Just a Dream

So I warned all of you at the beginning that I probably wouldn't update very regularly, so I won't apologize. At this rate, my plan is to update when I have time and actually remember--which is a tall order for me. Not to mention, I don't really plan on posting just for the sake of posting; when I write something, I want to make sure that it's actually somewhat interesting.

Though I still have several weeks before embarking for Europe, it is finally sinking in that I am going to a different country. Up until last night, France was still a distant thought. What made the difference between yesterday and today? I had a dream about studying abroad. No kidding. With everything that I have done so far to prepare for my trip--filling out applications, getting my visa in Chicago, buying supplies--the thing that ultimately makes my trip into reality was a dream.

Normally, I am not one to remember my dreams. I know I have them, as everyone does. Sometimes I even wake up feeling emotions that may have been influenced by a dream. Even so, I have not actually remembered my dreams since I was thirteen, when I dreamt about Frankenstein chasing me around the middle school, followed the next night by one where I teased a snake by pushing him off a branch. It is possible that this is the reason why having--and remembering--a dream for the first time in years has become rather momentous for me. Added to this, of course, is the fact that studying abroad will be one of the biggest steps in my life.

The dream itself wasn't anything special. In a way, it was a recap of what I've had to do to prepare for studying abroad. The only thing that actually deferred from reality in a big way was the part of the dream right before I awoke--and right before I actually left for France. Over the past two weeks, I have been trying to get ahold of the family that I will be staying with, to introduce myself and ask some questions. This almost felt like a homework assignment, since I had to translate everything into French. This process has worried me, since I have had no response for my emails as of yet. Just yesterday I sent out a letter, which will take much longer.

Anyway, in my dream, the response to my emails finally arrived. I immediatly had to send another telling my family to ignore the letter that I sent by snail-mail. The return email answered most of my questions and included an introduction to the people that I will be staying with for the next five months--something that I have been eagerly anticipating.

Such a simple thing to dream and yet I was unbelievably disappointed when I woke up. I immediately checked my email, but in vain: the response wasn't there. So I am still waiting--and panicking slightly at this lack. In the meantime, all I can do is count down the days until I takeoff to Europe. And I finally know that, though the letter arriving was just a dream, France is not.