Merry Christmas/13 Days!!

First off, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Season’s Greetings, Happy Holidays to all you lovely people reading this, hope you all got some great gifts and are enjoying your holidays!

   I’m not sure what your religion or nationality is, but where I live, in Australia, the only thing that’s really big is Christmas. In my family, we always put up a artificial Christmas tree, the decorate it with tinsel, lights and assorted hanging decorations, e.g. baubles, glass teardrops etc. Then put the wrapped up presents under the tree. Also, we put lights up outside our house, (I’ll take pictures tonight of my house and the others in my street and post them tomorrow) and then, about one a week, or fortnightly, we’ll drive around my area and look at other peoples Christmas lights J

     Christmas Day, we’ll get up and do presents, perhaps have breakfast, but not usually, then at noon, we’ll have a massive lunch, (I’ll post a picture of my family’s typical lunch tomorrow aswell). We’ll crack Christmas bon bons, and then when we’re full and everything is cleaned up, we’ll either go for a swim in the pool in my back yard, or just sit and chat.

      We don’t have dinner as lunch is always massive, but if we’re hungry, we’ll just go cut some of the leftover Christmas meat or have a piece of fruit.

Onto Exchange!

So it’s only 13 days until I leave.

    Am I excited? Oh yeah.

Am I nervous? Hell yes.

   In fact, this time in thirteen days, I’ll be in the sky, heading to LA, all on my lonesome.

Actually, the more I think about it, the scarier it is. I won’t see my family or friends for six months, I won’t get to snuggle up with my pets for six months, I won’t see, or do a lot of things for six months actually. And it really is a scary thought. And who knows, something drastic might happen, and may never see my friends or family again.

    Like the chances of it happening is pretty slim, but the chance is still there, because who knows, you could die on exchange, or a family member may, or a friend could. You just never know. But moving on from the depressing stuff.

    I haven’t even started to pack yet. I haven’t even got my new suitcase yet.  

Yep.

    That’s right.

Thirteen days and I don’t even have my suitcase.

    I know what I want to pack and all, and I have a vague idea of what I’ll take in my hand luggage, but I just haven’t got it yet. One of the girls I’m going with, is already packed and everything, and she’s going a week later than me. Talk about organized.

    I haven’t gotten my E-Ticket yet either, EF was supposed to send it to me in the mail about a week or two ago, but I haven’t received it yet. :/ Then, just to add to everything, the SIM Card EF gave me, won’t activate. But I suppose these are minor problems compared to all that’s wrong in the world, including the four kids who haven’t even gotten their families yet.

   Yes. Some kids don’t have a family yet and it’s less than three weeks for the majority of us. I feel so sorry for them, I really do. Everyone else has theirs, including some kids who are going in July/August, and they don’t. It really sucks for them.

  

That’s about all really. I’ll post the pictures tomorrow and I’m eve thinking of attempting the Vlog I promised a few months back...

Chao x

Less Than One Month!!!

Less Than One Month!!!

As you can tell, I'm a tad excited ;) Yesterday it was exactly one month until I left for Nebraska!!

  I have all my flight details now, leaving Sydney Airport on the 10^th Jan, then a lovely 20 hour flight to LA, chill there for a few hours, catch a plane to Minnesota, chill there for another few hours, then down to Iowa on another plane where I’ll meet my host family, and drive for another hour to my house! All together it’s like, 31 and a half hours of travel. -.-

   Hoping the plane has good movies and the airports have some alright shops. Also hoping that I’ll be travelling with someone, because at the moment, I'm not :/ Reeeeaaalllllyyyyy hoping I am, there's only so much time I can go without talking, and talking to myself may make me seem like a nutter.

Anyway.

So yesterday I had my final game of cricket, which, we won! Yay! (Absolutely smashed them :P) then all the teams had a picnic type thing, which was pretty cool, and mine and Claire’s going away party! Woo!

    There was about 25 of us at my house, talking, eating, drinking non-alcoholic stuff, dancing like idiots, taking hundreds of pictures, swimming, pushing each other into the pool, laughing like maniac’s and being our normal teenage selves.

    A few of my friends got me going away gifts which was really nice, all of them were amazing, and some hilarious cards aswell.

