It's how I do

So, I was reading the student handbook my program sent me, and apparently they recommend keeping a blog or a "Cross-Cultural Notebook." So much for originality...I might as well delete this blog and toss my Moleskine right now. Screw the recommendations!

Just kidding. I want to avoid the effects of the W as much as the next guy (diagram forthcoming). In addition to describing -- in graph form! -- the emotional roller coaster of the abroad experience (and it actually looks like a roller coaster!), the handbook sets out a series of steps for a successful "Cross-Cultural Notebook," so I intend to follow Step One immediately.

ONE: Begin Right Away.
Well, great, I'm way on top of this one! It goes on...

"Before you leave, consider what you want to get out of your experience academically, socially, and personally. What do you expect to encounter? What concerns do you have?"

Okay, here we go.

Academically: I want success! Also, I don't want to work very much. We'll see how that goes taking two lit classes at the university and an art history course through the center that expects some background in the subject. I just want to go on field trips all the time. I mean, it's called studying abroad, so of course I want to learn, but if we take a literary perspective on this, the phrases "studying abroad" or "to study abroad" really do have double connotations, right, either implying academic study in a foreign country or the study of that foreign country. So, yes, I plan to study abroad.

Socially: Well, friends would be nice. French ones, American ones. I want to improve my French and I hope to cultivate real friendships with students at the Université de Nantes, but I'm also incredibly codependent and nervous (and yet, surprisingly calm?), and I'm going to need at least one English-speaking friend.

Personally: I hope to remain a person.

CLIFFHANGER! Answers to the last few questions (and W graph) to come!