Tu Me Manques

5 days from today, I will be on Delta flight 4359, non-stop, to Detroit. I will have already ditched my giant suitcase, passed through security, and boarded the flight, completely on my own. That's kind of a scary thought.

Last Thursday, our German exchange student, Jérôme, went through the same process. It's been amazing getting to know him these past couple of days! He gave me a set of Euro coins, and told me about the backs of them (and, of course, which ones were German and French). A few days ago, we took him up to Ithaca to see the waterfall there. Because of the lack of snow the previous winter and several other reasons, the waterfall wasn't nearly as big as it used to be! It was kind of sad. We had fun skipping rocks though! I am not kidding- Jérôme skipped a rock more than halfway across the pool of water. That's crazy!

After that, we went to Seneca lake to meet up with my best friend Madeline's mom and Madeline's brother, Nick. She spent the entire week with me! She lives in Buffalo (about 200 miles away), but we're still super close! We see each other for about a week every summer. Some years she comes to Binghamton, and other years I go to Buffalo. It's incredible how great of a friend she is! It's funny- when I go to France, our relationship will essentially be the same. We will keep in touch through Facebook and E-mail like we usually do. I'm definitely going to miss her (I mean, I ALWAYS miss her). It's great, though, that even after that whole year abroad, I still know that I'll come back and we can pick up right where we left off!

On another note, I am having a horrible time deciding what to pack (see my previous post for more information on that). I am here, on my bed on the third floor, staring loathingly at the pile of miscellaneous debris that surrounds my unorganized suitcase. It looks terrifying. I asked Jérôme how long he was packed before he had to go to America. He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "a half an hour", so that made me feel loads better. People say we should begin packing weeks in advance, but from what I've heard from many previous exchange students, that rarely happens. Now, I know exactly what they are going through.

On yet another slightly different subject, my going-away party was a total success! Less people came than I imagined, which was really great! I'm going to miss everybody so much! I'm so happy that I have such great friends! They really are the best that I could have ever hoped for!

Anyway, I have a lunch date with my AMAZING Grandmother in about a half an hour! I should go get ready!

À Plus Tard!