    My sister also made us a Pavlova, which, or those of you that don’t know what it is: It’s just loads of sugar, egg whites, cornflour and a bit of milk, all mixed up with electric beaters to make a really fluffy mixture. Then, you pop it on baking tray that’s lined with baking paper for a while, then when it’s ready take it out, and serve it with cream and fruit. It’s a but like a meringue. So Jess – My sister, decorated it freaking amazingly, one side was done with white, red, & blue fruits (Strawberry, Banana & Blueberry), for America, while the other side was Yellow and Green fruits, (Mango and Kiwi Fruit). Then the border of it was done in the opposite colours, so the Strawberry, Banana & Blueberry side had Mango and Kiwi Fruit on it, while the Mango and Kiwi Fruit side had the Strawberry, Banana and Blueberry on it!

    Late-ish we went for a Christmas light walk, because my street is amazing when it comes to putting up lights for Christmas. Like truly amazing. If I remember I’ll take a few pictures later this week of the houses at night and post them on here.

    At about 10 some people left, having to work the next day, lived further away than others, or parents wanted them home earlier than midnight. At about 11 some others left, just before we took more hot food out of the oven for the remaining girls.

    At about 11:45 myself, and another girl walked my friend home who lived at the bottom of the street, then went back to my house, where we attempted to watch a Lunar Eclipse through the clouds covering the moon.

    As you probably guessed, it wasn’t successful.

So after that, the remaining five or six girls and myself, were just chatting about different things, eating the pies and sausage rolls that weren’t quite gone yet, while some parents came and picked their kids up.

    By the end it was just Claire and I left, we helped clean up everything, not that there was a massive mess or anything, then went upstairs, made up the beds, talked for a bit and then fell asleep.

    In the morning we had a bottle of Creaming Soda for brekkie, (Healthy, I know :P ) and then decided to make Pancakes, and feeling inspired by two Youtubers we both watch, made Delia Smith pancakes.

    (On a side note, normal pancakes taste much better)

The first batch were only half a fail, not cooking them properly, still taste good, but didn’t have ‘Crispy edges’ like the recipe suggested they should have.

    So we made a second batch, dancing to Disney songs while we did, cooked them, and did some fabulous flipping, and that was that.

Completely off topic now.

But yes, less than a month until I'm in America for six months!! Woooo!!

   Going to miss everyone so much! Especially my family.

And now this is two and a bit pages long, so I’ll leave off here!

Cya x

VISA Interview.

 
Hey guys

So today I had my VISA interview in the city, and let me tell you, for a day off school you do not want to have to get up at 6:00am -_- Especially when it's me.
   Anyway, so my dad woke me up at 6, I grumbled and rolled over. I then woke myself up somehow at 6:30, looked at the time and jumped out of my bed like a ninja when I realized that I didn't have long to get ready if I wanted to be on time for it all.
  Brushing my teeth, doing my hair & make-up and pulling my clothes on all in record time, running down stairs to look for my shoes, finding them, pulling them on, grabbing all my visa stuff and stuffing my phone into my bag I was about to head out the door when I realized that my parents were not, in fact, ready yet.
  A few minutes later we all walked out to the car and started towards the MLC centre in the city, stopping by local newsagent to ask a quick question before setting into peak hour and waiting, not so patiently for the cars to hurry up and move.
   An hour later, my dad dropped my mum and I off, and he continued to work while my mum and I walked into the MLC centre and somehow managed to get to the right spot, bumping into my friend's dad, whose daughter was upstairs already waiting for her interview.
  Following his instructions we got into the customs area to go through all the custom-y stuff you have to go through at airports, that's right, the whole, 'May you please take your shoes off Ma'am' 'Are you wearing a belt today Sir?' 'Please take all of your electronics out of your bag Miss'
   I may also mention here that from the floor I was on up, was owned by America, so I was actually in America right now...
  Anyway...So I did all that, the lady checked all my Visa forms, the guy put my mum and my bag in  little pigeon hole, gave us a card so we could collect them after I ws all done and dusted. Then I joined another line, to have  mini-interview with a guy in an orange shirt. After, he told me to go sit in the front row and wait for another lady to show myself, my mum, and four other people to a lift which would then take us up to the big, proper, you-fail-this-you-get-no-visa interview.
  Not too long after the Lady called us, showed us to the lift, and a Welsh couple, an Irish bloke, two other men and my mum and I went up to the US Consulate floor, went through another small security thingo, then through a heavy door, to take a ticket and join the queue! Claire was waiting patiently for her number to be called, we gave a small wave, a quick 'Goodluck', and a minutes later she was called up. When I was near the front of the queue, her interview finished, and she left to go back to school, though she ended up jigging school like me.
  The lady there called me, everything was okay, except my uploaded photo, it was on the side, so my mum and I had to go right to the bottom of the MLC centre, get a photo taken at a Kodak shop, wait 20 minutes for it to be printed and everything, back upstairs, through the American Accent filled mini-customs, to the front row, up the elevator, and through the small security thingo and back to the lady who was checking my application.
  I then had to do a fingerprint scan, then go sit with my mum until my number was called for my real interview. Maybe, 30 minutes later I was called, answered the few questions she gave me, had a mini-freak out when I thought I had answered a question wrong, had another freak out when I realized about three groups of people had been refused a Visa ten minutes before me. More fingerprint scans, she said it was passed and it'd be in the mail within the week, back down stairs to the mini-customs/American Accent room to collect our bags and stuff said our 'Thank You's' then downstairs again to get lunch and have a look in a few shops for some extremely cold weather clothes. Found a really awesome puffy snow jacket, that I'll probably end up getting!!
   On the train about an hour or two later, swapped trains, then walked home from there, Facebooking Claire and my host sister for a bit. Then home again to relax and bludge school :)

