Francophile in the West

Um, where to start... Time flies, for one thing. I'm all moved back to Vancouver with my fam and will be leaving for the Czech Republic in exactly one wee eeeeeeeeek !!!!! I cannot believe it. I have so much to do! I'm all set with my French visa and paperwork, but I need to practice packing and make sure I have a temporary place to stay when I arrive in Nantes until I can find an apartment. I think the apartment hunt will be the most challenging part. As well as getting into the routine of the school year, of course, but at 12 hours a week, I'm sure that part won't be too difficult. :) My last day of work was August 17th. The last couple of days in the office were pretty stressful and overwhelming. I was trying to make sure I had wrapped up all the loose ends and that I took care of everything I needed too, and I wasn't really able to take the time to comprehend that I would no longer be working for the UW after 5 years! It turns out that the tour guide for t

Visa success!!! Kris and I made a long weekend of my mandatory trip to San Francisco to apply for my long-stay French visa and had a great time. We flew out of Seattle on Thursday evening and made it to our hostel, USA Hostel, without any trouble. That was Kris and my first time flying somewhere together! We've taken trains, Greyhound buses, and ferries together, but no flights in three years until now. It was a milestone. :) We didn't have an official dinner before we left Seattle, so we were decently hungry when we got all settled in. The guy at the front desk recommended a restaurant/bar called Fly  a short walk away, so we headed over there and were not disappointed! They served up great drinks and we had a crazy-delicious Thai Basil Chicken "pizzetta": a pizza with a salad on top! Oh man, it was ridiculously good. On our way back to the hotel, we discovered this awesome hole-in-the-wall bar called "Big" that the bartender described as "the s