Not long now...

Got most of my stuff packed. Still have to pick up a lead-lined bag for my film. I'm decidedly not looking forward to the security lines in the airport, or the jet lag once I get to Europe.

I booked a shuttle into Paris for Dana and Rachel and myself. They're also students at Guilford, and we're in the same program. They'll be getting in to Charles-de-Gaulle from Atlanta at about 11 Paris time. As for me, my Lufthansa flight leaves from Dulles Airport here in DC and I will land at 6:35. In the morning.

Luckily, I got a new book to read: Aztec Fire by Gary Jennings. It's the fifth in the Aztec quintology, my favorite series after the Richard Sharpe novels. So I'm hoping the sex and violence of revolutionary Mexico will keep me reading, and thus, awake.

The Inauguration

First of all, I want to let y'all know that I've been bored out of my skull here at home. I've been trying to find stuff for Paris, but the stores in Winchester are useless, and I hate shopping anyway. Probably go to Leesburg sometime this weekend. So I've been chopping firewood, reading, and playing Civilization III to stay amused. I discovered the TV series Jericho online, and I've already finished all the episodes. I went kayaking once. I've been kicking around the idea of setting up a salt block and a blind to get some shots of the deer around here, but then I reflected that deer are only slightly more exciting than cows, so why would I want to photograph them in the first place?, although that could just be the boredom making me pessismistic.

But enough negativity. Time for some OBAMA.

Yesterday I was one of the 1.8 MILLION people who showed up on the National Mall to watch the Inauguration. On Monday afternoon my mother's brother's ex-wife Isabel, who is still good friends with my family, came up from Florida with her sister Christie. The minute they drove in to our house we threw our stuff in the car and drove to Fairfax, a suburb of DC, to spend the night with our friends the Conricks. Amy Conrick had bought tickets to an inaugural party for the six adults, so Warren and I stayed at the house ate pizza, and watched TV with Niall and Eoin. We went got into our sleeping bags at about 11:30 and went to sleep.

The next morning, we got up at 5 am, piled into the Conricks' van and drove toward the Vienna metro station. Isabel and Christie didn't go, because they'd drunk too much the night before. John, Niall, and Eoin didn't go either.

The metro was insane. Even at 5:30 in the morning, the crowds were huge. Right before we got on the train, Dad complained of a bad stomachache and turned back, so our party was further reduced to Amy, Mom, Warren, and me. We were packed into the subway cars as tightly as our American sensibilities would allow. I say American sensibilites, because I noticed that it never got quite as bad as the night when I took the Munich U-bahn back from the Olypiastadion. But the Germans don't make stupid mistakes like trying to pry the subway doors open; the first subway we were on was disabled and put out of service for that reason. What moron would do that?

Anyway, we got on the next train and disembarked at MacPherson Square. We hadn't eaten yet, so we stopped at a Starbucks overflowing with people and bought coffee and too-sugary coffee cake. We followed the streams of people down streets patrolled by volunteers, cops, and soldiers onto the Mall near the WWII memorial. Thankfully, the Mall wasn't as full as we'd expected, so we walked through the bitter air and watery morning sunlight towards the Washington Monument. Climbing the incline to the Monument's base, I thought about how many times throughout history people have moved in crowds like this before, pilgrims, soldiers, and refugees alike.

We worked our way through the throng to the Capitol side of the Monument, where we could see one of the Jumbotrons that was replaying the concert from Sunday night. We found a clear spot, and stood there to wait. An ABC news cameraman came up the hill, and wherever he went people started shouting and chanting "Obama" senselessly, doing anything to get on TV.

Mom and Amy fell into conversation with the people around us. One of those was a 73-year-old African-American woman who'd been present at the 'I Have a Dream' speech. The hour and a half to the speech passed relatively quickly, because we were occupied with keeping warm and not letting our legs fall asleep. I did some chigong standing for about ten minutes.

As the dignitaries were introduced, the crowd cheered for Democrats and remained apathetic for Republicans. The only ones they booed for were Cheney and Lieberman. When Obama first came onscreen I looked towards the Capitol and saw so many American flags waving in the crowd that it looked like the air was shimmering. As he began the Oath, the crowd fell silent. Even the quintet of guys who'd been chanting "Si, Se Puede" over and over for the cameraman shut up. When Obama finished, the air combusted with cheers, shouts of victory, and not a few sobs of joy.

The Inaugural Address left the audience rapt, all listening intently, all borne on the waves of idealism and community.

We left the mall frozen and tired, but very happy. We found a TGI Fridays and waited forty minutes for a table and another forty for our food. We tried to go back to the MacPherson station, but what looked like three hundred people choked the entrance. At Amy's suggestion we walked across the Georgetown bridge to the next station and rode back to Vienna.

It's amazing to think that Bush is no longer the President. I really hope Obama's goals of rebuilding America's image internationally will be fulfilled.

We shall see.

Got so bored I shaved

Yep. I shaved, just to have something to do. That might give you some idea of how bored I am.

I got it!

Today I headed into DC with Dad to get my Student Visa from the French Embassy. It was pretty nerve-wracking, but I probably should had realized I had nothing to worry about. I forgot the $70 visa fee, so I had to dash out in the middle of the process to get more money from Dad. Then I was worried because I had forgotten the original copy of my acceptance letter from the Sorbonne, and they were adamant about having the originals of each document.

But apparently it didn't matter, because I got the visa! All nice and shiny in my passport.

So now I've definitely reached a turning point in getting ready for this trip. It's all becoming a lot more real now that there's only the flight itself standing in my way.

Wow.

Now I have to see about buying film, clothes, textbooks, etc. So much to do.

Introduction

Happy New Year, Bonne année, onnellista uutta vuotta, Prosit Neujahr, y Feliz año nuevo!

I started this blog to document my experiences, activities, and photos during my upcoming Semester Abroad in Paris.  I needed an easy way to keep in touch with all of you back in the states, as well as my friends in Europe, and definitely was NOT going to get a Facebook.  It'll also serve to keep my parents informed in the regrettably likely event that I forget to e-mail them.  I hope to update at least every week and a half, but ideally more like three times a week.

So for those of you who don't know, I'm leaving for Paris on January 31 to participate in an intensive French language program at the Sorbonne.  Even though I go to Guilford College, the program's facilitated through the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, but luckily it still counts as a Guilford program, so the tuition's the same.  I've got all the documents I need, except for my Student Visa.  I just need to sift through papers until I find two things that I need for the application, so I'll get that as soon as possible, hopefully by Monday or Tuesday.

But besides getting ready, I've just got a month here at home.  I plan to go to the Inauguration, so that'll be something exciting.

Trente jours.  Trente jours très courts...

On a different note, here are some pictures I took when my family went down to Florida for Christmas.