~Fin~

I HAVE MY HOST FAMILY!!

Ahhhh!!! It's so exciting!! It finally feels real and everything! It's definitely going to happen!!

So at about 12 today, at the end of my Geography class, my mum texts me to tell me to check my EF page, (like a mini Facebook for the exchange kids). Turning my laptop on, logging in and doing the few clicks it takes, I see that I have my host family!! I literately started to jump up and down in my seat and the biggest smile came across my face, I haven't stopped smiling yet!!
Anyway, so I've slid my laptop in my bag, and run to Claire, dumped my bag at the front of the room and started to jump up and down, screaming "I know where I'm going! I know where I'm going!!! Claire! Claire! I know where I'm going!!! I'm going to Nebraska! Nebraska!! In a little town called Randolph! Claire! I'm going to Randolph, Nebraska!!"
I have no clue how she understood me, because I'm pretty sure I sounded more like a dying animal or something like that....Didn't draw a single breath for the whole thing... So it was more like "IknowwhereI'm going!IknowwhereI'mgoing!!!Claire!Claire!IknowwhereI' going!!!I'mgoingtoNebraska!Nebraska!!Inalittle towncalledRandolph!Claire!I'mgoingtoRandolphNebraska!!"
   
So Randolph, Nebraska is where I'll be chilling in America, and literately, chilling...it gets down to -50 degrees, MINUS FIFTY! Freaking cold weather. I have a mum, dad and sister, no pets unfortunately, but I've Google Mapped the place, and my property is fairly large :D My school looks cool today, and the lunch menu is awesome...cookies, cake, cinnamon scrolls, tacos, pfft and all the American movies make out that cafeteria food is gross...sounds pretty alright to me! It's about 1 1/2 hours from Sioux City in Iowa, So I'll hopefully be able to visit my friend Tina who is 1 hr from Sioux City in the other direction :D

Ahh so happy!! I'm so pleased I've got my family! Makes it so much more exciting!! Probably stop here before I drone on and on about how happy I am about having my host family and everything :D

See that little coloured in red state? Yeah, that's where I'm going...Be jealous :D

Orientation Meeting

So since I last posted, I had my Orientation Meeting in the city, had to be at the venue at 10 so it could all start. In the lobby, I meet up with one of my sisters friends from school who's going to Germany the same time as me, but for a year. Went up to the room I had my meeting in, found my seat at the front with all my papers, shirt and bag, and talked to my friend, Claire, who's also going to the States at the same time until it started.
   Went through all the normal stuff, what to expect, what we're doing there yadda yadda yadda....then we had a break, ate some AMAZING biscuits that the hotel had made for us, met and chatted to a few of the people I've been talking to online, and talked to a returnee that had just come back in July.
    We then went back in for a second half, our exchange coordinator gave us each a lolly, then set the slide show back up,m and what's it about? Drugs, alcohol and sex...lovely I know...
    She did a brief, don't do drugs, we will find out...don't drink, we will find out, sex, think twice before you do it, then, think again about it, to close your door if you're going to, and not on the family lounge ;) Then she proceeded to tell us a few stories of people who stuffed up their exchange, one guy was caught drinking at a party and was sent home, one of a girl who sent a picture of herself in her underwear and was sent home, one of a girl who lied on her application and now my company can't use that area as host families because of what happened, and another of a girl who got caught doing the deed ;) while on exchange.
   After that, did a bit more of the basic stuff, don't go to a party that has alcohol or drugs, don't jig school that type of stuff.

