Vancouver to Fontainebleau

Step 1: Pack up your entire life

6 days ago, we got the word that P was accepted into a very fabulous MBA program in Fontainebleau, France. This was the news we had been waiting for and after celebrating and revelling in the news for 6 days now.. reality has set in. Im looking around our small but stuffed-to-capacity apartment and I dont know how it will be humanly possible to fit all of our belongings into boxes, or worse - suitcases! P's insane dvd collection, dishes, books, camping gear, wedding gifts we haven't even opened yet (3 years in!). It's about as overwhelming as figuring out what to bring to our tiny new french home.

To be completely honest, of this particular school's two campuses (Fontainebleau and Singapore) I was really crossing my fingers for Singapore. Sunny, warm Singy with it's great shopping, satay to die for, merlion obsession, hawker stalls, and crazy politics. I was looking forward to wearing flip flops in January, weekend trips to Malaysia, hikes in Bukit Timah, all you can eat gulab jamun at Woodlands Ganga, rollerblading in east coast park, strolls in Clarke Quay, good nightlife, cheap fares on Air Asia, and (I'll say it again) satay. Instead, I'm staring blankly at the Google Earth map of Fontainebleau, a tiny spot of civilization surrounded almost entirely by a forest. The temperature is hovering around zero degrees, and the weather forecast calls for snow. And there's no sign of gulab jamun anywhere.

                                                            Just in case you thought I was exagerating about the forest part.

To be fair, I know that there is little in the world that beats french wine and cheese, and I will admit to having fantasties about riding my bike to the local boulangerie at dawn to pick up a fresh and steamy baguette... I think I just need to get used to the idea. And figure out exactly what it is that I will be doing in Fontainebleau every day while P is studying away. Me and my non-existant french (courtesy of the Vancouver School Board), limited to the names of fruits and vegetables, days of the week, parts of the body, and a handful of unconjugated verbs. 

Scarf. Check.
Mittens. Check.
Deeeeep breath.