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sadie_cocopuffthe annoying thing about packing is how you can never be *completely* packed until pretty much the minute you run out the door. there's always pajamas, toothpaste, cell phone charger, what have you that has to stay out until the last minute. i like things to be finished and all tied up with a pretty bow.
but anyway, the packing adventure was not as traumatic as predicted by my nightmares. i have two suitcases under the weight limit (barely, but under), two extremely heavy carry-ons, two smallish boxes of books to go to the post office in the morning, a pile of stuff for brenda to take to whatever the french equivalent of goodwill is, and a few things i'm leaving with my host family. all in all, there was not as much abandonment of possessions as i had feared.
i did a mock-up of the actual day of traveling, just to be sure of weights. everything, but everything, went in the bags except the pile of clothes i'll be wearing that day (no, i was not naked while doing this :P i was wearing the pajamas that will either get stuffed in a carryon or abandoned at the hotel). the suitcases weighed in at just under 23 kilos for one and a measly 19 for the other (who decided it was a good idea to make suitcase sets in graduated sizes? well, ok, they nest, and that's cute, but it seriously cuts down on effective use of the weight limit. meh). my carry-on bags are obscenely heavy and packed like complicated 3d puzzles, but they close. once i walk out of the hotel friday morning, i'm not allowed to pull anything out except my laptop/carry-on liquids for security and my book/i-pod for the plane, which will have been specially packed for accessibility. otherwise, it will all explode.
anyway, packing is complete, except for the inevitable odds and ends that will have to be repacked in the morning. apparently my train isn't till 12:11 - i had it in my head that i'd booked an earlier one - so at least i don't have to rush in the morning. soon, time for farewell dinner with my host family (please let there be champagne before i go back to the country where i can no longer legally drink it!) i got them a really pretty chocolate bouquet as a thank-you/going-away present, half because i know they like chocolate and half because i've been eyeing them all year and haven't had anyone to buy one for. :P
i know i am sad to be leaving poitiers and especially my host family, but i'm so caught up in the frenzy of packing-leaving-paris-ballet-travel-home-neverendinglineupofthingstodo that i'm really just feeling energetic. i'm sure it will hit me in my paris hotel room tomorrow afternoon while i wait for it to be ballet time (i can't bring myself to want to wander paris alone for an afternoon - am i paranoid beyond the bounds of all reason?), but then it will be time for a really long shower in a place where nobody i know pays the water bill. :P so, all planned out. hurrah.
but anyway, the packing adventure was not as traumatic as predicted by my nightmares. i have two suitcases under the weight limit (barely, but under), two extremely heavy carry-ons, two smallish boxes of books to go to the post office in the morning, a pile of stuff for brenda to take to whatever the french equivalent of goodwill is, and a few things i'm leaving with my host family. all in all, there was not as much abandonment of possessions as i had feared.
i did a mock-up of the actual day of traveling, just to be sure of weights. everything, but everything, went in the bags except the pile of clothes i'll be wearing that day (no, i was not naked while doing this :P i was wearing the pajamas that will either get stuffed in a carryon or abandoned at the hotel). the suitcases weighed in at just under 23 kilos for one and a measly 19 for the other (who decided it was a good idea to make suitcase sets in graduated sizes? well, ok, they nest, and that's cute, but it seriously cuts down on effective use of the weight limit. meh). my carry-on bags are obscenely heavy and packed like complicated 3d puzzles, but they close. once i walk out of the hotel friday morning, i'm not allowed to pull anything out except my laptop/carry-on liquids for security and my book/i-pod for the plane, which will have been specially packed for accessibility. otherwise, it will all explode.
anyway, packing is complete, except for the inevitable odds and ends that will have to be repacked in the morning. apparently my train isn't till 12:11 - i had it in my head that i'd booked an earlier one - so at least i don't have to rush in the morning. soon, time for farewell dinner with my host family (please let there be champagne before i go back to the country where i can no longer legally drink it!) i got them a really pretty chocolate bouquet as a thank-you/going-away present, half because i know they like chocolate and half because i've been eyeing them all year and haven't had anyone to buy one for. :P
i know i am sad to be leaving poitiers and especially my host family, but i'm so caught up in the frenzy of packing-leaving-paris-ballet-travel-home-neverendinglineupofthingstodo that i'm really just feeling energetic. i'm sure it will hit me in my paris hotel room tomorrow afternoon while i wait for it to be ballet time (i can't bring myself to want to wander paris alone for an afternoon - am i paranoid beyond the bounds of all reason?), but then it will be time for a really long shower in a place where nobody i know pays the water bill. :P so, all planned out. hurrah.