In other news, I got all my Visa papers in the mail a few weeks back, all applied, now just have to go into the city to get it approved and some questions asked by the Visa people and I'll be all set to go!
  
Also, my friend Claire got a host family in Kentucky!! It's a pretty small town, only 1,500 people, about the size of my school, has four host sisters and a mum and dad! Looked up her house on Google Maps, and it looks beautiful!
   Haven't got mine yet, but hopefully soon :)

That's all for now :)
82 days!

100 days!

So it's only about 100 days until I leave for my exchange, pretty excited I must say :D
  I have an orientation day in the city next week, with all the other exchange students that live in or near Sydney, just about what to expect, finer details and all that jazz, so I'll get to meet some people I've been talking to over the past few months :)
  Also! One of the guys who's also going to the US next year, set up a big Facebook page for us all, so we've just all been chatting and talking about what state we want to live in, if we'll get our American licence over there etc.
  Then, one of my friends from Australia, who's going set up a smaller one for all the Aussies going :)
   Haven't got my host family yet, so anxiously waiting for the phone call from my co-ordinator saying that they've found me one, super pumped for that too.
  Got a massive list of everything I have to do before I leave too, and with my track record of laziness, half those things probably won't get done XD Including the top one - Clean my room.
  That's about all for today :)
Cya!

Holidays/Back At School/City

Well, since it's been a few weeks since I blogged, I'll just quickly go through what's happened lately

School Holidays!!!! Chilled at home. Watched movies, saw the premiere of Harry Potter 7 Part 2! and went to the snow.
   First of all, HP was epic. Truly amazing, Claire and I went together, dressed as Death Eaters (we're cool like that), even going as fart as drawing dark marks on our left forearm, (which unfortunately, is still stuck on my arm because permanent marker doesn't come off my skin!). Heaps of people were dressed up, including my sisters friend as Voldemort, and everyone was all excited!
   Sitting down in our seats and waiting for the movie to start we took loads of pictures of us in out hectic HP-style 3D glasses, pretty sure we pissed off the people behind us XD
   Then, when it the ads came on their was the first excited screams and yells, going through all the trailers, one came on for Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes? Not sure what it's called, but Tom Felton, (Draco Malfoy) was in it, and another chorus of screams went up.
   Cut to the actual movie, there was clapping and screaming when ever someone kissed/hooked up, tears shed when you saw your favourite chacters dead, and the clapping when something finally happened.
  
   Snow!!
Went to the snowy mountains, Batlow, stayed at my holiday house, saw my cousin and his parents, and went tobogganing, no skiing  this time :( but twas still fun, plenty of pictures and videos of us coming down the mountains :P

School :?
   Started back on Tuesday, only been there for four days and already looking forward to the next holidays in September? October? November?, yeah not too sure when they are but yeah. Though, it's good to see all my friends again I didn't catch up with in the holidays, and it's not too bad, I enjoy my classes.

City!
   So Today, I went to the city with Claire, for an information meeting for her for exchange! If she gets accepted, she'll be coming to America with me, not her first choice, which was Japan, but then will all the disasters over there her parents weren't too keen, Then It was England, but you have to have a British passport for that, then America : )
   So caught the train into Circular Quay, at about 9:30ish, had a bite to eat then went to the place it was being held and waited for the organizers to come, meet another guy and a chick also applying, who both seemed fairly nice.
   Having not gone to one when I applied, it was really interesting, and actually learnt stuff about my exchange year and host family placement that I wouldn't have known if I hadn't had gone.
   Then, when it was done, walked to Martin Place with her and her parents, caught the train back and went home :) Pretty good day even though I woke up at 7 for it.

