Ten days from now, I’ll be flying to France. It’s a surreal feeling.

Travelling for a week or two is one thing. The novelty energizes you, and you hug your loved ones goodbye for a short time. Before you know it, you’ll see them again and excitedly share photos of your experience. If you’re lucky, you won’t even leave behind all your favourite people; perhaps they’re your travel buddies.

Preparing to move abroad feels quite different. The thrill of novelty remains, yet there exists only a gaping hole where your envisioning of the next several months will be. Perhaps that is my own brand of managing chaos: hope for the best, prepare for the worst and acknowledge honestly not knowing what life has in store. Don’t get me wrong; I love imagining things, and I wouldn’t have applied if I didn’t have hopes for the experience. However, for anyone making a context change, it’s impossible to foresee the shape of one’s daily life, the things that’ll bring joy and frustration, and the people who will play a profound role in one’s everyday.

As the day approaches, I try to squish my life into a suitcase and gather all the papers that define my existence. I book tickets and lodgings and oddly look forward to Christmas. I try not to drive my friends crazy, though they’re busy with their own new beginnings, and find myself constantly checking the TAPIF Facebook pages. Am we ready? Well, we will be soon by necessity.

To everyone starting a new chapter this fall: I hope you find happiness and meaningful community. Godspeed.

Photo: Münster, Germany, Fall 2017