Bon Voyage

I wrote this on the plane. I am writing a blog about my last 2 days right now.

Currently I am on the airplane right now en route to Paris. I am flying first class (thank you Vickie!), and this is an experience for sure! I am getting really spoiled with all the amenities first class offers. First of all, the leg room is like quadruple the size as you would normally get. The seats electronically recline and do all sorts of things that make you extra comfy. When I boarded the plane, I was greeted with a choice of champagne or a mimosa—mimosa all the way, takes me back to my tailgating days ;)

I then ate a three course meal with a dessert. I am so full now, and I wasn’t all the hungry to begin with. Along with the mimosa, I have drunk two glasses of wine. The plan was to get tipsy or pompette as the French would say, and then fall asleep, but this plan has not worked thus far. Oh well, I have a mini tv screen where I can watch movies, so that’ll keep me entertained.

I had a minor fiasco this morning, but all is well now. I was eating continental breakfast with my dad this morning, and he suggested that we go ahead and check my luggage and print my boarding pass while my mom and bro were sleeping. I thought this was a good idea, so we drove to the airport. I have been to the Atlanta airport before, and it is BIG and BUSY, so I was slightly nervous about navigating this place myself when the time came to finally go through security and such. However, the airport had recently opened a brand spanking new terminal for international flights. It was so modern and futuristic looking; it reminded me of the airport in Raleigh. It was like Raleigh’s airport as well because it was quiet and there weren’t a lot of people.

So we immediately were able to check my luggage and print my boarding pass. My big suitcase ended up being 72 pounds, but the lady let the extra 2 pounds slide! Idk about when I return to America because I know I will have extra stuff to put in my bag, but I will cross that bridge when it comes.

I then went to a currency counter to exchange dollars for euros. I exchanged $500 and got over 350 euros… what bs. I hate the exchange rate. We then drove back to the hotel and had more breakfast—gotta take advantage of continental bfast! While I was eating my waffle, I had a sudden realization that my manila folder was not with me. My manila folder contained my life basically. My boarding pass, copies of passport and visa, translated birth certificates, my au pair contract forms, and my international driving license. Not a folder you want to lose.

I immediately went to the car to see if it was there, but of course it wasn’t, so I urgently told my dad, and we trekked back to the airport. I knew where I had left it—the currency booth—and fast walked there leaving my dad behind. I couldn’t even let myself think what the heck would happen if I really lost this folder. Alas, my folder was sitting exactly where I had left it, and I don’t even think the lady at the counter noticed it was there, but I thanked her anyway.

What a scare…. I don’t even wanna think… not even going to start.

Back at the hotel, I took my last luxurious, American shower (showers are weird in France—I hope I don’t have a shower head I have to hold at my host fam’s house), packed my carry-on, then had lunch with my fam, then to the airport again.

I had a pretty quick goodbye. I got teary eyed saying bye to my mom, but I know they will come to visit, so it isn’t so sad. It is weird though thinking I won’t see them for a long while, let alone my house/cats for a year and my friends. So many things I am leaving behind, but I know my new life will fill in all these gaping holes.

Uhg I have 5.5 hours to kill. Maybe I will try to sleep. It’s all dark in the airplane, and I have no idea how to turn on my light, so I am typing with the light of my laptop screen. This is where splurging for a mac book would have been  a good idea—self lit keys.