Cya

By the way, if my writing is really bad today and doesn't make sense it's because I wrote it about five minutes :)
 

Les Mis

This time last week, my school's production, Les Miserables, finished. After four nights of ushering people to their seats and having to deal with some rather opinionated people, it ended with a bang and all was fun.
    After, all the cast and some of the crew stayed back to help take it all down, set, props and lighting. Me and two of my friends also helped the costume guy sort his stuff, which also included trying on hats and feather boa's, and fawning over gorgeous corsets.
    At about midnight, we stopped and chilled for pizza, soft drink and cake. Think we ordered about 70 boxes and they were all gone with in about 45 minutes, along with the bottles of drink. Pretty sure that would have been the biggest order Eagle Boys has ever had :P
   Then, the teacher who has organized it all, said that on the Tuesday, it could be Les Mis Shirt Day, where we could all wear our shirts to school with jeans or whatever to show we were involved. Having not got one, my friend and I went to go ask to get one. After he'd said yes and left us in the room to try on the sizes, we locked the door to the storeroom. Got our sizes and went to open the door.
   But it wouldn't open. -_-
Only us could get stuck in a hall storeroom at one in the morning with only about twenty people still about. In between laughing so hard we cried, having one of the main guys walk past the single window singing at the top of his lungs and not being able to hear us, knocking on the door and yelling out for help, the deputy principle finally heard us and came over to us, saying 'It's alright girls, calm down, we'll get you out. Just gone to get the key'.
   Ten minutes later, we were out, still cracking up whenever we looked at each other and laughing about how it could only ever be us to get stuck in a storeroom together.
   Definitely not one of our brightest moments. :D

   On a side note, Claire, now has a blog! http://www.ISwearImSane.blogspot.com

Not Much Going On...

Nothing is really happening at the moment, my school has its production next week which I'mm helping out with the props and stuff backstage. Kinda exciting, helping with a musical instead of just watching from the audience, be a nice change :)
  Also getting my stitches out tomorrow! After two weeks of being on crutches and wearing ugg boots to school!
    Haven't heard anything new about my trip but I've been talking to a few people who are also going, who seem pretty nice.
   In other news, got a book I've been waiting for, trying to pace myself through it so it lasts longer than four hours : D
    And that's about it.
Cya

Stitches :(

On Friday, also my birthday, I was smart enough to rip the webbing between my little toe and the one next to it. Resulting in a hell of a lot of blood, quite a bit of swelling and a toss of of going to casualty at one am in the morning!
  If you so desire to experience the pain of this, and I really do suggest that you don't, just jump off your bed. Yeah. That's how smart I am. Jumped off my bed to come down stairs for my cake and hey, massive pain!!
  So the next day, go to the doctors, hop about 100 metres and a few stairs, wait half an hour just to have the doctor tell you to go upstairs and get an x-ray. But, you have to take the stairs because there is no damned elevator!!!
  It's great fun, being 15 and having to crawl up the stairs like a baby then hop again to the x-ray guy's room, get it done, have him tell you that the bone may or not be broken so I have to go back next week to get another x-ray.
  Then you get to slide on your butt down the stairs back to the doctor who says, hey, maybe you broke a tendon under your toe instead, so you may want to go to hospital so they can cut your foot open further and tie it up! But before you go do that, go get an ultrasound done, then come back here so we can have a look!
  Yeah. Great idea. Not.
You can then get your dad to drive you and your mum to the other side of the shopping centre only to have the ultrasound place tell you that they close at 12 and there's not enough time to do it. Then, call your local GP and ask if they can just have a look at it and see if any of that is actually necessary.
  Wait for maybe, half an hour, then have her clean up all the blood with alcohol and day that, there's no tendons broken but your toe still might be.
  Have her then tell your that you're gunna need stitches - four of them, between your toes. She'll hold up a needle and say "This'll hurt like hell for a moment" you can reply with "What?" and she'll stick it into your foot/toe. You then get to bite down on your lip to keep from cussing!
  She leaves the room for ten minutes while the anesthetic kicks in and you can't feel your toe anymore! After chatting to your mum, the doctor comes back in and asks if you can still feel your toe, when you reply with yes, she'll give you another shot and then start to stitch you up, telling you how awkward of a place it is to stitch. While you get your mum to take photos of it on your phone! 
  You can leave after that, say your thanks and hop out to the car so you can go home, shower by washing yourself with a wet and soapy cloth a few times and get ready for your party that started at 1. If you're lucky, only one friend is there and you can have a laugh with her about it.
  Later, when you're guests are there, hop everywhere! You'll have great muscles in your right thigh by the end of it!
  And that's how you go about getting stitches the day after your birthday. :D

What it may just look like.

