Still waiting...

So, I'm still waiting on my host family and I leave in exactly a month. I check my email way too many times a day, and I bet I look pretty silly running to the mailbox like a little kid but it's a risk I don't mind taking.

As of late, I've attended the AFS pre departure orientation, received information about my departure from New York, and gotten many updates from AFS on different topics from Visa information to online seminars with returnees from France (which I'll be "attending" this evening,) and basically everything except my host family information. At the seminar, I get to ask returnees questions like "what was it like in school?" or "how hard was it to make friends?" I think it will provide a good resource for me to learn about France from someone who was in my exact position.

Meanwhile, I've been reading Culture Shock! France: a Guide to Customs and Etiquette (http://www.amazon.com/Culture-Shock-France), the Exchange Student Survival Kit (http://www.amazon.com/Exchange-Student-Survival-Kit), Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: Why We Love France but Not the French (http://www.amazon.com/Sixty-Million-Frenchmen), and for fun Words in a French Life: Lessons in love and Language from the South of France (http://www.amazon.com/Words-French-Life). It would seem like I have enough to keep me occupied for the time being, but I think we all know what I really want.

On another note,  I've begun to make my packing lists! This doesn't mean that I've started packing however. I have a feeling though that I probably should start packing now because it will probably take me a month to finish.

I'm off to finish the Visa preparations. I have my appointment tomorrow!