I know it sounds crazy... but I think this whole "foreign exchange" thing might actually happen! And by might actually happen, I mean
is going to happen- TOMORROW! (9 hours approximately)
If I had to describe what I am feeling right now I would say this: akhfsatpoalk thewjs;D 9359%*( KASJDSETY JK BE0-2567.
By that I mean... There are no words. It is the most intense variations of emotions... I don't even know where or how to start. I'm happy, but sad. I'm excited, but afraid. Most of all, I am anxious. I am in disbelief that this whole... "thing" that I've been preparing for and dreaming about for months and months and months... is actually happening- Okay enough with whats running through my brain right now! I don't even know how to make sense of it so there's no use in me trying to explain it through writing!
I know that last post I said that my last week in America would "fly by" but I was totally unprepared for the flying. It FLEW! I don't even know where it went! I spent my last days hanging out all day with my friends ! We didn't really do anything crazy or out of the ordinary... just typical summer nights!
Today I woke up suprisingly early and finished my packing. It was kind of hard to pack before today because I still needed clothes to wear, so it was really nice to have everything finally packed this morning! I have all of my papers ready, I have my travel documents, and I have lots of EUROS... which are sooo colorful by the way!
During the daytime I drove all around town and visited my closest friends to say goodbye! It was awesome to be able to see all of them one last time! For dinner I went home to my family where I enjoyed one last American meal.... Steak Fajitas! hahaha... Americanized Steak Fajitas... which were DELICIOUS! I'm going to miss my mom's nachos and guacamole! I also will miss the AMAZING meals my mom makes every single night (the salad MMmm) and dinner as a family in general! ( the constant noise??? haha maybe) After dinner, my family went to ColdStone for dessert and yeah... now I am home.
These months of preparation have been pretty crazy. I remember way back to the beginning of everything and it seems like an eternity ago. The funny thing is, I haven't even started yet! I have so much to look forward to! I'm not sure how much I will update when I am in Germany... I don't have a computer so it depends on what my host family has access to. I WILL have a journal however, which I plan to keep up on pretty religiously. My goal is to update a few times a month but I really have NO idea! I'll be sure to update when I get there and how the first week is going!
So I guess... Here we go! This is going to be quite a year!
Thanks for reading!
Well technically I leave in basically 6-day (ish) because its Thursday night... and I leave next Thursday morning, but I thought I'd just write a few things about what I'm up to because stuff like this was always the part I was most curious about 6 months ago... weird I know! Well for future reference- This time is not exciting AT ALL! It is more like prolonged pain! Now that the last week in the USA is here I don't really know what to do with myself! I feel like I should be doing something... BIG! But I find myself doing the same thing everyday... just hanging out with my friends. hanvin fun. goofin off. doing random stuff teenagers do. The two other outbounds to Germany in my district are already there and settled in. One flew in on the 10th and the other has been there since the 31st of JULY!!! Thats like THREE weeks! craziness! I know that this week will fly by and before I know it I'll be getting on the plane but to tell you the truth waiting is getting really OLD! But I guess I've waited for roughly 270 DAYS... so I can wait 6 more.
Speaking of everything being proolllooonnngggeeeddd I hate the whole goodbye thing! I never know if I'm going to see certain people again before I leave so I don't know whether to say goodbye or to not say goodbye... Its just really awkward because if I say goodbye to someone then that means I'm not going to be hanging out with them before I leave... but thats awkward because I'm still here for 6 more days... and what if I ran into them sometime before I leave and then was like, "just-kidding... goodbye for real now!"
.... okay I'm 98% positive that didn't make sense but it does in my head!
So yes... I'm not having a goodbye party because I figured the people I really want to say goodbye to, I'm sure as hell going say goodbye to! I guess its just not ME to invite a bunch of people over for the sole purpose of saying goodbye to me! I'm leaving for a YEAR people.. not my whole life!!! Its not like I'm never going to see everyone here again! I'll be back for senior year.
Other than goodbyes I'm just livin my life. I am realizing how amazing summer is! I love being able to sleep- in and fall asleep however late I want. I love being able to eat what I want. Go on the internet when I want. text or call when I want. drive when I want. talk when I want. Basically do anything when I want. This isn't to sound spoiled or anything but I'm just really appreciating what I have here in Madison before I have to go to Berlin and start over from square one.
wow... so this post was meant to be a paragraph or two! Obviously I think too much- but you know that already! I'll try to be a bit more cohesive from now one ;)
psssttt-- the real reason why I'm writing this post is because I had 31 posst in total... which is NOT an even number! and I know how much that upsets you Lindsay Quella (aka- coolest friend in the world) So I wrote another one! YAY FOR 32!
HOW'S THIS FOR A SHOUT-OUT????