Just Things

Not much on the America topic today, just small things that's going on in my life at the moment :)
   Most of the students leaving in September have gotten their host families and contacted them. I have another payment due on the 1st of June. My friends who are going on exchange with AFS, one who is going to America, had a camp this weekend. And I sent in some forms that were supposed to be received in April. Oops :S
   Also, My friend from school is going to Rome with her exchange company, she was telling me about her host family, they seem pretty cool : D

Had my half yearly's the past two weeks and been pretty sick with a migraine those two weeks so I had to do them late. then Next Thursday i have an English incursion (where the people do the excursion at school) birthday on Friday, party on Saturday, then on the 8th (Wednesday?) Going to the Seymour Centre in the city for a History Excursion.

Then just chilled with my sister this weekend while my parents where in Brisbane.

That's pretty much it.
Cya :)

8 Months

It's exactly 8 months until I head off to America, not really long but it actually seems pretty short, and kinda scary now that I have an exact date, makes it seem more real.
   I leave Australia on the 15th January 2012 and arrive back here 30th June 2012

In other news I attempted to do a Vlog yesterday, failed miserably to say the least. Though, there will probably be a really bad and short one up on either Tuesday night or Wednesday as my friend is forcing me to do one. -_-

That's all really, nothing much :)
Cya!

Tests :|

So This week, (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) I have NAPLAN, for those who have no clue what it is, let me explain, it stands for National Assessment Program – Literacy And Numeracy, consisting of  
Reading
Writing 
Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) 
Numeracy.
  Every student inyears 3,5, 7 and 9 has to do it to basically see what of these we're good at aaaaaannnnnddd the ones we fail at.
   Yesterday I had Writing and Language Conventions, today, Reading and tomorrow Numeracy :\ not really looking forward to it.
  Then, this afternoon I had my science half-yearly, just what I wanted after my NAPLAN.

Anyway, that's about it for now
Cya :)

Random Update.

Just a small update.

Back at school for Term 2 for a week now and already got an assignment :\
  School's athletic carnival was yesterday - total bludge, just sat and talked to friends and cheered on people we knew that were racing. Played the longest game of Cheat with two friends, listened to music and thats about it.
  Also, my exchange company EF opened up a new webpage for the students who have been on, on, or going on exchange, a bit like Facebook, but as far as I'm aware, you can only add people going to the same country as you. Still trying to work it all out, kinda confusing :S

That's all for now Cya :)

For You Georgina/What I'll miss Part 1

Georgina, since you complained that I hadn't blogged in a while, this is for you. : P

Apart from the normal Family/friends/pets that people miss when they go overseas, heres a few things I'll think I'll miss

• Australian TV Shows, e.g The Mentalist, Talking 'Bout Your Generation etc
• Uniforms. Yes. I'm going to miss having a uniform.
• Australian Wildbirds.
• The frog that croaks outside my window everynight.
• Going down to my holiday house.
• Unlimited time on my computer
• Unlimited texts and calls
• Weather. I'm not one to wear jackets in the cold unless I'm forced.
• My kind-of messy bedroom.
• All my books. I have a never ending supply of them. : P
• The accents. Sure, I don't hear them but I think, as soon as I'm gone I'll miss it.
• My house. Knowing where everything is, even in the dark.

 And that's all I can think of for now, if I think of something else I'll write it down for the 2nd part.

Holidays still. Mid way through. Not looking forward to school, I enjoy sleeping half the day and hanging with friends.
Also got about three assignments to do before I go back. :S

4 degrees...

So I'm currently on holidays down at Batlow NSW, and it's 4 degrees celsius, and even though that's warm for down here, both the fires are lit and I'm lying in bed in my trackies and flannie shirt.
Also doesn't help that I have a cold...

Didn't do much today, saw my aunt and uncle that live close by, went into town and put up a play enclosure thing for my cat so he can be outside without killing himself by jumping off the balcony.

Hopefully something far more interesting will come up over the next few days.

Cya.

Holidays!

Finally, it's holidays. :) end of Term 1 and 1/4 through the school year!
  My week has been kinda busy, which, for those of you know me well, know that me having a social life is a once in a lifetime thing. Monday, pretty boring, Tuesday, I had a party at my sport - Bates Drive, where I look after kids with a disability with a few others, it's pretty fun and the kids are adorable :) Wednesday, I went to the Tanken Centre for an excursion with my Japanese class then slept all afternoon XD Thursday had my friend Georgina, she's fair cool :P kicked a soccer ball we found halfway home then chilled at my house, went to out to dinner. Friday, last day at school!! Surprisingly, there were more people that I thought there would be. Caught the bus then train to my friend Claire's house, got hot chips, then went to my house, had dinner then went to out youth group.

