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 :)