Wayyyy back in the winter months... when I was waiting and waiting and waiting for any scrap of information about foreign exchange- I would always read the blogs of American outbounds and it would make me feel so much better and get me excited about the future! Most of all, I liked to read about all the stuff going on BEFORE the exchange because it was the stage I was going through at that very moment! Now don't get me wrong, exchanges themselves were very interesting to read about, but I always liked reading about when everyone found out their host family or found out their city/country! Something I really wanted to know about was WHAT goes on in the few weeks prior to the exchange, because most of the blogs I read would have a post in July about getting plane tickets, then the next post would be at the end of August and they would be like, "I'M IN MEXICO!"So this is random, but I've always wondered
...WHAT HAPPENS IN THAT MONTH???
Now I know...
So I have all of my information. I'm not waiting for a VISA, plane ticket, departure date, host family, host rotary club, or guarantee forms. I am now waiting for my departure date itself, August 20th, which is 13 DAYS AWAY!!! Let me tell you... It is so strange to go from looking forward to receiving information for nearly 9 months... then suddenly have all of it and now you look forward to actually leaving the country!
So I talked to my host parent about picking me up from the airport and everything! They're all very excited and want to bring the dog! We also talked about taking care of all the legal issues in the first few days I'll be there... my host mom is so on top of everything which it awesome. As of right now... I'm kind of wondering where the summer went. It went by SO FAST... yet at the same time it was so slllooowww. I remember when I had like 80 days left. Anyways..I'm slowly starting to pack (mostly winter things)... and I finally went downtown a few days ago and bought everyone in my host family a gift :)
There isn't a day that goes by I don't think about exchange. I can't believe at the end of the month I will be starting school in Germany. I will have a new home. new room. new dog. new friends. new family.... thats pretty exciting.
A WORD OF ADVICE TO EXCHANGE STUDENTS: BEWARE of CALENDAR STARING- calendar staring gets very addictive. Once you turn you calendar to the month of your departure... you will stare at it... for a very long time- periodically throught the day. and night.
As I sit here. In Madison, WI. Hundreds of exchange students from all over the world are either...
A: In a new country
B: On a plane going to a new country.
C: Just about to get on a plane to go to a new country
So the first major wave of exchange students is OFF!!! I'm pretty jealous of course, but I have only 3 weeks until I leave myself. I'm pretty excited! It's really cool to see everyone's status' on facebook like, "last day in USA," or, " on the plane." ... It sucks having to wait :( None the less, this summer is awesome so far! I've had a lot of fun just doing the things American teenagers do...
Now onto why I wrote this post... I wanted to say thank you to the Rotary Club of West Towne- Middleton for donating towards my exchange. I know that a lot of Rotary Clubs don't just hand outbound students money, and I'm really lucky to have you all as sponsors. I can't wait to tell all of you about my exchange when I come back.
I know... I know... I've been posting a lot of stuff lately- but tons of stuff has been going on.
I GOT MY GUARANTEE FORMS YESTERDAY!!!
I don't know why I wrote that in caps... guarantee forms are not really that exciting. I don't need a VISA to go to Germany so the guarantee forms are just- forms... that guarantee me. Basically all I have to do is send this 2 papers back to a guy in Germany saying that I've read this long letter about insurance and rules... and I'm good to go!
hahaha I just remembered - The first email I ever received from my correspondent said they would have my Guarantee Forms returned to me by May 15th... oh boy! only 2 months off ;)
... So that tentative itinerary I wrote about 2 posts back, is now official. Today I faxed over this confirmation sheet and a few hours later- my travel agent sends me an email saying its all set. I also asked if I could get frequent flier miles on my family's account and he said that was a go too!!! I'm happy :D
Also... today I went to the bank and set up a new bank account. Its called a student debit account. Basically, I'll have a debit card, and while abroad I'll be able to withdraw Cash and it will come directly out of my bank account. I'll It took a while for the banker to figure all the details out, but everything is looking good for money-related issues.
So I've been putting off this whole pin thing FOREVER! I was just going to go to Germany without any... but then I thought that would be kind of lame on my part so I decided to get some! Instead of paying a kajillion dollars for lapel pins me and my mom decided to make some :) We went with those safety pin american flags! They're a little time consuming but its strangely relaxing! Anyways, I just thought I should share... It could be a good pin idea for future outbounds.
... oh and might I mention that I have exactly ONE MONTH until I get on that plane (well actually...
those planes) and travel to Germany :) ... As of right this very moment, I'm not in the mindset that I am leaving because one month is a really long time, but I'm guessing that in 2-3 weeks, I'll start getting really excited. Yeah... I'm a little bit jealous because the first wave to fly to Germany leaves on the 31st of July... which is in like 10 days! But I leave in 31 days so I guess I'm fine with that! More summer for me!!!