So now, since I have 2.5 weeks of freedom awaiting me, I have so far planned a few things, the main one being hang out with friends or sleep. Probably the latter.
  Also going down to my grandparents holiday house down at Batlow, if you know Batlow Apples, that's where they come from ;) or just like, an hour or so from Wagga Wagga, in winter, I would usually go skiing at Mt Selwyn, but not this time. If I can get internet down there, I will try to post something relating on the coldness or the view from the balcony/veranda.

Most probably also going to the Royal Sydney Eater Show with Georgina with a sleepover or two as well.

That's all that's planned, and as like all the other holidays, I'll probably spend quite a fair bit, organize something the day before it happens and it'll go far too quickly and Term 2 will be here before I want it to be.

That's all for now :)
Cya.

Background Info

Okay, so for those who have no clue what student exchange is and can't be stuffed to Google it, it's basically where a student, usually between the ages of 14-18 go over to another country to study and live with a 'host family', and live the way they do with their culture and everything. So you go to school over there, make friends, hang out, learn, and pretty much just that. But because I suck at explaining things, here's an extract from a website I found, it'll probably make more sense and sound better than what I said.


'A student exchange program is a program in which a student, typically in secondary or higher education, chooses to live in a foreign country to learn, among other things, language and culture. ...'

Some programs you can swap with your host families child or just go one way.


Many companies sell the experience as:

• Gain "insider" knowledge about a foreign country and culture
• Learn a foreign language fluently (unless you travel to the US) and might even dream in a new language after a few months.
• Become part of a "second family" abroad
• Meet new friends from your host country and all over the world
• Explore a different school system
• Gain experience and skills that will benefit your future career and studies
• Challenge yourself and grow as a person
• Learn about the world first hand
• Open career doors you didn't know existed
• Get to know how others live and come to see the world from another perspective
• Learn another language
• Test yourself and acquire independence and maturity
• Make new friends and appreciate old ones even more 
• Gain experience and judgement
• Become a member of an overseas family,
• Attend an overseas school,
• Learn a new language,
• Make friends from around the world,
• Immerse yourself into a different culture,
• Experience life as an overseas teenager,
• Explore a new country, culture and customs,
• Have the time of your life!

Host Families

Rightio, host families are families who want to let another person into their home and life and hopefully accept you as a part of their family. Most of the time they don't get paid and are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. It may just be a young couple, a single mum, a big family with twelve children, small family with two kids, an older couple or something else entirely.
  They apply to have a total stranger come live with them and want to help them get the best out of their exchange. They expect you to live like them, do chores, cook dinner, perhaps attend family outings and have manners. Treat them with respect, like you would hopefully treat your normal parents.


'Host families come from all walks of life. You could have children or not, you may have children older or younger than the exchange student, you may be a young couple or an older couple, or you may be single. You may live in a house, in an apartment, in a town or in the countryside.'
     Another extract from a website


Cost
Depends on which company you go with and the country, varies on the price, it could be anything from  $8000 to $12 000, or maybe more. Most companies offer scholarships to get some money off or some even do whole scholarships where, if you get it, they pay for your whole exchange, the only company I know that does this is AFS.
    It also depends on what is included, visa, medical insurance, region choice etc.




Few different sites:
http://www.ef-australia.com.au/highschool/
http://studentexchange.org.au/
http://www.wep.org.au/info/
http://www.sts-education.com.au/australia/hs/exchange_program/
http://www.afs.org.au/

First Things First.

I have absolutely no clue on how to write a blog. So I'm just gunna go with it and if it's bad then meh, I dont care.
  Hopefully, I will get better as time progresses.

Into the basics.
The name's Sherri. Fourteen years young. Aussie.
  Next January I'm going on student exchange to the U.S of A with EF for about a school semester. Six months, twenty four weeks.
  However you want to look at it.

I will hopefully be updating this at least once a week if I can think of anything to post other than pointless stuff about school and whatnot.
  And I apologize in advance if that's what some of my blogs are about.

I may also Vlog or update some adventures on my Youtube page as something's just can't be expressed in words, or if I don't have the time to write on this, but on the occasions that I do, I'll post a link on here.

Youtube: RunningRoundTheWorld
Email: runningroundtheworld@usat31.com
  I don't think capitals matter for emails.

Night for now as I have school tomorrow.