I need to go shopping

It's getting down to crunch time, so I've started listing out what I need to pack and figuring out which of these things still need to be purchased or replaced. It looks like I'll be needing to buy a lot of stuff, mostly toiletries and basics. Nearly everything is more expensive in France, so I'm going to try to bring as much as I can with me. I have most of the big-ticket items covered, but I do need new running shoes pretty badly. Actually, I need new shoes in general pretty badly. Those are definitely more expensive in France, so I'll have to get those here before I go!

I'm starting to discover that there are quite a few unusual items I need to bring with me. Well, "need" is relative, but for me they are necessities! Fore example, apparently peanut butter is hard to come by in Europe. I LOVE peanut butter. I don't use the sugary stuff like Jiff or Skippy, but my natural, unsalted peanut butter from Trader Joe's is something I use daily. If I want to keep this creature comfort from home, then I need to bring some in my luggage. 

Also, good vanilla extract is nearly impossible to find. This horrifies me! I love to bake, and I use vanilla extract in almost everything I bake. It is absolutely necessary for chocolate chip cookies, which is one of my favorite things in the universe. I also use a little of it in my coffee. So basically, I need to take a gigantic bottle with me. Come on, my host family needs to try my all-American homemade chocolate chip cookies!!! I own at making those. Mmm.

Maple syrup is also not readily available in France, which makes sense I suppose because maple trees are a very North American thing. I love to use maple syrup on pancakes and French toast, and I would love to introduce my host family to this glorious topping, so I'll bring at least a small bottle with me. 

My favorite toiletries that I use every day most likely won't be available in France, and if they are available to purchase then they will be more expensive, so I'm going to bring those things with me. This is especially relevant for deodorant and feminine care products, I've been told, so if you are moving to France (or Europe in general), be warned!

My friend who studied abroad in Paris for a year said that while they will obviously not have everything that we do in America, the grocery stores will have most of the products that Americans are used to, though they will be French versions of these products. I think it will be kind of fun to compare American and French grocery products! Actually, maybe it will just be embarrassing, because I know that a lot of French food items are of a lot greater quality than American food items (mostly regarding butter, wine, and chocolate). I'm looking forward to getting used to shopping for items in France, I feel like I will fit in a lot better once I know my way around a store and know what I like.

I feel like my brain is all over the place right now, there is so much information to take in and so much to consider. I'll be back with a more detailed shopping list and tips! (and hopefully a more organized brain too)

It's here!

My official visa just arrived yesterday!!!

It was very unexpected. The visa officials told me that it would take about two weeks, and the website says to allow for four weeks during the summer, so I wasn't expecting mine to come in until at least next Wednesday. But it came yesterday!!! It only took one week, which means that the French Consulate in LA is AWESOME.

Now that I'm allowed to legally live in France for the next year, I have to finish preparing for my move. Lots of lists and advice to come! Less than a month until I leave! It's all starting to feel very real now.

Almost there!

Wow, time flies so quickly! I haven't posted in quite a while. I've been so busy figuring out logistics regarding my flight and visa. It's been a wild ride, but I'm happy to report that I'm almost there!

Before going to my visa appointment, I had to have my au pair contract approved by the employment agency in France. My poor host family was put through the ringer! I had sent them all of the correct papers and they dropped it off at the agency, but the agency lost the whole file. The WHOLE thing. Thankfully I had sent them copies of all of my documents, but they had to scramble to put the file back together so I could have the approved contract in time for my visa appointment. Now that it's over and I was able to get the contract in time, we can laugh about it, but at the time it was pretty stressful (mostly for them).

After that whole thing, I had to prepare for my visa appointment. If you are going through the visa process yourself, I highly recommend staying overly organized. I had a nice file folder that I used to keep my necessary documents in order. I had them arranged by type of file, and I double and triple checked everything days before my appointment to make sure I didn't have to worry. This saved me a lot of time and stress. Also, make sure that you double check the requirements for visa papers regularly  before your appointment, just in case the requirements change. Mine didn't, but you never know, and they reserve the right to change them at any time. It would suck to go to your appointment, only to find out that the requirements changed just the week before and you didn't know! Don't let that be you!

My appointment day came pretty quickly. On Wednesday, I headed to LA early in the morning to the French consulate. I'm very fortunate to live close to LA, because this consulate serves all of Southern California plus New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado (I think? I'm pretty sure it serves most of the American Southwest). I feel bad for people from Colorado who have to go all the way to LA for their visa appointment! It saved me a lot of time and money to only have to drive from Orange County.

Traffic to LA is awful though, so I left at 7:30 for my 9:45 appointment and got there in 2 hours (without traffic, it takes about 1 hour). Before I left for LA, I had to get a FedEx US Airbill. This was an adventure in itself. I got there believing that it would take five minutes, but it took the sales associate (who had no idea what I needed for my visa appointment and had no experience with the mailing requirements for visas) and me an hour to figure out exactly what I had to get and how I had to pay for it. Gah! I was a mess because I was afraid I would be late for my appointment or bring the wrong document. Thank god for smartphones, I would have been in serious trouble if I couldn't have googled what I needed exactly from FedEx. I'm very thankful for the associate's patience, and she did throw in a free color copy of my passport, but she wasn't very helpful or knowledgeable about what I needed, and it turns out that what I insisted that I needed (and she insisted she couldn't get for me) was actually what I really did have to do in the end. I didn't even have to spend that extra hour in the first place if she had known that.

