The only thing that kept me going all Fall semester was knowing at the end of it all, I will be sitting outside of a swanky Parisian cafe with the Eiffel tower in the distance while sipping on an espresso channeling my inner Audrey Hepburn.
But before I could put on my barrette, I had a lot of work to do. Finals, moving out from DC, spending the holidays at home, figuring out where to live in Paris, picking classes, finding time learn French, and the worst task of them all... PACK my entire life into one suitcase for three months! If you know me, I have a LOT of clothes/boots/accessories, so this one suitcase life was not something I could do. Being a Florida girl, I am not used to the cold (anything under 70 degrees is freezing by Florida standards), therefore, I have no idea how to dress for temperatures in the 30-50s. I knew I was going to be walking around a lot, so I needed to layer up to stay warm. Naturally I left packing to the last minute and ended up with two FULL suitcases- NBD (No Big Deal).
Throughout the Fall, I tried to learn French via Duolingo (amazing app to learn new languages) The premise of the app is to teach a new language by introducing basic concepts which are reinforced by having to read, speak, and write the correct answer. Only one or two lessons per day are given lasting about 10 minutes each, but you are allowed to do refreshers on older lessons. The cute pictures and phrases are entertaining, I highly recommend for anyone trying to learn a new language. While taking 21 credits last semester, learning French was not high on my priority list but the quick lessons taught me the basics. I know the difference between boy/girl, man/woman, and the most important phrase- "je veux manger" (I want to eat)!
As if packing and learning French wasn't hard enough, I had to pick out what classes I wanted to take at ESSEC - because this obviously isn't a 3-month long vacay :/ My main reason to attend ESSEC was their Luxury Brand Management program as these classes are not offered at GW or at many schools in the US, and what better place to learn about Luxury than in one of the most luxurious cities of them all- PARIS! When I opened the course catalogue it was filled with the most amazing course titles such as Global Strategy and the Luxury Business. I finally settled on 3 courses that I felt would get the most out of- Anthropology of Luxury Brands, International Luxury Distribution, and Luxury Retail Management (Side note- I have to take two online classes to finish out my MSPM degree or else I would’ve taken more classes).
One of my favorite and time-consuming parts of this was trying to find a place to live. ESSEC is in Cergy, which is about an hour outside of central Paris. Because I want to take advantage of my Study Abroad, I decided to live in Paris. As with all major cities, Paris is extremely expensive to live in. I was fortunate to find a roommate off the ESSEC Facebook page that was looking for the same living arrangement as me. We hit it off and were on the hunt for Airbnb. After countless days of figuring out what arrondissement (district/area) we wanted to be in, we found a lovely 2-bedroom apartment in the 18th arrondissement. One thing to note about Paris (and probably Europe), the two-bedroom option on Airbnb means actual rooms- not bedrooms. This means there is 1 true bedroom and there is a couch in the living room that converts into a bed- not ideal if you are spending 3 months.
It is now hours before my flight to Paris and I cannot control my excitement! I hope I can sleep on the plane to avoid being jet lagged when I land. I cannot wait to meet my roommate. ?
