOO.HOO. Got some good car singin' time in though. (ps: For those of you who are thinking, "Hello, just call your bank for a Visa" or "Really, I prefer American Express"... a visa is a document (really a passport sticker) necessary in order to live/work in a foreign country.)

... and then (a mere 5 days after my appointment!),

I was one with the visa and there was much rejoicing.

7) plane ticket - bought! (Shout out to my dad & my uncle for helping me with airline miles!) Dallas-Paris September 17th, Paris-Dallas May 23rd. (That's right, start counting down now, Texas.)

8) duffel bag - bought! (Okay, this is not nearly as significant as the previous items. But it is the ONLY "France shopping" I've done. And it's cute. So whatever.)

9) ticket to a Fun. concert in Barcelona on October 20th - bought! (Also not as important as items 1-7. But for €21, I'm totally down for an excuse to head to Spain for the weekend with some new friends!)

To-Do List:

1) gather teaching materials (real life stuff ("realia" in teacher-speak) to teach kids about the States/Texas specifically/culturally interesting topics)

2) figure out travel plans, specifically the quickly approaching (Oktoberfest in September?! Ja, danke!)

3) figure out what exactly to pack (I have this irrational fear I'll end up accidentally packing like 17 books and only 4 pair of underwear and something ridiculous, like 7 pair of tweezers or something. And the wrong bras. I always pack the wrong bras.)

4) call Sallie Mae and tell them where to stick it for a year (read: beg/plead/cry/make promises of my first-born child in order to receive student loan deferment)

5) magically find at least $2,000 to help me get set up/allow me to travel

6) stop cell service/"park" my number

7) read/re-read all the materials about the program so I can pretend I feel prepared

8) other stuff I forgot about on here

9) even more stuff I forgot, but will remember (and subsequently freak out about) at some horribly inopportune time, like in the middle of the best part of a really intense movie, or while helping a customer at work, or in the midst of taking part in a high-speed police chase, or right at the beginning of a hair cut. Hmm... that reminds me...

10) get a hair cut (CG? You out there? Girrrrl Imma call you!)

So, there you have it. The big stuff's done, as you see. For now, I'll just keep making progress... slowly but surely. It seems time is both rushing and crawling, en même temps. I'm sure I'll continue feeling relaxed until approximately three days before I leave, at which time I will cry on my bedroom floor (or maybe in my car, if it's still running) like the hot mess I am because I'm overwhelmed at all the stuff I haven't done yet. Stay tuned!

*More about TAPIF soon!

**I realize I've never actually been there, so I'm not sure yet. But on first impression, I couldn't be happier.

***My "placement anxiety" and relief at discovering Narbonne merits its own post, and so it will get one.