*IF YOU NEED A FRENCH VISA: get a FedEx express US airbill, put yourself in as the sender and recipient, and have it billed to the recipient (you need to create a FedEx billing account beforehand to do this). This will save you a lot of time at the FedEx store. I also recommend getting the airbill the day before, or padding extra time in your schedule the morning of, because if I hadn't left as early as I did in the morning (I got to the FedEx office at 6:30am), then I would have missed my appointment.

The visa appointment itself was surprisingly a lot easier than I thought it would be, in large part because the employees at the Consulate were so friendly and helpful and because I was extremely organized and prepared. I was 15 minutes early, but they were running late on appointments and there was even a couple who arrived an hour late and still was able to attend their appointment, so I wouldn't worry too much about about being very early if you have a visa appointment at the French Consulate. The security guard was SO nice, and we had a great little chat before I sat down to wait to be called to one of the two windows. The lady at my window was very professional yet friendly, and asked for my documents one at a time. I gave them to her in the order she asked, then she took my picture and my fingerprints. After that I paid the fee ($130 for an au pair visa), and then she told me it looked like I had everything in order and the visa would take about 2 weeks to be approved. This was great news to me, since the website said it could take up to 4 weeks. Then I went home!

So now all I have to do is wait. I know that I had all of the correct papers and that there is no reason for my visa to not be approved, but I'm still a little nervous. I hope the news comes in sooner rather than later!

I hope this is helpful to anyone else getting a visa from the French Consulate in LA. Don't be afraid, as long as you stay organized and on top of things, everything should go smoothly.

Finals, Visas, and Other Fun Life Moments

Has anyone ever tried to study for finals and figure out the legalities of moving to a new country at the same time? Well, don't ever do it. I beg you. It's awful.

I have two finals tomorrow. They are the only finals I have this week, and the only thing between me and graduation. I also have to complete paperwork so I can have a necessary component for my visa in my hands by the time of my visa appointment. Or else I cannot move to France and/or have to change my flight and spend more money.

So now I am facing the eternal struggle: which do I focus on more? I suppose I should focus on my finals now, since I've done all I can do regarding my visa paperwork for the moment (I did it all for the whole day when I should have been studying). But now all I can think about is my visa. And money. And getting everything done in time. So every time I look at my study material in an attempt to continue, I just get lost in thought.

I really need to focus. I need to make sure that I at least pass these finals so I can maintain my GPA and continue to graduate with honors. Go out with a bang, right? In fact, I should probably stop writing and get back to work right now. So I'll leave now.

Just remember to avoid filing for visas around stressful times like finals and graduation. Seems like common sense (which apparently I don't have), but you never know.

$$$!!!

Ah, money. Money, money, money. I wish I could say that I didn't care about it, but I kind of need to pay bills and eat food, so yeah. I care.

I am completely freaking out over money right now. Being an au pair is EXPENSIVE. They do not tell you how expensive it is. Not only do I have to pay for my flights (over $1000), but I also have to pay for my own language lessons for an entire year (about $1400), my visa and residence fees (don't even get me started, that is a whole other post), my phone, and God knows what else. It is all adding up way too quickly for me to be comfortable with.

It's times like these that I get frustrated with life. I am frustrated that I work so hard and yet I see so little return for it. I am frustrated with living in debt (because there is no way I am affording this without a loan and a credit card). And I am afraid.

It seems like I've been saying that I'm afraid a lot lately. Which is strange, considering that I wrote a post a while ago about bravery and how I was not afraid to go to a new place and live there. I didn't lie about that. I really am excited for this new journey. It's not living in a new country with new people that I'm afraid of. It's not being able to live my life fully because of money and debt.

Yet here I am, still going through with this au pair business. It might seem foolish to some people. After all, I could stay in the US and work and gain savings rather than lose money to debt and interest rates. It's definitely more practical and sensible, and I appreciate that. I've always thought it was important to be practical about things.

But I'm young. I've just graduated from college (well, next week, anyway). And I don't want to be stuck. The only thing I'm more afraid of than being a slave to debt is being stuck. If I were to stay in the US, I would continue to live with my parents (which is problematic in quite a few ways, but necessary because of the next point). I would find an average job that would pay barely anything. Art history majors don't have many good-paying options. I would remain in the place I have been since I was born. And life would be debt-free, for sure. But guess what else it would be?

Monotonous. Empty. Soul-crushing. These may seem like dramatic words, but I'm not exaggerating. I'm not one who tends towards drama. Staying in the US would be good for my pocketbook, but wildly damaging to my self. If there's one thing I've always wanted, it was to be independent, to experience new things, and to make my way through the world.

Sure, as an au pair, I will still be making next to nothing. I will be in debt. But you know what? I'll be stretching my mind in beautiful ways. I'll be learning a language in the best environment. I'll be experiencing new things, traveling to new places, and growing as a person in ways that I probably never knew I could. I highly doubt I could get that by staying in the US. Actually, I know I couldn't.

So while it may be difficult, and I might struggle financially, ultimately this is the best decision for me. Here's to hoping that everything works out in the end!