Packing Packing Packing

Brussels, Belgium for five months. The adventures and opportunities are endless, but what on earth do I need to bring with me? While I would love to take all of my favorite things from home, including my friends, family and cat, I have narrowed it down to four bags. One huge suitcase, a carry on size suitcase, a weekender bag, and a backpack. Since I started packing a week ago, I have repacked my big suitcase three times, put everything into space saver bags, then taken it all back out, and then I readjusted my heavy items until both of my suitcases were finally under 50 pounds. My inventory includes:

10 sweaters                                 2 pairs of pajamas
2 blazers                                      4 scarves
1 dress                                          1 coat
5 tank tops                                  5 pairs of shoes
9 tops                                           3 purses
2 skirts                                         cosmetics
3 pairs of leggings                      snacks
5 pairs of paints                          1 French/English dictionary
1 sweatshirt                                 gifts for my host family
1 pair of sweatpants                   my unicorn pillow pet

This list seems long, yet both of my closets at home still seem to be full, along with all of the drawers in my dresser. My athleticism will be put to the test when I make the journey through the airport and to the youth hostel in Brussels!

Although I have spent the last few days deciding what to pack and figuring out how I can make it fit in my suitcases, I have also been thinking about what my goals are for my study abroad experience. Ultimately, I am going to Belgium to learn French. I am a French major at Illinois Wesleyan University, and would love to be fluent in the language and possibly pursue a career in French. While in Brussels, I will be studying at L'Université Libre de Bruxelles and I will take all of my courses in French, including my business classes! Learning in French will definitely help my language abilities, but in order to truly master the French language, my goal is to make friends with Belgian students--despite how hard everyone has warned me that will be. I am also determined to laugh at the mistakes I will make in my efforts to speak French. I am a pretty serious person, but I think that being lighthearted while learning the language will be the only way to make it through.

My second goal is to become more independent. I have never done anything on my own before. I am terrified to be away from my friends and family, whom I will miss dearly, but I know that it will be a positive experience in the end. Being alone has always been my biggest fear. I have been dreading saying goodbye to everyone whom I love, but I am starting to realize the reason I am dreading the goodbyes so much is because I have so many wonderful people in my life. I am blessed to have such an amazing group of people to cheer me on as I pursue my dream of learning French in Belgium, and I could not be more thankful. I am not going to be alone, I will just be far away, and I couldn't do it without all of the support and encouragement I have received!

I'm bringing 4 hefty bags and two goals that are even heftier with me to Belgium. I can't wait to see what the semester has in store for me.