Hey, It's the Middle of the Week and It's Almost Time to Go!

So, I leave for France in four days.

This week is really crazy-- crazy awesome, crazy cool, crazy busy.

There are so many things to do when you're traveling while still in school (and not studying abroad, though I haven't set out to do that just yet).  On top of the usual packing and making sure you have everything you're going to possibly need while you're gone, you need to go to each and every one of your teachers, tell them what's up, and ask for the assignments that you'll be missing while you're away and taking care of things that need to be taken care of.  For example, I retook a test today and I have one that's going to be administered while I'm gone, so I have to take it this Friday instead.  Tonight, I will be completing a statistics review and finish two 100 point AP biology packets.  Are you jealous?

Most of my other teachers have been very good about not giving assignments while I'm gone or helping me to figure out a way to get them done beforehand.  for example, my Holocaust teacher has me getting started on a book project (it's reading.  You guys know how much I hate that, right?  -sarcasm-) and taking pictures of anything related to the Holocaust.  Actually, he directed me a to place outside of Paris-- Drancy.  Who knew there used to be a concentration camp there?  I certainly didn't at the time.  For French (yep, I have assignments on a France trip from my French teacher) my assignment is to enjoy the culture!  For everyone that's going to go on the trip, we're supposed to take the pictures that we took and make a PowerPoint out of them.  I won't put that here, because I'll be detailing my trip day-by-day (after my return) on my Travel Blog.  I'll just link you guys to that if you're interested in knowing how everything went down.  Same with Washington D.C., though that won't be as big of an undertaking.

I'm basically all ready to leave.  I mock-packed my suitcase (though I haven't really unpacked it since the weekend... I call it "practice").  I put in all of my clothes, all of my toiletries, and all of the presents I'm bringing for my host family and for my friend Marie's family.  All of this in a suitcase that is less than 22" high.  My suitcase weighs 30 pounds and I'm able to lift it up over my head and run with it!  The only things I forgot to put in are another pair of shoes and some socks-- light stuff!

I've been talking to my three people in France a lot.  My host sister, mostly to get information on what I should bring, what I'll potentially be doing, attempting to get to know her a little bit better before I meet her in person, etc.  With my friend Clementine, we are trying to collaborate with my host family to see if I could possibly see her one afternoon while I'm only an hour away from where she lives.  Certainly, I'd love to spend more time together because we bonded very well two summers ago, but I will have to make another trip there later in life.  I'm already planning a second trip and I haven't even been there once!  With Marie and her family, we're trying to figure out where to pick me up, what we're doing on Friday and Saturday (I know I'm going to school on Friday and visiting Versailles on Saturday, which will be very exciting because it looks like such a beautiful place and my group doesn't get to go with me).

On top of that, I have a second trip to prepare for, but again, this won't be such a huge undertaking.  It's a five day trip and most of it is spent on the bus en route to either Washington D.C. or Minneapolis, depending on what day it is.  I'm planning on going to the Holocaust museum for sure, but if you've been there, what would you suggest that I visit?

Besides the two trips and taking care of everything at school, I have this blog to worry about.  I have a number of reviews that I must write and videos that I must edit, upload, and schedule in posts.  I also have friends that want to hang out before I leave and they won't see me for three weeks.  I'm teaching a friend of mine how to blog on Saturday!  As soon as he's created one, I will link his blog in another post!

Well, that's all for me.  I just wanted to update you and explain my absence and robotronic scheduled posts at 3:00pm almost every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.  Unfortunately, these things won't be put back to normal for three weeks and then there will (hopefully) be an explosion of posts, excitement, and rainbows!

I hope you are all having a lovely week and thank you very much for reading!

--Jude

P.S. I almost forgot to mention that my One-Act play is going to be performed :D!!!!